Mercedes-Benz Museum

The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart is one of Germany's great car museums and a must for anyone interested in how the automobile was born. It sits in the Bad Cannstatt district beside the company's Untertürkheim plant and tells the brand's story from the very first Benz motor car to modern race cars. The silver, spiraling building is a landmark in its own right and one of the top things to do in Stuttgart.

Where it is and how to get there

The museum is at Mercedesstraße 100 in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany. Stuttgart is roughly 1.5 hours from Frankfurt and a little over two hours from Munich by ICE train, so the museum works well as a day trip.

From Stuttgart main station (Hauptbahnhof), take S-Bahn line S1 toward Kirchheim (Teck) to the Neckarpark stop; the ride is only a few minutes, and signs lead you to the entrance. Bus 56 stops right at the museum. Local trains and the S-Bahn are covered by the Deutschlandticket. If you drive, there is a museum parking garage off the B 14 highway. On match days at the MHPArena next door and during the Cannstatter Volksfest beer festival, traffic around the area gets heavy.

History and architecture

The museum opened on May 19, 2006, so 2026 marks its 20th anniversary. Dutch firm UNStudio (Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos) designed the 47.5-meter-high building, whose nine levels are organized around a double helix inspired by DNA. Two ramps wind around a central atrium, creating two intertwined tours. It is hugely popular:, more than 876,000 people visited in 2017, and the nine-millionth visitor came through the doors in April 2018.

What you will see

The exhibition covers about 16,500 square meters with roughly 160 vehicles and around 1,500 exhibits in total. You ride an elevator to the top and then walk down:

• The Legend rooms take you chronologically from the invention of the car by Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler to the present.
• The Collection rooms group vehicles by theme, such as travel, cargo, helpers like fire trucks and police cars, and famous owners.
• The finale is a steeply banked curve lined with Silver Arrows and other race cars.

You can switch between the two tours at several points, which helps if your group has different interests.

Tickets and opening hours

The official website could not be accessed when we checked, so the following comes from the City of Stuttgart and museum.de (as of October 2026):

• Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Mondays; last ticket sales at 5 p.m. according to museum.de.
• Closed on December 24, 25 and 31, 2026; holiday hours may differ.
• Admission €16, reduced €8; children up to age 12 enter free.

Book tickets through the official Mercedes-Benz ticket shop and double-check prices before you go. The museum offers an audio guide; check the official site for the current list of languages.

Is it worth visiting?

Absolutely, even if you are not a car enthusiast: the architecture and the way the story is staged are outstanding. Allow two to three hours, or half a day if you want to see both tours in full. The building is largely accessible, with ramps, elevators and accessible restrooms, and there is a restaurant and a café inside. Car fans can add the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen for a full day of automotive history.