Lucerne Transport Museum with new Road Transport Hall

There were several factors that prompted exhibition manager Daniel Geissmann to upgrade the Road Traffic Hall and rearrange the exhibition. First, the owner of the Monteverdi Museum in Binningen BL was looking for a solution for his unique collection, which serves as a witness to modern Swiss automotive engineering. Since 1985, the collection, which includes at least one of every model built, had been housed in the former production facilities. On the other hand, the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (bfu) was looking for new ways of expressing itself in relation to the road.

To create the necessary space, an additional floor was built. On the upper floor are two-wheelers, motorcycles and tricycles. The new mezzanine is dedicated to Monteverdi and racing. The theme of Switzerland as a country of cars is also shown, with the importance of the supply industry. The first floor is dedicated to commercial traffic and, as before, to the arena of the showroom, although this is more backlit and the products are therefore more visible. The new mirror world is the idea of bfu, which, incidentally, has been present at the Museum of Transport since 1980 with the theme of road safety. "The experience, the impressions, the questions should stimulate each individual to think and help to make road traffic a bit safer for themselves and for all other road users," explains Brigitte Buhmann, director of the bfu, on the occasion of the inauguration to the mirror world. Concrete instructions for action in road traffic were deliberately omitted.

Jürg Röthlisberger, Director of the Federal Roads Office Astra since 2015, also spoke at the inauguration ceremony. Emotionality was the motto of his short speech. Thus, he called for road traffic legislation to become more human again: "As much good as Via Sicura has brought, it has become a harsh legal construct and must become more human again."

For Paul Berger, former partner of Peter Monteverdi and president of the Monteverdi Automotive Foundation, it was a great day: "The Monteverdi Collection has found a home again." In this context, 2017 has a special significance, because Monteverdi had presented its first model, the High Speed 375 S, 50 years ago. However, 2017 also brings another anniversary to bear in the Road Transport Hall: 200 years ago, the bicycle was invented.

The Museum of Transport Lucerne is open all year round, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer and until 5 p.m. in winter. All information also on the new Road Transport Hall at www.verkehrshaus.ch