INTERNATIONAL SCOOTERING GALLERY


Kruger Motoroller Museum

Rudesheim, Germany  

The Kruger Motorroller Museum has to be one of the most exceptional and diverse scooter collections in the world. It includes more than one hundred scooters from fourteen countries, all in original condition.

The unparalleled collection is housed in a picturesque three-story building along the beautiful Rhine River. Common, rare, and one of kind scooters are on display in large rooms on three floors. The walls are adorned with nostalgic Vespa posters, calendars and photographs. The most unique are on display in the main lobby surrounded by marble floors and ornate columns.
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KRUGER MOTORROLLER MUSEUM
RUDESHIEM, GERMANY

By Alan Dollar
The Kruger Motorroller Museum has to be one of the most exceptional and diverse scooter collections in the world. It includes more than one hundred scooters from fourteen countries, all in original condition.

Hans Kruger was a famous Vespa racer in Germany in the fifties and sixties. Since his stoke he is confined to a wheel chair. Running the museum, coffee shop and selling Vespa parts is an undertaking for the entire family.

Hans and Elizabeth Kruger met in the 1950’s in a Vespa club. They were married on a Vespa and Elizabeth was driven to the hospital to have their first child, on a Vespa!

I found out about the collection in 1998, one month before a planned visit to Germany to teach Okinawan Karate. By chatting with scooter enthusiasts in that country on the Internet, I was told that a side trip to the museum would be well worth the time. The array of fabulous scooters was awesome!

The unparalleled collection is housed in a picturesque three-story building along the beautiful Rhine River. Common, rare, and one of kind scooters are on display in large rooms on three floors. The walls are adorned with nostalgic Vespa posters, calendars and photographs. The most unique are on display in the main lobby surrounded by marble floors and ornate columns.

Hans Kruger began by collecting only Vespas. About twenty years and sixty scooters later he started collecting the “Kontraste”, as he calls them. They include other makes as Heinkel, Lambretta, Maico, Durkop and so forth.

In the beginning he sold German made Vespa parts, then expanded into the display of his collection to the public. The first museum was located on a former chicken ranch until it was brought to Rudeshiem, a popular tourist town on the Rhine. The large building and basement are not large enough to house the entire collection. There is no room for Vespa cars, Ape, Citron and a myriad of others that are stored in old bunkers.

My first visit lasted only three hours. I photographed every scooter in the place, bought some memorabilia and hopped back on the train with my head spinning at the scooter spectacle. I returned two years later and stayed overnight in a hotel next door to the museum. I spent more than eight hours in the museum, taking more photos and cataloging every scooter on display.

Mr. Kruger became concerned and spoke to me through his son-in–law, Jurgen, because he thought I was writing a book. I assured him I was only documenting the astounding display for my own photo collection and to show my scooter friends in America.

What he did next was shocking. He was helped out of his wheelchair and began slowly climbing the stairs, motioning for me to follow. Jurgen told me that Mr. Kruger wanted to give me a personal tour! I hardly understood a word he said but I was in awe to receive a personal tour from this scooter legend. He paused at his racing Vespa, number 11, and patted it affectionately. I could see that Vespa was one of his true loves in life!

In April 2001, the entire collection was moved from scenic Rudesheim on the Rhine and relocated to Aschaffenburg, an industrial city near Frankfurt the Kruger collection is now part of the amazing Rosso Bianco automobile collection, a display of the world’s most unique automobiles and motorcycles. I visited there in June.

The quaint atmosphere of the old museum along the Rhine is gone and I missed visiting with my friends in the Kruger family. The display, however, is awesome. All the scooters are more easily viewed and photographed, as they are now located in one gigantic hall of the six-hall auto museum. Hans and Elizabeth Kruger visit their collection on weekends.

Visiting this remarkable historic display three times has inspired my own collection and restoration efforts here at home. According to my wife all I am doing is spending to damn much time in the garage!

I highly recommend visiting this wonderful scooter, automobile and motorcycle display. It will leave you with visions of Vespa, Moby, Zundap, Gogo and others spinning in your head!

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updated 8/19/06