ABSTRACT
The German Allgemeinen Schnauferl-club galvanized the classic car movement in Europe with its silver anniversary festival of “historic automobiles” in 1925. The official opening of the museum took place in 1936, which was also timed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of the automobile and to capitalize on the large number of foreign visitors attending the Olympic Games Germany was hosting that year. Private collections of historic automobiles have been around since the 1930s in North America and Europe. Shipping of the old vehicles, often in a derelict state, proved to be one of the key issues. Most of the vehicles were manufactured under the Austro-Hungarian monarchy or were used by citizens of the empire. Road vehicles were placed between heavy machinery and railways. World War-I halted museum development, though a few objects from the collection, including its most crucial motor vehicle, the Marcus car, were shown at the 1916 Kriegsaustellung.
