The History of the Stuttgart Sports Car Manufacturers
Spectacular from without and high performance within – the Porsche Museum documents the history of the famous Stuttgart sports car manufacturers.
Since its opening in the year 2009 the Museum has welcomed around 5.8 million visitors.
The futuristic building designed by the Viennese architects Delugan Meissl (2009) rests on three V-shaped pillars, almost giving the impression that the main element is suspended in mid air. The corpus of the museum weighs 35,000 tonnes and incorporates 6,000 tonnes of steel – more than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The optical showpiece on Porscheplatz: a 24-metre-high sculpture – "Inspiration 911" – consisting of three stelae, each surmounted by a different version of the Porsche 911.
In the exhibition, which covers an area of 5,600 square metres, more than 80 vehicles and countless smaller items are on display. In addition to world-famous automobile icons such as the 356, 911 or 917, Professor Ferdinand Porsche's outstanding technical achievements from the early years of the 20th century are on show. Highlights include a new version of the Type 64, the very first Porsche. Its design language, the Porsche DNA, so to speak, is still to be found today in every model produced in the Zuffenhausen plant. The guideline for visitors is defined by the brand's history and conveys the "Porsche Concept", which is based on the typical characteristics "fast", "light", "clever", "strong”, "passionate" and "consistent". The chronological circular tour is augmented by special theme areas, for example on Porsche's motorsport activities.
At the end of 2021 the Porsche Museum introduced a new concept for the prologue of the permanent exhibition. More than 20 stations and numerous new exhibits previously not on display now await its visitors. They include private photos of Ferry Porsche in his youth, personal contemporary accounts and a construction table. And virtual reality makes it possible for visitors to become part of the Gmünd production plant and to hammerform and paint their own Porsche 356.
At the end of the exhibition the interactive "Porsche Touch Wall" invites you to browse through the multimedia options and find out more about the history of the company. Unique worldwide: the interactive sound installation "Porsche in the Mix" is the only one of its kind in existence. It reproduces the characteristic engine sound of seven different models in all.
The exhibition is in a constant state of flux – the Porsche Museum is namely a "rolling museum", with automobiles that still live up to their name: they're mobile! They take part in the Goodwood Festival of Speed, for example. In order to guarantee expert maintenance of the historical racing and sports cars, the museum has its own workshop. A glass partition allows visitors to watch experts at work on the classic Porsche cars. Over the museum's workshop the Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG's Historical Archive gives specialists, such as journalists, scientists or owners of classic Porsche vehicles, insights into the history of the company. One of the largest image archives in the automobile sector, it comprises over 2.5 million ph otos and slides, 4,000 books and 1,700 hours of film material. In addition, it has a comprehensive collection of documents on the product, motor racing and company history.
Tour the Porsche Museum with the multimedia guide. The guide includes audio material for films, information on individual vehicles and lots more besides, allowing visitors to delve even further into the company history of this sports car manufacturer. The media guide is available in eight languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Chinese.
Fine dining in an exclusive ambience. The restaurant "Christophorus" is located on the second floor of the museum, on a level with the exhibition, and separated from it only by a glass wall.
By the way: Those who've always wanted to drive a Porsche can reserve the model of their choice at the Porsche Museum's Porsche Drive rental station.
Additional information under: www.porsche.com/museum
