Porsche Museum
Iris Haker, lead curator at the Porsche Museum, reveals the museum’s inner workings and its role in presenting Porsche’s history to a worldwide audience
Iris Haker, pictured above, was destined for her role at Porsche. As lead curator at the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen, Iris is responsible for showcasing the company’s history – not just from the impressive Delugan Meissl-designed building in the heart of Porscheplatz, but in the historically significant cars from the Porsche collection that appear at shows and festivals around the world.
Ahead of the company’s new 75 Years of Porsche exhibition, Iris sat down with Total 911 to discuss how the museum team delivers a thrilling engagement with Porsche history –whether you’re a casual observer or a die-hard Porsche aficionado, on your first or latest visit to Zuffenhausen.
Iris Haker: Oh yes, we’ve been planning all our big jubilees for years. Of course, now we’re much more focused on them as they’re getting closer. It’s all happening and it’s great to see.
That’s right. Le Mans is an important one because it’s the 100 years and we’re excited to celebrate it.
Of course! Zuffenhausen is where it all began, and to be at the heart of everything is very special. It’s interesting when you go to Porsche in Zuffenhausen and Porscheplatz because we have a factory in the city – that’s unusual. But that’s because we started with a small building, then a second and then it grew into a city. It’s a very open factory because there are public roads going through the plant, which is uncommon. When you walk around, you see so many Porsche! Old ones, new ones… it’s nice.
Yes. Both the 911 and 718 go over the road, from construction to painting, and it’s the same for the Taycan. We have two bridges for the Taycans and the other cars. Total 911: Has it been a busy start of the year for you with all the 2023 anniversaries? And these jubilees are the 911 at 60, Porsche at 75, and 100 years of Le Mans… It’s great for enthusiasts to see Porsche back at that level of racing, but it must be special for you guys at Zuffenhausen, at the heart of the company, as well? It’s a treat every time an enthusiast goes to Porscheplatz because when you get to the central roundabout, you look around and you have the museum, there used to be the Porsche Zentrum, which has now moved into town, plus Werk 1 and Werk 2. It’s fantastic to see the production line going over the road. Does that take cars from production to paint?