The land or state, once the kingdom, of Saxony was home to one of Europe’s most innovative engineering industries in the first half of the twentieth century, and a leading centre for the production of motor vehicles. Under the GDR motor manufacturing plants fell into disrepute because of their role in providing munitions to the Third Reich. Nevertheless the motor industry under the GDR was relatively innovative until it began to stagnate about 1970. Many of the marques which made Saxony famous, such as the Heros motorcycles made at Oderwitze, and the Presto cars and motorcycles produced in Chemnitz, are now largely forgotten. One of the objectives of the Museum of Saxon Road Vehicles is to perpetuate the memory of companies like Heros and Presto, together with Hiekel, Oruk, Schüttof and DKW, that once flourished in Saxony.
A club for the study of vehicles made in Saxony was established in 1993, and opened an exhibition of vehicles in the outbuildings of a medieval castle two years later. In 2008 the collection was moved to a more appropriate setting, a Hochgaragen (star garage), a prestigious seven-storey building in the International Modern style, built in 1928 when the motor industry in Saxon was at its most prosperous. The museum displays more than 200 motorcycles and cars manufactured in Saxony by more than 40 companies.