We are a group of currently 300 members who care deeply about the documentation and preservation of the more than 140-year-old Munich tram history. Since 1989 we have been volunteering for the construction and operation of a museum in Munich, for the preservation and renovation of historic vehicles and the archiving of everything that has to do with the Munich tram. 

We conceive our task in the documentation of events and the transfer of this knowledge to the broad public - that is also why we keep neutral towards the current transport policy. 

Our members come from all walks of life and all ages. Our youngest member was born in 2002, our oldest member in 1921. Some are employed by the public transport authorities or by the city of Munich. Some live outside Bavaria or live abroad - which from a typical Munich point of view is almost the same!

We all share the desire to keep the memory of the development of the tram in Munich and the associated work, technology, traffic and cultural history alive. After all there is always a piece of personal life history behind each exhibit, which is extremely interesting to explore and pass on. 

Last but not least any historic tram train is exactly what is often described as "living history":  there you can meet honorary conductors with their characteristic bags, who not only offer tickets, but also explanations to the vehicle, the track and the role they play themselves. 

Which museum does have exhibits that can not only come to visitors, but also take them along in the truest sense of the word?

Of course, all this is associated with a lot of work which we have organized in several working teams. The largest group of volunteers is currently consisting of Museum supervisors and guides, who can be seen in their historic tramway uniforms at the MVG Museum on every opening day, whether at the ticket sales, at the shop, as a supervisor or at the driving simulators. Even at many festivals, our volunteers are on site and provide as "living exhibits" for a corresponding flair.

Members with experience or the urge for craftsmanship can get involved in the workshop group, which meets every Thursday and Saturday to work on the club's historic vehicles in the MVG Museum.

You can learn a lot about the workmanship and technology of old vehicles, but also about work methods and operations. Where else do you have the opportunity to help unloading, switching and wrapping a 27-meter-long articulated vehicle from 1960 for shelter? You could also, for example, help tracing the past on a vehicle from 1943 or learn (in the context of extensive storage work) how many spare parts are needed to obtain the vehicles. The historic Munich tramway collection now includes more than 40 different vehicles - and the next few are almost queing at the museum gate.

If you like it a tad smaller, you can get involved in our model train group. Here you can create small dioramas on your own and combine its modules with other H0 enthusiasts to a large facility. Train operations, in the model schedule as in real life, are not always an easy task!
No less important is the group of archival workers under the direction of our archivist. As the story continues each day and we continue to achieve greater collection resolutions, it is a task of almost Herculean extent. Our archive includes f.ex.now 50,000 photos alone. Additionally there are numerous files, plans, tickets, books, magazines, service clothing, signs, and much, much more.

And on top of that we are also looking after the holdings of the MVG archive.

Despite the quantities, browsing through the collections is always interesting. You can see, for example, entries of the first female conductors of 1915 in the service books, mostly brave maids from the country who sought their livelihood in the city during the First World War. 

In the meantime, our archive is now often used by students and doctoral candidates for research of all kinds. If you would like to browse through our tram library yourself, you are welcome to contact us anytime during an opening day at the museum.

Futhermore there is still a small group of editors who have written most of the articles in this issue and take care of the final correction, layout and printing.

It is all work but the play should not be neglected. For more than 25 years we have been meeting once a month at our clubhouse to exchange views on current developments in the tram. Often impressive pictures or films from other cities are shown. A particular highlight is always the evenings in which our archivist puts together a small excerpt from the extensive stocks of the Munich tram.

In addition we organize a leisurely club outing once a year where we visit other companies or rail operators and enjoy the cultural highlights there. For our actively participating folks there is also an annual fun ride with a historic tram train and a summer party as a thank you.

To talk of all the milestones reached so far by the association: over the many years, numerous valuable historic Munich trams were added to the collection. Most recently the Munich Mobile Library tram from 1912/1928 and the prototype of the six-axle Articulated Grand Pram of 1960 came "home" from Hanover. 

The Munich tram (built in 1957) is based on a tram train the members of the society saved from scrapping in 1996 and overhauled through their own volunteer workforce. 

And, by the way, we moved an entire depot with all historically valuable parts, tools, documents, vehicles, archives and equipment to the new museum site. There were also countless anniversaries, openings, exhibitions and special trips we have organized with volunteer work only.

We, the "Friends of the Munich Tramway Museum e. V. ", are a non-profit recognized association. Through the next few years the conversion of the main workshop will bring major changes and quite a challenge to the continuing work on our vehicle projects.