A private collection can be extraordinary and still remain socially narrow. It becomes more significant when it is turned outward. Friedhelm Loh's museum is compelling for that reason. The cars would be notable even behind closed doors, but opening them to the public changes the story from one of personal wealth and taste into something closer to cultural stewardship.
The collection ranges from pre-war European classics to the most advanced contemporary hypercars. The centrepiece exhibits include a Bugatti Centodieci — one of only 10 ever built, priced at 8 million euros when new — a Mercedes-AMG One, and a Ferrari F1-2000, the car with which Michael Schumacher won the 2000 Formula 1 World Championship in what was his first title with Ferrari. The F1-2000 is one of several racing cars in the collection alongside road-going examples from virtually every significant European manufacturer.
Loh decision to create a public museum rather than maintain his collection privately is a significant act of cultural stewardship. Automotive museums of this calibre are rare — the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and the Cité de l Automobile in Mulhouse are comparable in ambition — and Germany, despite being the birthplace of the automobile, lacked a single institution that collected across all eras and all manufacturers. The Nationales Auto Museum fills that gap with a collection that no institution assembling cars from scratch could replicate for any sum of money.
