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BMW Club Europa meeting

Vosges 2006

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BCE Meeting Vosges:France 2006 - SCHLUMPF Collection - Mulhouse

Bugatti Royal - Type 41

One year later the Mulhouse National Automobile Museum opened it doors. The affair finally ended in 1996 when the French government was sentenced to pay 25 million francs to the liquidators in compensation for the loss incurred when the collection was classified a historical monument. This ended the Schlumpf affair.

In March 2000 the Museum opened after an update of the latest technical developments to create the best possible conditions for visitors, but still keeping the Main Hall with lampposts, which still to this day leave visitors speechless.

On March 7th 1977, the day before the museum was to open, the workers took over the HKC plant, and were amazed at what they found. Hundreds of exceptional cars all lined up in gleaming rows. Torn between and anger and fascination, they immediately understood the leverage this collection provided. The workers band together and occupied the building for two years, and opened the museum with over 800,000 visitors during their stay.

In 1978 the French Council of State decreed that the collection of 285 vehicles would be classified a “historical monument”, ensuring that the cars would not leave the France. On April 1981 the collection was sold for 44 million francs to an association consisting of the city of Mulhouse, the department, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Pandard, the Salon de I’Auto association and the state.

The Schlumpf collection reached 500 cars, being housed in the empty HKC (Heilmann, Koechlin & Cie) plant in Mulhouse as a restoration workshop with forty employees and future location for the Museum. Remodelling work of the factory began in 1974 when the walls were removed and over 800 lampposts – all identical copies of the lamps on the Alexander III Bridge in Paris were installed.

Fritz began to neglect his business and devote himself entirely to his collection. When the textile industry spiralled into an economic slump, he no longer had enough money to modernise the building. In June 1976, the Schlumpf brothers offered to sell their factories for a symbolic sum of one Franc, before leaving for Basel. Their debts were so great that no one came forward to purchase the property.

The Mulhouse National Automobile Museum is a fascinating story

It starts with the Schlumpf brothers, Hans and Fritz. Hans a Banker and Fritz ran their textile industrial empire. Fritz Schlumpf also loved cars and purchased his first Bugatti just after the Second World War. In 1960, he started amassing a collection that he one day intended to exhibit in a museum dedicated to his mother Jeanne. Who's portrait holds a place of honour as you enter the museum surrounded by her son Fritz's favourite cars.

Fritz searched far and wide for cars he wanted to add to his collection. Often using a network of intermediaries, sometimes dealing with owners or manufacturers direct. One purchase was the Shakespeare collection. Fritz had a passion for Bugatti and wanted to own as many as possible. In 1962 he discovered the rich American John W. Shakespeare wished to sell his collection of 30 Bugatti's, among which was one of only six Bugatti Royale. Negotiations dragged on for two years, with the two men never meeting, after haggling, agreement was reached on March 30th 1964, and the collection left Illinois for Mulhouse.