Mobility and power go together – cars represent power

Mobility and power go together. Before the 'age of the car', it was horses and the magnificent coaches they drew by which those in power travelled, performed social duties and ruled. In late antiquity and the early Middle Ages they arranged to be interred together with their steeds in so-called «horse burials», and their seals depicted them on horseback, in armour, often with a weapon held in a threatening posture, and with the animal advancing dynamically.

After the First World War, those in power tended more and more to arrive in large cars. Official cars symbolised the power and dignity of the state. They signified prestige and stood for modernity.

Mercedes-Benz used that prestige for its top-of-the-range models and almost developed a monopoly as the make most favoured by those in power. With Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) – federal chancellor from 1949 to 1963 – , the Mercedes 300, presented in 1951, found its way into German history. It was the first German luxury car after the war. With the political number one, the 300 became the automotive number one – photos in the film and print media multiplied that message in a kind of free image advertising. For decades, the Mercedes S-Class was the staff car of German politicians and, to a great extent, that of international politics as a whole. It was not until the era of federal chancellor Gerhard Schröder (1998-2005) that the monopoly Mercedes had on the official state cars of the chancellors came to an end.