1. Deutsches Polizeioldtimer Museum

Description

The 1. Deutsche Polizeioldtimer-Museum in Marburg brings together artefacts of police vehicle history and focuses on the technical development and operational equipment of the German police.

The museum is located in the Wehrshausen district (Neuhöfe quarter) of the city of Marburg and is run by the Polizei-Motorsport-Club Marburg 1990 e. V. Its origins go back to the club’s collecting activities, which initially formed only a secondary aspect of its work. On 24 June 2000 the museum was established as part of the club’s tenth anniversary; the first historic acquisition was an Opel Rekord P1 from the 1950s, obtained in 1991. After conversion work, the official inauguration took place on 12 July 2003.

The exhibits are maintained by volunteers and form the core of the presentation. The collection comprises more than one hundred historic police vehicles of various types, including motorcycles, patrol cars, armoured special vehicles, water cannon and heavy response vehicles; a Schwimmwagen is also on display. Some vehicles were faithfully reconstructed from several models. The vehicle collection is complemented by information panels, photographic documents and objects that illustrate the motorisation of the German police, especially in the post-war period.

Vehicles from the collection are occasionally used for film and television productions; in 2007, for example, five operational vehicles were made available for filming the feature film Der Baader Meinhof Komplex. For the restoration of a BMW 501, known from the series Funkstreife Isar 12, the restoration team received the Goldene Klassik-Lenkrad in 2014. In 2020 the association was awarded the Otto-Ubbelohde-Preis, the highest cultural honour of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district.