70 glorious years

For anyone planning a trip to Germany, now is the perfect time to pay a visit to Ingolstadt and the home of the Audi brand as it marks 70 years in the Bavarian city. Although there is always something happening at the sprawling Audi site in Ingolstadt to make the journey worthwhile, this milestone is being celebrated with a number of historic exhibitions at the site that will thrill automotive enthusiasts and fans of the brand with the four rings.

Home not just to Audi headquarters but also the brand’s largest production site worldwide, this town on Danube, just 50 minutes north of Munich is steeped in the brand’s history. The three special exhibitions entitled ‘Audi in Ingolstadt: Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow’ were opened this week in the Audi Forum by Albert Mayer, plant manager at the Ingolstadt site, and Thomas Frank, Managing Director of Auto Union GmbH. The highlight is the extraordinary temporary exhibition ‘W49’ in the Audi museum mobile, which lasts until the end of February 2020. Two additional exhibitions are open to to the public until September 21, 2019. 

‘W49 – New Start in Ingolstadt’ temporary exhibition at Audi museum mobile, celebrates the date September 3, 1949, which marks the founding of Auto Union GmbH in Ingolstadt.

The company began production in old buildings of the former Ingolstadt fortress, and so began a a success story for both the car manufacturer and Ingolstadt.
With the ‘W49’ exhibit, Audi takes a very special look back on the connection between the company and the city, with’49 standing for the year it all began and the ‘W’ which originally meant ‘West’ and distinguished the first motorcycle built in Ingolstadt from those built in the ‘East’.

For the purposes of the exhibition though, the W also stands for any number of other things. From the German “Weggang” it stands for ‘departure’. From “Wiederaufbau” it stands for ‘reconstruction’. “Wagemut” – adventurousness, “Wachstum” – growth,“Wirtschaftskraft” – economic strength and “Wandel der Zeit” – change over time. The small company named Auto Union GmbH has since evolved into a prestige manufacturer of automobiles with worldwide operations, and the small provincial town has developed into a dynamic and economically strong city – Audi and Ingolstadt.
Audi is exhibiting the first products of the newly founded Auto Union GmbH, including the DKW Schnelllaster and the DKW RT 125 W motorcycle, as well as other important models from the early automotive production.

Another special exhibition showcases other important models like the DKW Junior de Luxe, the rebirth of Audi in 1965, and the absolute bestsellers for the site – the Audi 80 and Audi A4. The legendary quattro drive is also given its due in this special exhibition. One commercial from the past sparked a furor at the time: In 1986, rally driver Harald Demuth drove an Audi 100 CS quattro up the Pitkävuori ski jump in Finland. A series of photos shows this historical highlight and remakes of the commercial in 2005 and 2019. 

For motoring aficionados, this is the perfect opportunity to head north from Munich to help celebrate the brand’s proud history.