It had been on my list for a long time. I finally managed to visit the Louwman Museum in the beautiful city of The Hague. Of course I had my cameras with me to take photos of the vehicles on display there. And it was worth it.
The exhibition concept is not content with special themes, be it Italian sports cars or racing cars from the seventies, no, the development of motorised mobility from the very beginning is presented in an impressive way. The Louwman Museum is a place where 130 years of progress, innovation and design are made visible and can be marvelled at with more than 275 exhibits.
The building, or rather the building complex, is already very impressive from the outside and promises a very large exhibition space. On the square in front of the entrance is a sculpture of a car driver with a steering wheel in his hand. The Louwman Museum is architecturally very attractive both from the outside and inside with its beautifully designed exhibition rooms. Partly flooded with light, partly with relatively dark corridors, visitors are constantly offered new impressions and perspectives.
The tour starts on the second floor, which can be reached by lift. From there, the journey begins through 130 years of history on wheels, on two and four. It starts with carriages and continues with the first motorised carriages, which still look like carriages. The ingenious thing about this exhibition concept is that it visualises the development of body design. The first motorised cars are still based on the typical carriage design with the large mudguards covering the free-standing wheels and a mostly open driver’s compartment. Then came the first closed vehicles where sometimes only the chauffeur sat outside.
The circular route in the Louwnan Museum takes visitors from one automotive highlight to the next. And always a little further along the timeline. A journey through the decades. And of course there are very special and unique exhibits from every era in the Louwman Museum. These include a Cadillac Fleetwood driven by Elvis Presley, James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger, a Lincoln V12 that made an appearance in ‘The Godfather 1’, several Bugatti cars, including a Type 57 Roadster Grand Raid Gangloff and a Type 50T Coach Profilée. A marvellous Chrysler Town & Country Barrel Back Wagon is also represented, as are several Mercedes SSKs and a Cord l-29 Cabriolet.
Two further highlights, each with its own room, are the light beige Daimler DK400 Golden Zebra Coupé and a yellow Pegaso Z-102 Cúpula, two wonderful examples of outstanding coachbuilding. Other highlights include the Mercedes Benz Type Nürburg 500, which once belonged to the last German emperor, Wilhelm II.
Almost at the end of the magnificent tour, the Italian section awaits the visitor with rare Ferrari’s, Maserati’s and a few very special Alfa Romeo. The predominant colour there is red, which is hardly surprising. From Ferrari there is a Type 166 Inter Coupé Touiring, a 750 Monza Scaglietti, 625 New Zealand Tasman, a beautiful green 500 Superfast and a few others.
What is particularly remarkable about the Louwman collection and the presentation of the vehicles is the proximity to the exhibits and the photographer-friendly and barely visible ‘barriers’.
There is also an extensive collection of paintings and memorabilia from automotive history. These collections are also beautifully arranged and presented. Once you have completed the tour and want to treat yourself to a coffee, a cool drink or a small snack, you are in for a real surprise.
The restaurant is located on a ‘historic market square’. You can see old house facades and cobblestones. Even the way there leads through a narrow alley with small shops in which car models and the like are decorated in the shop windows.
An open garage with workshop facilities can also be seen in the ‘marketplace’. The whole scenario is really more than just a simple backdrop. You at least feel like you’re in the perfect set of a Hollywood film. After having something to eat and drink during my visit, I took a second tour of the museum and discovered a few new things.
The whole exhibition concept of the Louwman Museum is very special and also educational, if you like. The journey through automotive history is very impressive. The collection is not just an exhibition of beautiful and special automobiles, but a representation of the progress of technology and design in automotive culture. You should definitely put the Louwman Museum on your to-do list, it’s definitely worth a visit. Find out more about our photographer Ralph Lüker.
