Car Museum Prototyp

The Prototyp Automobile Museum in Hamburg is a privately run museum dedicated to early Porsche designs as well as German sports and racing cars of the postwar era. Founded by Thomas König and Oliver Schmidt, it opened in April 2008 in the HafenCity district. The collection is housed in a landmark-protected former factory building of the Harburger Gummi-Kamm-Compagnie, built between 1902 and 1906 and located near the International Maritime Museum. Across 2,500 square meters of exhibition space on three levels, around 55 automobiles, engines, and models are displayed without obstructive barriers. The focus is on vehicles from the 1940s to the 1960s, including one-of-a-kind pieces such as the oldest Porsche 356 built in Germany, from 1950, and the Porsche Type 64 Berlin-Rome car. Since 2015, the collection has also included exhibits from the now-closed Trips Museum, such as prototypes of Formula Junior race cars. The concept links the vehicles with the stories of their designers and drivers, supported by informative text panels, display cases with everyday objects, a cinema, a model wind tunnel, an audio box with racing engine sounds, a library, and a driving simulator.