Special exhibits

• Steam-powered car by Gustav Adolf Schöche

  August Horch is probably a familiar name to most car enthusiasts. But what about Gustav Adolf Schöche? The name of this Dresden-based master smith has faded into obscurity, even though he was already wheeling round Saxony in an automobile nine years before Horch. Of course, it was powered by steam, not internal combustion. Schöche finished his steam-powered car in 1895, making it the first automobile to be driven in the kingdom of Saxony.

  

• Plauen balloon basket

  Today as ordinary as riding a bike, but once a seductive challenge for bold men and women: flying. Those who stepped into a wicker basket belonging to a hot air balloon in the early 20th century were taking their life into their hands. In 1908, for example, wind drove the Plauen, a reproduction can be viewed at the museum, and its two occupants away from Berlin and out over the North Sea, where it drifted just above the water’s surface for hours. The two balloonists were only rescued by chance. The captain of a fishing vessel came across them, and pulled them from the waves.

  

• Eigenbau motorboat

  In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), very few people could afford to buy a newly manufactured boat. The Eigenbau (do-it-yourself) “brand” was more affordable, with people customarily using parts that had originally been made for other purposes. For example, the motor for this motorboat came from a Wartburg automobile and the steering wheel from a Škoda. This boat embarked on its maiden voyage in 1968, after two years in construction.

  

• “Hillman Minx”

  Most automobiles in our exhibition are no longer roadworthy. One exception, however, is our Hillman Minx IIIA (constructed in 1960, 55 HP), which we regularly take to vintage car rallies. These cars were manufactured by the British Rootes Group and imported to the GDR in unknown quantities in the 1950s/1960s. They were given to doctors, lawyers, etc. in an attempt by the state government to get them to stay in the GDR. The irony of the story: the former owner fled to West Germany in this Hillman model in November 1989, shortly before the wall fell.

  

• Böhmerland motorcycle

  Textile manufacturer Albin Liebisch produced motorcycles in small series in the Czech Republic from 1924 to 1938. His creations were bespoke, meeting customer specifi­cations in terms of colour, handlebar style and other details. So no one machine was exactly like another. Thanks to the extremely long chassis, it could rightly be called the first “family bike”, as it offered space for three people.

  

• Muldenthal steam locomotive

  The Muldenthal was the first large exhibit in the Transport Museum and has been on display since 1956. Today, it is the oldest fully preserved German-built locomotive. In 1861, the locomotive was commis­sioned by Bockwaer Kohleneisenbahn-Gesellschaft and made to order at the Richard Hartmann machine works in Chemnitz. It served as a shunting locomotive thereafter.

  

• NSU Fiat

  The NSU-Fiat 1100 is a rare exhibit, as it is one of just 19 examples of this model left in existence, with a bodywork by the Dresden firm Gläser. Founded in 1929 with support from Dresden Bank and Fiat, NSU Automobil GmbH manufactured Fiat models under licence for the German market until 1941. This NSU Fiat 1100 is to be restored over the next few years, re-using as many original parts as possible. This will be funded by the museum and suitable partner companies.