The picturesque city of Zwickau is home to the expanded August Horch Museum, which presents more than a century of automobile production in the German state of Saxony. Housed in buildings that once formed the original Audi factory, the museum traces the development of German carmaking, including the early years of the Audi brand and the region’s production of the Trabant — a compact vehicle emblematic of the former East Germany.
The recent expansion adds roughly 38,000 square feet by repurposing a separate building from 1910 that was also part of the old factory complex. Linked to the original museum by a glass foyer, the new wing houses a restaurant, an educational center, additional exhibition galleries and an interactive area where visitors can test their mechanical skills on a Trabant, watch displays featuring Auto Union’s historic Silver Arrows racing cars and learn about GDR-era vehicle production.
Guided tours can be arranged with English-speaking guides, and English-language audio guides are available for independent visitors. Tours typically include a visit to the villa on the factory grounds that once belonged to August Horch, offering a glimpse of the personal history behind the company. Allow time for a driving-themed itinerary while in the region: Zwickau sits in an area rich with automotive heritage and is within reasonable distance of other major manufacturing centers in Leipzig and Dresden, associated with brands such as Porsche, BMW and Volkswagen.
