35 Years of Trabant — Oldtimer Event Zwickau

Trabant — Myth, Symbol, Industrial History

The Trabant is more than just a car: it is a symbol of GDR mobility, the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, and an East German identity that lives on after reunification in memorial culture and a vibrant classic car scene. For over four decades — from 1957 to 1991 — the Trabant was manufactured at VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke in Zwickau: three model generations (P50, P60, 601), with a total of over three million vehicles produced. The end of production on April 30, 1991, is not just the end of a brand, but a symbol of the economic upheaval in the new federal states. 35 years later, Zwickau dedicates its own special day to this date.

Programme in the City Centre

The special day on April 30, 2026, will take place at three locations: the former JOH department store on Marienstraße will host a three-part window exhibition about the Trabant in the GDR and during the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. At 1 p.m., a parade of historic Trabants will start from the August Horch Museum, driving through the city centre to the Hauptmarkt. At 2 p.m., representatives of the InterTrab e.V. association and the Economic Development Agency will officially open the event at the JOH department store. The programme in the city centre runs until 5 p.m. with expert technical discussions, rare vehicle variants (Wankel Trabant, Diesel experimental vehicles, Pick-up), and culinary offerings.

August Horch Museum and Zwickau's Automotive History

Zwickau is one of Germany's most important automotive cities. August Horch founded his car company here in 1904 — which later became Audi. In the GDR, Trabants were built at the Sachsenring works; today, Volkswagen operates electric ID production at the same site. The August Horch Museum on Audistraße comprehensively documents this history — from the first Horch sports car to the last Trabants. The special day '35 Years of Trabant' temporarily extends the museum exhibition into the city centre.

Zwickau in West Saxony

Zwickau, with just under 90,000 inhabitants, is the fourth-largest city in Saxony, located in the west of the state at the transition to the Erzgebirge foothills. The birthplace of composer Robert Schumann, home to the medieval St. Mary's Church, a well-preserved old town, plus the VW factories and the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences — it is a diverse industrial and cultural city that the Trabant has significantly shaped for over four decades.