To
Einbeck and Back.
So
what is there to do in August? There is a summer holiday? Not sure
about the summer bit and there is going somewhere special. First of
all was the International Citroen Car Club meeting in the Netherlands
and the main reason for heading off in the El Cid my kit car that
looks like a Citroen Mehari and based on a 2CV to be like minded
people and also to visit the Burton Car works as I'm building one and
needed some guidance. This was at Zutphen some 10km from the rally.
As is my luck rain followed me around (I am the Rainmeister) After
this rally I went on to Germany and the very picturesque town of
Einbeck in lower Saxony. It has many historical buildings from before
14 century and very cute they are too. However this is not my main
interest what is of interest is the PS Speicher Museum there. This
part of it has lots of bikes and some small cars in it and has a
racing exhibition. The Freigeist Hotel next door is where we stayed.
Long suffering Gita needed some luxury after a very damp rally. The
hotel four star and has a motoring theme with a four wheeler bubble
car truck in the foyer and motorcycles and scooters bolted to the
wall high above there is even a table made from a nine cylinder
radial engine.
On each floor there are murals of bike, car and cycling events. It is worth a walk around on its own. Not only does the hotel embrace the spirit of the museum but the town does as well with pictures of bikes on garage doors and alleyways. Surprising for such a quaint town.
The Museum itself is a converted mill with lots
of new additions and has now been open for about two years. It is
part of a bigger collection of cars, aeroplanes and memorabilia. I
didn't realise it but they were closed on Mondays as are are most
German museums. I arrived on a Monday and got as far as the entrance
foyer. The guys I met there were Sascha Fillies and Soren Affeldt and
they agreed I could get in on the Tuesday an hour early. This mean't,
instead of a whole day, I had three hours to look around before
heading back to Holland and some work on the ageing carburettor of
the car. I can honestly say three hours was not long enough to see
all the displays and read the information, much of which was in
English. The displays start with early bicycles and motorcycles like
the Hildebrand and Wolfmuller 1894 and a replica of the wooden framed
Daimler from the same era.
As you would expect the museum has mostly
German motorcycles on display with many Triumphs of TWNs (Triumph
Werks Neurberg) and DKW, NSU, Adler and many more. The number of
manufacturers were as many as in the UK.
There is even a Norton
Commando on display as well as a Munch Mammoth but what was a
surprise was the carousel of scooters in a coffee bar setting. A
great deal of thought and effort has gone into this museum. The
displays start on the top floor with the oldest exhibits and as you
return to the ground floor you move through different decades.
I
could have been lost for days! This is a museum I need to return to.
Just a little coincidence I have just finished reading about
Granville Bradshaw and he had involvement with the Bond three
wheelers and Nick Witherspoon who wrote about “Lawrie Bond - The
man and the marque” was due to arrive later that day. There is a
small car display that includes many of the famous three wheelers
from the fifties like Heinkel, Isseta, Messchersmidt and of course
Bond. It was only a 1200 mile round trip so perhaps I might fly the
next time or could I combine it with the Wey Valley French trip to
Luxembourg next year?
