August 14, 2015
August 14, 2015
From Heidelberg, Germany, Aimee and I took the morning train forty minutes up the Neckar River to Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Wurttemburg, the state we are travelling. Aimee and I had been discussing the program the German car companies promote. You can buy a car directly from the factory and use it to tour Europe before having it shipped home. So you can sense her excitement when I told her we were going to Stuttgart to look at Mercedes-Benz cars. Little did she know we were headed for the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
Stuttgart is known as the cradle of the automobile. In 1876, Nikolaus Otto developed a stationary gasoline engine for powering industrial equipment. Ten years later, two entrepreneurs Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz independently adapted the technology to propel horseless carriages.
While Benz concentrated his efforts on the automobile, Daimler adapted his engine to power anything that moved, including boats and zeppelins. Although both inventors grew up in this area, because they were rivals, they never got to know each other. After the German defeat of WW I, the companies had to merge to survive bankruptcy. (Mercedes was the daughter of a key Daimler car dealer who gave her name to a new race car design.)
The museum does an outstanding job keeping both Aimee and I interested and captivated. With a short break for lunch, we spent almost the entire day here. Besides lots of cool vehicles, the museum had lots of technology for me and people stories for Aimee. At the same time the museum briefly reviewed the major world and social events that paralleled Mercedes-Benz history.
Despite inventing the automobile Daimler Benz had a very tough history and by all rights shouldn’t even be in existence let alone a major player. Because of its military focus, the entire manufacturing base of the company was virtually obliterated by bombing during WW II. To rebuild the national infrastructure, trucks were vital and Mercedes engineers developed the Diesel engine, an ideal power source for goods transport and the key to rebuilding their future.
From the museum we headed back to central Stuttgart to check into our hotel. After a short break to rest our feet, we walked into the Old Town. After the devastation of WW II, most of Stuttgart was rebuilt modern. The preserved Old Town is very small and mostly consists of two palaces and an old church with their attached gardens, now parks. In the shadow of the old palace and church we had a nice dinner of SauerBraten, essentially a very tasty version of roast beef and gravy.
1 Comments:
Hi Guys,
We are enjoying following your travels and living vicariously through you!
Mike, your narratives are super!
Have fun and be safe.
Ram and MA
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