The old Mercedes-Benz Museum in the heart of the Untertürkheim factory was demolished in the spring of 2007. These pages pay homage to Building 134b, which presented the history of Mercedes-Benz automobiles for 45 years from 1961 until the opening of the new Mercedes-Benz Museum, which is located just a few yards outside of the factory gates. On our pages you will find information about the history of the old museum (so far only in German) and pictures of a last visit in February 2006.

These pages also pay homage to the Terrazzo tile floor, which was an important architectural element of the original architecture of the last 1950s. You will read how passionate Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts recovered the Terrazzo tiles to auction it off for a charitable cause.

Who is behind all this?

The Museum Tile project was launched as an initiative and with the help of members of the German Mercedes club VDH in cooperation with the club-management liaison of the Mercedes-Benz Museum GmbH. VDH and its members are committed to the preservation and care of old Mercedes-Benz automobiles. VDH has almost 5,000 members and will celebrate its 20^th anniversary in 2008.

What is this auction all about?

The auction offers one lucky winner the opportunity to own about 30 square meters (330 square feet) of the old, original museum tile floor. The tiles are 30 x 30 cm (about 12 inches by 12 inches)were carefully hand-selected, cleaned, packed layer by layer with bubble wrap and are ready to be shipped in three metal shipping crates. The tiles have minimal damage on the sides, an unavoidable result of recovering the 45-year old tiles.

Included in the auction is the tile installation mortar and joint filler grout needed for the installation at the proud new owner’s home. These materials have been provided by Kiesel Bauchemie GmbH und Co. KG, one of the technologically leading producers of laying system for tiles and natural stones, wood floors, and textile and resilient flooring.

The Mercedes-Benz Museum will provide a certificate of authenticity and exclusivity for the tiles. This is the only set of museum tiles that will ever be available. The old museum has been torn down. There is a small amount of broken and otherwise damaged tiles that we will use in the VDH clubhouse and the new Mercedes-Benz Museum offers a limited edition of model cars mounted on tile fragments. That’s it.

You have the unique opportunity to acquire truly exclusive flooring for your living room, your office or shop, or museum. Or you could park your own car on the original floor of the Mercedes-Benz Museum; on the same tiles on which the first cars of Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, Gullwings and Popemobiles once stood.

The three shipping crates weigh about 2.5 metric tons (5,500 pounds) with each crate containing 120 tiles weighing 5.5 kilos (about 12 pounds) each and about 150kg (330 pounds) of mortar and grout.

Anyone planning to pick up the tiles in person should bring a truck fit for the job; a forklift is available. Of course we can also arrange worldwide shipping via a shipping agency.

When?

VDH, "Verein der Heckflossenfreunde" (Club of Fintail Friends) will celebrate its 20^th anniversary during the second weekend in May. We will list the museum tile auction on ebay.de and it will end during the event, on Saturday, May 10 in the evening (German time). We will publish the link to the auction here.

Why?

Any proceeds of the auction will benefit the Kolpingwerk (Site of the German Kolpingwerk). The Kolpingwerk will use the money to support vocational training programs for youth in developing countries in Latin America and Africa. Watch for further updates on the project on these pages.