Tourists, Start Your Engines: The German Car Museums

SEE ALSO: The Original TACH Auto Museum Database

Washington DC May 25, 2010; The AIADA newsletter reported that it's now possible to travel across Germany, the birthplace of the automobile, with nothing but cars on the brain and car museums and factory tours on the itinerary.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the museum race began in earnest in 2006 with the opening of Stuttgart's Mercedes-Benz Museum. In buildings designed by leading architects, the museums signal a change in how cars are built and marketed, says Stefan Müller, chief executive officer of ADAC, Germany's century-old auto club.

Technology today, he says, "can be copied by the competition rather quickly, so what is becoming more important for car companies is the heritage of the brand." Wolfsburg, two hours' drive from Berlin, is Volkswagen's company town, and also home to Autostadt, the brand's auto-and-science museum complex.

Drive 310 miles south to Stuttgart. The home to Daimler-Benz and Porsche may be Germany's answer to Detroit, but it feels more like a fairy-tale version of Silicon Valley, with high-tech office parks surrounded by hillside vineyards.

Click Here for complete WSJ story.