The Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg) is an urban

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

of half a square kilometre (123

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s) in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is just north of the state capital, where Killesberg is a quarter of the borough of ''Stuttgart-Nord'' (North). The park dates back to the

horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

show of 1939. Before the show, a large area of the park had been a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

. It was transformed into a park with exhibition sites for the show, and has remained, hosting horticultural events on a regular basis, including the “Bundesgartenschau” and the ''IGA'' (Internationale Gartenbauausstellung), both garden festivals. The Killesbergpark bordered for many years the city's

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

grounds. In 2007,

Messe Stuttgart Messe Stuttgart is a convention center next to Stuttgart International Airport, 12 km south of Stuttgart, Germany. It is the ninth-biggest convention center in Germany. The new Messe Stuttgart site, completed in 2007, is right next to the ...

moved to new ground close to

Stuttgart Airport Stuttgart Airport (German: ''Flughafen Stuttgart'', formerly ''Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen'') is the international airport of Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's forme ...

. Every July the park hosts the popular Lichterfest Stuttgart. Thousands of lanterns are placed around the park, decorating the park for a variety of family activities throughout. After dark, there is a fireworks show accompanied by music. Visitors often bring blankets to sit on for the show.

Killesberg railway

Since its opening, the park has been home to the 381-millimetre (15-inch) narrow-gauge Killesberg railway. In the summer months, visitors can see two

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

and two

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s, which have been fixtures in the park since 1950. The horticultural show of 1939 saw the opening of the railway, when two borrowed steam engines from

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

traversed a short stretch of track. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the steam engines were returned to Leipzig for use there. New locomotives were purchased, and today there are two diesel and three steam engines in use.

Killesberg tower

Completed in 2001 the

Killesberg Tower The Killesberg Tower (called 'Killesbergturm' in German language, German) is a 40-meter high observation tower located in the Killesberg Park in Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. Originally planned for the 1993 World Horticultural Exposition, an inte ...

is a 40m high

observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

, overlooking the park. It was designed by

Jörg Schlaich Jörg Schlaich (17 October 1934 – 4 September 2021) was a German structural engineer and is known internationally for his ground-breaking work in the creative design of bridges, long-span roofs, and other complex structures. He was a co-founde ...

, using

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...

technology.Killesberg Tower
Structurae. Retrieved 2009-11-11.

Other features

From the 1950s until the 1980s there was a

chair lift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

for visitors to enjoy views of the fairgrounds and parklands. The twenty-metre high

Bismarck tower A Bismarck tower (german: Bismarckturm) is a specific type of monument built according to a more or less standard model across Germany to honour its first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck (d. 1898). A total of 234 of these towers were inventoried b ...

stands one kilometre south-west of the exhibition halls. It was built on the Gaehkopf, the highest point in northern Stuttgart, giving good views of Stuttgart itself and in all directions. It was one of many towers built to commemorate

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

. The building of over 410 Bismarck towers worldwide was planned, and 238 were actually built. The building of the tower was begun in 1902 by the students of the technical university in Stuttgart. The Stuttgart Bismarck tower was opened on 16 July 1904. In 2004, for its 100th anniversary, it was comprehensively renovated.

Surroundings

* Near the Bismarck tower is the

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor Ko ...

house, the house of the first German Federal President, which has been converted into a museum. * An open-air swimming pool borders the fairground buildings to the north. * To the southwest lies the

Weissenhof Settlement The Weissenhof Estate (German: Weißenhofsiedlung) is a housing estate built for the 1927 Deutscher Werkbund exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany. It was an international showcase of modern architecture's aspiration to provide cheap, simple, efficie ...

of 1927, a protected monument, exhibiting "the dwelling" as initiated by the German work federation. * The American scholar and writer Richard J. Powers lives in the area. Blumenbeete auf dem Höhenpark Killesberg

Blumenbeete auf dem Höhenpark Killesberg

References

External links

Stuttgart.deDie Parkeisenbahn von 1939

Killesberg TowerLichterfest-Stuttgart
{{Coord, 48, 48, 26, N, 9, 10, 19, E, region:DE-BW_type:landmark, display=title Urban public parks Parks in Germany Geography of Stuttgart Tourist attractions in Stuttgart Protected areas of Baden-Württemberg