Museum covering more than 125 years of carmaking in Eisenach – from the Wartburg Motorwagen to Dixi and BMW to the East German Wartburg – in the historic factory building O2.
Compares three cars each from East and West Germany, along with motorcycles and bicycles, and explores mobility and everyday life in the divided country. No end date has been published.
Om museet
Eisenach is one of Germany's oldest automobile manufacturing locations. In 1896, industrialist Heinrich Ehrhardt founded the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which soon afterward built the first Wartburg Motorwagen. Later, Dixi-brand cars rolled off the assembly line here, before BMW took over the plant in 1928 and produced, among other models, the 328 sports car. After World War II, the plant first produced vehicles under Soviet administration as EMW; from the mid-1950s, it built the Wartburg, which remained in production until 1991. Since 1992, Opel has been manufacturing cars in a new plant in Eisenach.
A first automobile museum, the Wartburg-Pavillon on Wartburgallee, opened on October 27, 1967, and welcomed its millionth visitor just ten years later. After German reunification, the exhibition had to make way and from 1994 could only be seen in a temporary setting. On June 4, 2005, the museum opened in the listed building O2 of the former automobile plant, which BMW had built in the mid-1930s; the building was renovated through 2016.
Since April 2014, the Stiftung Automobile Welt Eisenach has run the museum. The collection ranges from the Wartburg Motorwagen through Dixi and BMW models to EMW, Wartburg, and Opel, and also includes motorcycles and testimonies of the plant's history. Changing special exhibitions explore individual chapters – in 2026, for example, carmaking in East and West.
Højdepunkter
Wartburg Motorwagen from the early days of carmaking in Eisenach
Prewar Dixi and BMW vehicles
EMW and Wartburg models from East German production
Listed factory building O2 with a view of the Wartburg
Special exhibition on carmaking in East and West (2026)
Permanente udstillinger
Eisenacher Automobilbau seit 1896 – Vehicles and documents from the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach through Dixi, BMW, and EMW to the Wartburg and Opel.
Grundlagt
1967
Ejer
Stiftung Automobile Welt Eisenach
Ledelse
Enrico Martin (geschäftsführender Museumsleiter) und Dr. Jessica Lindner-Elsner (wissenschaftliche Museumsleiterin)
Entrépriser & rabatter
Voksne
12 €
Nedsat pris
6 €School students, university students, apprentices, people with severe disabilities
Børn og unge
6 €gratis til og med 6 år · Children up to age 6 free; school students pay the reduced price.
Personer med handicap
6 €The price list gives a rate of €4.50 for companions.
Studerende og elever
6 €
Grupper (fra 10 pers.)
9 € pr. personSchool groups of 10 or more €4.50 per person.
Familier
30 €2 adults with up to 3 children or grandchildren up to age 16.
Companion
4,50 €
Guided tour for adult groups (60 min.)
80 €plus admission
Guided tour for school groups (60 min.)
40 €plus admission
Tilgængelighed
Kørestolsvenlig
Elevator: ingen oplysninger
Handicaptoilet: ingen oplysninger
Handicapparkering: ingen oplysninger
Servicehunde tilladt: ingen oplysninger
Taktile tilbud: ingen oplysninger
Rundvisninger på tegnsprog: ingen oplysninger
Letlæste tilbud: ingen oplysninger
Synstolkning: ingen oplysninger
The exhibition and event spaces are generally accessible and reachable for wheelchair users; in some areas of the first floor, aids are needed, and staff will help.
Børn og familie
Velegnet til børn og familier
Entré for børn
gratis til og med 6 år
Familiebillet
30 € · 2 adults with up to 3 children or grandchildren up to age 16.
Opgavehæfte, skattejagt eller audioguide for børn
Dedicated audio guide for children. Children up to 6 years old have free admission.
Transport & parkering
I bil
Gratis parkering
Free parking behind the museum. Groups with multiple vehicles, please register in advance; the gate to the parking lot at the Ostkantine will then be opened.
Audio guide for adults and children. Group tour “Geschichte des Eisenacher Automobilbaus” (History of Carmaking in Eisenach; 60 minutes) by appointment with visitor services. Virtual tour online.