Trabant finally found a home

Enlarge image (© Volker Matten ) On 9 November 2011, Ambassador Thomas H. Meister officially handed over a “Trabant” car to the Southward Car Museum in Paraparaumu.
Kapiti Coast District Mayor Jenny Rowan and Stan Bellamore, the Southward trustee manager, also joined the event, which coincided with the 125^th birthday of the invention of the first automobile and the 22^nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In Germany, the automobile was invented in 1886 by Carl Benz (1844-1929) and developed further by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Since then, Germany has been one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers with a share of almost one fifth of the world's production.

More than 3,5 million VEB Sachsenring Trabants (colloquially known as the “Trabi”) were produced in the GDR between 1957 and 1991. Although the Trabant was known to be loud and polluting and susceptible to frequent repairs, owning a Trabant was something to be proud of, especially in view of its long delivery time of ten or more years. In those days, the Trabant was known as the "people's car” and for many middle-income families, it represented an entry into the automotive world. Much later, it became a style icon. Today, 36,000 Trabis are registered and many more are awaiting restoration.

The Trabant which was donated to the Southward Car Museum, was initially brought to New Zealand by the Goethe Institute as part of the first German Film Festival in 2009 and to bring to life the anniversaries of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany. In a road trip spanning one and a half years, the German Language Advisor used the Trabi to visit a around 50 schools and 200 classes throughout New Zealand.

Enlarge image (© Volker Matten) The event at the Southward Car Museum was opened by an address by Ambassador Thomas H. Meister. He spoke about the history of the car in general and quoted Kaiser Wilhelm II who was famously mistaken when he said: “I regard the automobile as a temporary phenomenon. I prefer to bet on a horse.”

Ambassador Meister pointed out that with more than 750,000 employees, the German automotive sector has become a vital economic factor. Germany's future perspective is to be among the innovators in the automotive field again by establishing a large market for („zero emission“) electric cars. The target is to have one million electric vehicles on the road in Germany by 2020.

Enlarge image (© Volker Matten) German Language Adviser Bernd Schliephake then recounted his experiences with the Trabi he had driven around New Zealand for one and a half years. He described how worried he had been about possible break-downs. However, after his initial reservations, he said that in the end, he had gotten really fond of the car.

Enlarge image (© Volker Matten )

The speeches were followed by a guided tour through the museum`s collection. During their walk around the museum, the visitors were told details of its German automobiles and shown many of its interesting exhibits.