May 22nd to 25th sees a new and lavish celebration of classic engineering on land, sea and in the air, at Klassikwelt Bodensee in Friedrichshafen, Germany. More than 50,000 square metres of exhibition space will be devoted to the displays of historic cars, boats and aircraft.

Berthold Porath, Klassikwelt Bodensee Project Director, is pleased with the enthusiastic response from the industry: “Two hundred and fifty exhibitors will be spread across eight exhibition halls, plus there are six major displays and a host of different attractions out on Lake Bodensee, along the waterfront promenade and on the airfield.”

From left to right: Roland Bosch, Director of Corporate Development, and Berthold Porath, Project Director of Klassikvelt Bodensee

Prof. Seger from the University of Stuttgart commented that the region’s history was “the foundation stone” of the new event. A hundred years ago, this area of Germany was the ‘Silicon Valley of mobility’, home to the construction of airships and the creation of the Zeppelin Foundation, and the base of pioneers such as Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, Claude Dornier, Karl Maybach and Ferdinand Porsche.

The work of many of these pioneers will be represented at Klassikwelt Bodensee, in some instances by their grandchildren, with the grandson of Claude Dornier displaying aircraft such as the Alpha Jet. The Zeppelin Museum in Hall A1 shows the history of Zeppelins and the Maybach Club Germany will present selected Maybach models. Porsche lovers know that no collection is complete without a Porsche tractor – and there will be several examples of these famous red machines at the event.

Among the aquatic classics is luxury brand Riva, with the Riva Club Germany exhibiting some floating legends, while that great London landmark the Ace Café makes a temporary move to Germany, to form the backdrop for the English motorbikes. Historic racing cars will be giving demonstration laps and visitors can get up close to these classic racers in the paddock. The Flying Bulls will give a spectacular air show and visitors can take trips on Riva and Bösch boats or even a flight aboard a Zeppelin NT.

Land, sea or air – how best to travel to the show? There are several attractive options, with drivers of classic cars gaining free admission and reserved parking at the event. Or you could opt to travel via steam train from Lindau, over water on the steamship Hohentwiehl or on a classic coach from the airfield.

For more information see www.klassikwelt-bodensee.de.

Text: Classic Driver
Photos: www.klassikwelt-bodensee.de