Mercedes-Benz congratulates BMW on its centenary with a special offer

The Mercedes-Benz Museum is congratulating BMW on its hundred-year anniversary with an invitation: from March 8-13, 2016, employees of Bayerische Motorenwerke (BMW), which was founded on 7 March 1916, will enjoy free admission to the museum in Stuttgart.

Those arriving in a BMW will be allowed to park free of charging in a prominent position directly outside the entrance on the hill. The restaurant will additionally serve up a special Swabian speciality for the first 50 BMW employees at the end of their tour of 130 years of automotive history.

Bayerische Motorenwerke (BMW) was founded in Munich 100 years ago, on 7 March 1916. This marked the birth of a now world-renowned brand. The founding of BMW occurred in the eventful early heyday of automotive history: 30 years before, Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler had invented the automobile independently of one another in 1886. And 10 years later, Daimler-Benz AG arose with the new Mercedes-Benz brand from the amalgamation of Benz & Cie. and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG).

"We warmly congratulate BMW on its anniversary and invite all employees of BMW AG to discover the complete history of the automobile at the Mercedes-Benz Museum," says Ralf Glaser, Head of Press and Marketing at Mercedes-Benz Classic. "The unique exhibition at our museum, which opened at its new location 10 years ago, takes visitors throughout the history of the automobile from its earliest beginnings – always in the context of the given historical and cultural background and contemporary innovative developments."

Free admission for employees of BMW AG applies upon presentation of an employee ID card in the tenth calendar week, from 8 to 13 March, during regular opening hours at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. As a special gesture, all those guests from the BMW workforce who turn up in a vehicle produced by the Munich-based company will be allowed to park on the hill directly in front of the museum in the scheduled week. This will not be such a rare spectacle, as numerous classic BMW vehicles also visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum at the popular ‘Cars & Coffee’ classic car meetings which are open to all brands. ‘Cars & Coffee’ forms part of the museum's successful summer programme, which features numerous highlights this year to mark its ten-year anniversary.

Finally, on the culinary front, the Stuttgart museum is rounding off its birthday greetings with a special invitation to the first 50 BMW employees: following their tour of the exhibition, they are cordially invited to partake of a Swabian speciality citing the double kidney shape of the signature BMW radiator grille.

Also read: BMW hints at a new car as it kicks-off its centenary celebrations