Photo: Deutsches Museum
History
Three historic exhibition halls provide the setting for the museum.
From exhibition ground to transport museum
The Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum is housed in three historic exhibition halls. These were built in 1908, combining with the Bavariapark, a theatre and several restaurants to form what was then a new exhibition ground.
The ground accommodated many commercial exhibitions and trade fairs up to 1998. Prior to 1945, its largest hall (now Hall I of the Verkehrszentrum) also provided space for themed exhibitions, musical and theatrical performances, and even sporting events.
After World War II the exhibition ground was redeveloped into a large trade fair complex. Its operation was taken over by Messe München GmbH from 1964. The last trade fair held on the site was in 1998. Its buildings were demolished, with the exception of the three historic halls, and the city borough of Schwanthalerhöhe was created. The Deutsches Museum moved into the three heritage-listed exhibition halls as of 2003.
An exhibition ground for Munich
In 1908, Munich celebrated the opening of a new exhibition ground, the core of which included three large exhibition halls, a theatre, a restaurant and the Bavariapark. This made Munich one of the first German cities with permanent buildings for commercial exhibitions. The first exhibition at the ground opened along with the venue itself in 1908. Simply called ‘Munich 1908’, it was one of the large commercial showcases common for the time.
Facilities at the exhibition ground were not only used for commercial exhibitions and trade fairs. They were also of service to Munich’s cultural life. The first three decades in particular saw concerts, theatre performances and later even six-day races taking place here.
View of the motor vehicle hall at the 1925 transport exhibition: it had a group display by the National Association of German Automotive Manufacturers. To mark the occasion, Edmund Rumpler gifted the Deutsches Museum a ‘teardrop’ car that is today on display in Hall III of the Verkehrszentrum. Photo: Deutsches Museum
The expo spared no expense: a full-scale model of Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm underground stop gave visitors an impression of life in a subterranean train station. Photo: Deutsches Museum
From exhibition ground to Messe München
A host of commercial exhibitions and trade fairs took place on the Bavariapark site from 1908 to 1998. Large-scale general commercial exhibitions like ‘Munich 1908’, ‘Munich 1910’ and ‘Munich 1912’ predominated before World War I, but more and more specialist fairs such as well-known building, craft and agricultural trade shows took shape in the 1920s. The national and international transport exhibitions reached far beyond Munich, attracting millions of visitors.
As exhibitions increased in frequency, the number of buildings and halls grew. Further halls, facilities and equipment appeared in particular after World War II, when the theatre was also replaced with a new conference hall.
In 1964, Messe München GmbH took over management of the exhibition complex. By the end of its operations in Theresienhöhe, the number of exhibition halls had risen to around 30. From the 1970s on, the good reputation of many exhibitions plus economic growth and trade fair professionalization led to a lot of bottlenecks. In 1986/87 the Bavarian government and Munich city council decided to move exhibitions to Riem.
Becoming a transport and mobility museum
In the late 1980s, it was clear that the Theresienhöhe complex was not fit for any further expansion in exhibitions. Relocation of the airport from Riem to Erdinger Moos afforded Messe München the opportunity to move premises.
The city had been planning a new borough, Schwanthalerhöhe, on the vacant trade fair land since 1997. Of the old exhibition halls, only the three historic ones survived. The Deutsches Museum applied for tenancy. The idea was to set up a transport and mobility museum in the exhibition halls of 1908 which had housed the great transport expos.
The poor condition of the halls required extensive general renovations. Hall III, the ferroconcrete hall, was the first to regain its splendour. The architecture and renovations very carefully preserved the original material. Hall III opened in 2003 as the museum’s first hall, followed by Halls I and II which had to be stripped down to their iron girder frameworks. This construction phase ended in 2006.
The new entrance block in front of Hall I, which comes very close to the original entrance concept with its round porch, was completed in 2011 as the last of the building work.
2 April 2006: the 130 t S 3/6 steam locomotive was driven from Museumsinsel to Theresienhöhe amid great interest from the Munich public and the regional media. It could only be installed with the help of the fire brigade, who eventually used a mobile crane to remove the smokestack. Photo: Deutsches Museum
Installation of the Rhaetian Railway ‘Crocodile’ in Hall II: bringing large exhibits into Hall II is precision work, as the door openings leave only a few centimetres of clearance. Photo: Deutsches Museum
Relocation: exhibits on the move
A major challenge in setting up the Verkehrszentrum was moving the valuable exhibits. Some of these came from depots, while others were brought to the Verkehrszentrum by road from the museum headquarters on Museumsinsel. Before transportation, they were carefully cleaned and restored.
Historically valuable pieces have particularly demanding transport requirements: they must be specially packaged or secured and insured for transit, and may only be carried by suitable trucks. Some 150 cars, large commercial vehicles and items of rolling stock, plus around 140 motorbikes and bicycles, were transferred to the Verkehrszentrum between 2002 and 2006.
Transporting rail vehicles – locomotives, carriages, trams, underground and suburban trains – was particularly expensive and complicated. The large and heavy locomotives, for example, had to be carried on special trucks on designated road routes, mostly at night or at weekends when traffic was light.
What drives us
- How many journeys do we make every day and what vehicles do we use for them?
- What are the challenges for a good transport infrastructure and environmentally friendly mobility?
- How did we travel in the past and how will we move in the future?
- How did a rally from New York to Paris advance motorisation in 1908?
- How did the first steam locomotives and cars work?
- Why is the bicycle the precursor to the car?
- And will there still be cars in the future?
Mobility is essential for us as individuals and for our society – whether we are commuting, travelling or transporting goods. The Verkehrszentrum not only displays valuable historic exhibits from the Deutsches Museum collection, begun more than 100 years ago. It also aims to show what mobility meant and means to each one of us now and in the past, how transport has evolved in the last 200 years, and how we will move around in the future.
Our permanent exhibitions on „Urban Transport“, „Travel“ and „Mobility and Technology“ answer many historical questions. Topical questions are explored in our temporary displays, special exhibitions and many events.