General view of the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany today. The futuristic building that will house the museum will be inaugurated on January 28 and will open to the public on January 31 after three years in the making. Photo: EFE/Bernd Weissbrod

STUTTGART.- In the new Porsche Museum the final preparations are made for the opening on Saturday 31 January 2009. At last, now that the scaffolding has been removed, it is possible to see to the full extent the bold architecture of the building at the head office premises of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG in Zuffenhausen: The 5,600 square metres of exhibition space are supported on just three so-called cores of reinforced concrete – hence just seeming to hover in space. Inside the building the majority of approximately 80 exhibits are already in place.

In the other areas of the new building – amongst them the museum workshops, the museum shop, the Porsche archive, an exclusive restaurant, a bistro and the capacious event areas – a team of experts are busy putting the finishing touches. Three days after the ceremonial opening, which takes place on Wednesday the 28 January 2009, the doors of the new Porsche Museum will be flung open to welcome the first visitors. On a daily basis, apart from Mondays, the exhibition can be viewed for an admission price of eight Euros (reduced price: four Euros). Children up to the age of 14 get free admission when accompanied by an adult.

The restaurant on the second floor – which has both a view through the glass facade onto the Porscheplatz as well as through the glass partition into the exhibition itself – has its own separate entrance and is also open at hours different from those of the museum itself.

With the new museum and its range of catering facilities additional capacity for conferences, company and private events in exceptional surroundings will come into being.

A man observes several cars at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany today. The futuristic building that will house the museum will be inaugurated on January 28 and will open to the public on January 31 after three years in the making. Photo: EFE/Bernd Weissbrod