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Drive Deutschland

Edited by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady

Germany’s new car brochure highlights the diversity and richness of the country’s car and motorcycle culture, production facilities, museums, car and motorbike scenic driving routes.

History, passion and technology are the defining characteristics of Germany’s car industry and its global brands. Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen are world famous for their innovation and quality. In the new brochure, "Drive Deutschland" car enthusiasts can read about the more than 25 car museums complete with children’s campuses; scenic driving routes; famous Formula 1 race tracks and company theme parks. In 16 colorful and informative pages, the brochure covers car attractions in the north, south, east and west of Germany including museums, state of the art production facilities, their opening hours and websites. There is also a map detailing exactly where all of the various car sites are located in Germany.

Taking a quick spin through Germany, one can start in the North in Wolfsburg with VW’s futuristic production center. Children from three to 93 can take driving tests, experience car testing and view the company’s fantastic storage silos. www.autostadt.de In Dresden, in the eastern state of Saxony, men in white coats and gloves put together VW’s Phaeton, among other models, in the company’s completely transparent (glass) factory. www.glaesernemanufaktur.de In Dresden’s city center, visitors can tour the city in Trabants (Trabis) from the former East Germany. www.trabi-safari.de For those who like faster cars, Porsche builds its Cayenne models in Leipzig www.porsche-leipzig.com and right nearby is Zaha Hadid's new Central Building for BMW. www.bmw-werk-leipzig.de

Heading west, one hour outside of Frankfurt, the Automobile and Technology Museum in Sinsheim has more than 3,000 exhibits, including vintage cars, racing cars, motorbikes, and even airplanes on display. www.museum-sinsheim.de In Stuttgart the recently opened futuristic Mercedes Benz Museum has, for the first time, enough room to show the company’s complete automobile collection. Combine the visit to the new museum with a behind the scenes tour of the Mercedes Benz Plant in Sindelfingen and a visit of the small museums on Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, the inventors of the world’s first petrol-engined vehicles. www.mercedes-benz.com The new Porsche Museum currently being built in Stuttgart is set to bring the history of Porsche to life. The old museum will remain open until the new museum is ready in 2008. www.porsche.com Driving further south and east to Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm in Bavaria, Audi combines both past and future in its two Audi Forums. www.audi.com And, one hour south in Munich, BMW looks forward to welcoming visitors to its new center, BMW World, in the spring of 2007. www.bmw-welt.com Visitors also will enjoy the extensive car and motor exhibitions at the German Museum in Munich.

Visitors not only enjoy the thrill of the Autobahn but also can experience the challenge of a Formula 1 Race Track. The Nuerburg Ring www.nuerburgring.de and the Hockenheim Ring www.hockenheimring.de stage a wide variety of exiting events from Formula 1 and the German Touring Car Championship to the Motorcycle Grand Prix. Courageous car fans can actually take test drives with race car drivers and get behind the wheel themselves.

To order your new brochure or to plan an auto trip to Germany go to www.ComeToGermany.com

Madelyn Miller is a travel and food writer. You can see her articles on www.travellady.com, www.carladynews.com, www.chocolateatlas.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.teaAtlas.com and others.

Photos courtesy of www.romantikhotels.com

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