Stuttgart (;
Swabian: ; ) is the
capital and
largest city
The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...
of the
German state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
. It is located on the
Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the
Swabian Jura and the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
. Stuttgart has a population of 635,911, making it the
sixth largest city in
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 ...
. 2.8 million people live in the city's administrative region
and 5.3 million people in
its metropolitan area,
making it the
fourth largest metropolitan area in Germany. The city and metropolitan area are consistently ranked among the
top 20 European metropolitan areas by GDP;
Mercer
Mercer may refer to:
Business
* Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925)
* Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City
* Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...
listed Stuttgart as 21st on its 2015
list of cities by quality of living
The world's most livable cities is an informal name given to any list of cities as they rank on an annual survey of living conditions. In addition to providing clean water, clean air, adequate food and shelter, a ‘livable’ city must also ge ...
; innovation agency 2thinknow ranked the city 24th globally out of 442 cities in its Innovation Cities Index; and the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire ...
ranked the city as a
Beta-status
global city in their 2020 survey. Stuttgart was one of the host cities for the official tournaments of the
1974 and
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
s.
Stuttgart is unusual in the scheme of German cities. It is spread across a variety of hills (some of them covered in
vineyard
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...
s),
valleys
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
(especially around the
Neckar river
The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...
and the
Stuttgart basin) and
parks. The city is known as the "
cradle of the automobile".
As such, it is home to famous automobile museums like the
Mercedes-Benz Museum
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is an automobile museum in Stuttgart, Germany. It covers the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the brands associated with it. Stuttgart is home to the Mercedes-Benz brand and the international headquarters of the Me ...
and
Porsche Museum
The Porsche Museum is an automobile museum in the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart, Germany on the site of carmaker Porsche.
History
The original Porsche museum opened in 1976 in a side-road near the Porsche factory. It was a relatively s ...
, as well as numerous auto-enthusiast magazines, which contributes to Stuttgart's status as Germany's "''Autohauptstadt''" ("car capital city"). The city's tourism
slogan is "Stuttgart offers more". Under current plans to improve transport links to the international infrastructure (as part of the
Stuttgart 21 project), Stuttgart unveiled a new city logo and slogan in March 2008, describing itself as "'" ("The new Heart of Europe"). For business, it describes itself as "Where business meets the future". In July 2010, the city unveiled a new logo, designed to entice more business people to stay in the city and enjoy breaks in the area.
Since the seventh millennium BC, the Stuttgart area has been an important agricultural area and has been host to a number of cultures seeking to utilize the rich soil of the
Neckar valley. The
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
conquered the area in AD 83 and built a massive near
Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's bo ...
, making it the most important regional centre for several centuries. Stuttgart's roots were truly laid in the tenth century with its founding by
Liudolf,
Duke of Swabia, as a
stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word " stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...
for his warhorses. Initially overshadowed by nearby
Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's bo ...
, the town grew steadily and was granted a charter in 1320. The fortunes of Stuttgart turned with those of the
House of Württemberg
The House of Württemberg is a German dynasty and former royal family from Württemberg.
History County
The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors of modern Württemberg, which was then calle ...
, and they made it the capital of their
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
,
duchy, and
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
from the 15th century to 1918. Stuttgart prospered despite setbacks in the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
and devastating air raids by the Allies on the city and its automobile production 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 opposing ...
. However, by 1952, the city had bounced back and became the major economic, industrial, tourism and publishing centre it is today.
Stuttgart is known for its strong
high-tech industry, especially in the
automotive sector. It has the highest general standard of prosperity of any German city. In addition to many
medium-sized companies, several major corporations are headquartered in Stuttgart, including
Porsche,
Bosch, and
Mercedes-Benz Group
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
. Stuttgart is an important
financial center; the
Stuttgart Stock Exchange
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 Swab ...
is the second largest in Germany (after
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
), and the
Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) is Germany's largest
Landesbank
In German-speaking jurisdictions, ''Landesbank'' (plural ), , generally refers to a bank operating within a territorial subdivision () that has autonomy but not full sovereignty. It is occasionally translated as "provincial bank".
Austria-Hungar ...
. Stuttgart is also a major transport junction; it is among the most congested conurbations of Europe, and
its airport is the
sixth-busiest in Germany (2019). Stuttgart is a city with a high number of immigrants; according to
Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages.
It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...
's ''
Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany'', "In the city of Stuttgart, every third inhabitant is a foreigner." 40% of Stuttgart's residents, and 64% of the population below the age of five, are of immigrant background.
Etymology
Stuttgart, often nicknamed the "''Schwabenmetropole''" ( en,
Swabian metropolis) in reference to its location in the centre of
Swabia and the
local dialect
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...
spoken by the native
Swabians, has its etymological roots in the
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
word ''Stuotgarten'',
or "
stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word " stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...
",
because the city was founded in 950
AD by
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
Liudolf of Swabia to breed warhorses.
In the local dialects of
Alemannic German it can be "Schtuegert", and in
Swabian German "Stuagart"; with similar variant spellings, usually dropping the central T sound.
History
Antiquity
Originally, the most important location in the
Neckar river valley was the hilly rim of the
Stuttgart basin at what is today
Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's bo ...
.
Thus, the first settlement of Stuttgart was a massive
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
''
Castra stativa'' (
Cannstatt Castrum
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's bo ...
)
built
AD to protect the Villas and vineyards blanketing the landscape and the road from
Mogontiacum
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Main ...
(Mainz) to
Augusta Vindelicorum
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...
(Augsburg). As with many military installations, a settlement sprang up nearby and remained there even after the
limes
Limes may refer to:
* the plural form of lime (disambiguation)
Lime commonly refers to:
* Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit
* Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
* Lime (color), a ...
moved further east. When they did, the town was left in the capable hands of a local
brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall.
Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...
s that produced sophisticated architectural ceramics and pottery. When the Romans were driven back past the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
and
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
rivers in the third century by the
Alamanni, the settlement temporarily vanished from history until the seventh century.
Middle Ages
In 700,
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
Gotfrid :''See Gottfried for the given name.''
Gotfrid (also ''Gotefrid'', modernized ''Gottfried''; la, Gotfridus or ''Cotefredus''; (c. 650–709) was the Duke of Alemannia in the late seventh century and until his death. He was of the house of the Agil ...
mentions a "Chan Stada" in a document regarding property.
Archaeological evidence shows that later
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
era
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
farmers continued to till the same land the Romans did.
Cannstatt is mentioned in the
Abbey of St. Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot ...
's archives as "''Canstat ad Neccarum''" (german: Cannstatt-on-Neckar) in 708. The
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
of the name "''Cannstatt''" is not clear, but as the site is mentioned as ''condistat'' in the
Annals of Metz The ''Annals of Metz'' ( la, Annales Mettenses) are a set of Latin Carolingian annals covering the period of Frankish history from the victory of Pepin II in the Battle of Tertry (687) to the time of writing (c. 806). Although the annals do cover ...
(9th century), it is mostly derived from the Latin word ''condita'' ("foundation"), suggesting that the name of the Roman settlement might have had the prefix "''Condi-''." Alternatively, Sommer (1992) suggested that the Roman site corresponds to the ''Civitas Aurelia G'' attested to in an inscription found near
Öhringen
Öhringen ( East Franconian: ''Ähringe'') is the largest town in Hohenlohe (district) in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany, near Heilbronn. Öhringen is on the railline to Schwäbisch Hall and Crailsheim.
With a population o ...
. There have also been attempts at a derivation from a Gaulish ''*kondâti-'' "confluence".
In
AD 950,
Duke Liudolf of
Swabia, son of the current
Holy Roman Emperor Otto I
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
, decided to establish a stud farm for his cavalry during the
Hungarian invasions of Europe on a widened area of the
Nesenbach
The Nesenbach is a stream in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, a tributary of the Neckar.
It has its source in the city's southwestern district of Vaihingen. After 12.8 kilometres, it discharges into the Neckar in the east ...
river valley south of the old Roman castrum.
The land and title of
Duke of Swabia remained in Liudolf's hands until his rebellion was quashed by his father four years later. In 1089,
Bruno of Calw
Bruno may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname
* Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880)
* Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...
built the precursor building to the
Old Castle.
Stuttgart's viticulture, first documented in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
in the year AD 1108,
kept people in the area of that stud farm for some time, but the area was still largely overshadowed by nearby Cannstatt because of its role as a local crossroad for many major European trade routes.
Nevertheless, the existence of a settlement here (despite the terrain being more suited for that original stud farm) during the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...
is provided by a gift registry from
Hirsau Abbey
Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most important Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It is located in the Hirsau borough of Calw on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range, in the present-day state of ...
dated to around 1160 that mentions a "Hugo de Stuokarten".
A settlement at this locale was again mentioned in 1229, but this time by
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
.
In AD 1219, Stuttgart (then Stuotgarten) became a possession of
Herman V,
Margrave of Baden
The Margraviate of Baden (german: Markgrafschaft Baden) was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the east side of the Upper Rhine River in southwestern Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, ...
.
In addition to
Backnang,
Pforzheim
Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany.
It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...
, and
Besigheim
Besigheim () is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
It is situated 13 km north of Ludwigsburg at the confluence of the Neckar and Enz rivers. The town has many old buildings and a t ...
, Hermann would also found the Stuttgart we know today in c. 1220. In 1251, the city passed to the
Ulrich I von Württemberg as part of
Mechthild von Baden Mechthild is a female Germanic given name. It is an old form of the first name Mathilde and means "powerful in combat, powerful fighter". Bearers of this name include:
People
* Mechthild of Bavaria (1532–1565), German noblewoman
* Mechthild of ...
's
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
. His son,
Eberhard I "the Illustrious",
would be the first to begin the many major expansions of Stuttgart under the House of Württemberg.
Eberhard desired to expand the realm his father had built through military action with the aid of the
anti-king
An anti-king, anti king or antiking (german: Gegenkönig; french: antiroi; cs, protikrál) is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. OED "Anti-, ...
Henry Raspe IV,
Landgrave of Thuringia
This is a list of the rulers of Thuringia, a historical and political region of Central Germany.
Kings of Thuringia
*450–500 Bisinus
*500–530 Baderich
*500–530 Berthachar
*500–531 Herminafried
:''Conquered by the Franks. ...
, but was thwarted by the action of Emperor
Rudolph I. Further resistance by Eberhard I against the Emperor's created
Vogt
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
s and
Bailiwicks as well as the newly appointed Duke of Swabia
Rudolf II, Duke of Austria
Rudolf II ( – 10 May 1290), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1282 to 1283, jointly with his elder brother Albert I, who succeeded him.
Biography
Rudolf II was born in Rheinfelden, Swabia, the young ...
, eventually led to armed conflict and initial successes upon Emperor Rudolph I's death in 1291 against the Emperor's men. After initially defeating his regional rivals,
Henry VII, newly elected as Emperor, decided to take action against Eberhard I in 1311 during his
war with the Free imperial city
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
of
Esslingen by ordering his Vogt, Konrad IV von Weinberg, to declare war on Eberhard I. Eberhard I, defeated on the battlefield, lost Stuttgart and his castle (razed in 1311) to Esslingen and the city was thus managed by the city state from 1312 to 1315.
Total destruction of the county was prevented by Henry VII's death on 24 August 1313 and the elections of
Louis IV as King of the Germans and
Frederick III as anti-king. Eberhard seized the opportunity granted to him by the political chaos, and recaptured his hometown and birthplace in 1316,
and made much territorial gain. With peace restored at last, Eberhard began repairs and expansion to Stuttgart beginning with the reconstruction of
Wirtemberg Castle
Wirtemberg Castle, a ruined hilltop castle, is the second family seat of the House of Württemberg, whose ancestors had abandoned Beutelsbach Castle (also known as "Kappelberg Castle"). Built on the eponymous Württemberg mountain in a spur of t ...
, ancestral home to the House of Württemberg, in 1317 and then began expansion of the city's defenses. The early 1320s were important years for Stuttgart: Eberhard I moved the seat of the county to the city to a
new and expanded castle,
the
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
in
Beutelsbach, where previous members of the Württemberg dynasty had been buried prior to its destruction in 1311,
moved to its
current location in Stuttgart in 1320,
and the town's Stiftkirche was expanded into an abbey, and the control of the
Martinskirche by the Bishopric of Constance was broken by Papal order in 1321.
A year after the city became the principal seat of the Counts of Württemberg in 1320,
the city was granted status as a city and given civic rights.
At the end of the 14th century, new suburbs sprang up around
Leonhard Church and near the city's fortifications as well. Towards the end of the 15th century, Count
Ulrich V began construction of a new suburb on the northeastern edge of the city around the
Dominican monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...
Hospitalkirche. In the 1457, the first Landtag of the
Estates of Württemberg The Estates of Württemberg (''Württembergische Landstände'') was the Estates of the Duchy of Württemberg, lasting from 1457 to 1918 except for 1802-15. After the creation of the Kingdom of Württemberg the 1815 reestablished estates became a ...
was established in Stuttgart and a similar institution was established in
Leonberg. After the temporary partitions of the County of Württemberg by the
Treaties of Nürtingen,
Münsingen
Münsingen ( Highest Alemannic: ''Münsige'') is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Trimstein merged into Münsingen, and on 1 Jan ...
, and
Esslingen, Stuttgart was once again declared the capital of the county in 1483.
Early Modern era
In 1488, Stuttgart officially became the de facto residence of the Count himself as opposed to the location of his home, the Old Castle.
Eberhard I, then Count Eberhard V, became the first
Duke of Württemberg
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
in
1495,
and made Stuttgart the seat of the
Duchy of Württemberg in addition to the County thereof. All this would be lost to the Württembergs during the reign of his son,
Ulrich Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...
. Though Ulrich initially made territorial gains as a result of his decision to fight alongside the Emperor
Maximilian I,
he was no friend of the powerful
Swabian League
The Swabian League (''Schwäbischer Bund'') was a mutual defence and peace keeping association of Imperial Estates – free Imperial cities, prelates, principalities and knights – principally in the territory of the early medieval stem duchy o ...
nor of his own subjects,
who launched the
Poor Conrad
The Poor Conrad (german: Armer Konrad, also ''Armer Kunz'') was the name of several secret peasants' leagues, which in 1514 revolted against the rule of Duke Ulrich of Württemberg. The rebels adopted the term used by the nobility to mock them, m ...
rebellion of 1514.
Despite this and his rivalry with the Swabian League, his undoing would actually come in the form of his unhappy marriage to
Sabina of Bavaria. In 1515, Ulrich killed an imperial knight and lover of Sabina's by the name of Hans von Hutten, obliging her to flee to the court of her brother,
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
,
Duke of Bavaria
The following is a list of rulers during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic state in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
, who successfully had Ulrich placed under
Imperial ban
The imperial ban (german: Reichsacht) was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by the Imperial Diet, or by courts like the League of the Holy Court (''Vehmgericht'') or t ...
twice. When the Emperor died in 1519, Ulrich struck, seizing the Free Imperial City of
Reutlingen
Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818.
Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...
, prompting the League to intervene. That same year, Ulrich was soundly defeated and he was driven into exile in France and Switzerland following the League's conquest of Württemberg.
Württemberg was then sold by the League to Emperor
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
, who then granted it to his brother,
Ferdinand I, thus beginning the 12 year ownership of the county by the
Habsburgs.
When the peasants Ulrich had crushed before rose once again in the
German Peasants' War,
Stuttgart was occupied by the peasant armies for a few days in the Spring of 1525. Ulrich, with the help of
Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to:
* Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC)
* Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC)
* Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor
* Philip I of France (1052–1108)
* Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) (1 ...
,
Landgrave of Hesse
The Landgraviate of Hesse (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.
History
In the early Midd ...
, seized the chance to restore himself to power (albeit as an Austrian vassal)
in the turmoil of the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
and
War with the Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
and invited
Erhard Schnepf to bring the Reformation to Stuttgart. He accepted, was named Court Preacher in Stuttgart, and worked in concert with
Ambrosius Blarer
Ambrosius Blarer (sometimes Ambrosius Blaurer; April 4, 1492 – December 6, 1564) was an influential Protestant reformer in southern Germany and north-eastern Switzerland.
Early life
Ambrosius Blarer was born 1492 into a leading family of Ko ...
until his dismissal following his resistance to the
Augsburg Interim
The Augsburg Interim (full formal title: ''Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council'') was an imperial decree ordered on 15 May 1548 at the 1548 Diet ...
by the Duke in 1548. Duke Ulrich himself died two years later, and was succeeded by his son,
Christoph. He had grown up in a Württemberg in turmoil, and wished to rebuild its image. To this end, he once again began a construction boom all over the Duchy under the direction of Court Architect
Aberlin Tretsch; knowing full well that the time of the
Reisekönigtum was over, Christoph and Tretsch rebuilt and remodeled the Old Castle into a
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
palace,
and from 1542 to 1544, what is today the
Schillerplatz was built as a town square.
Duke Christoph also responded to the increasing made for drinking water by embarking upon a massive
hydraulic engineering
Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the m ...
project in the form of a tunnel to
Pffaf Lake, the
Glems
The river Glems is a right tributary of the river Enz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany and around long. The spring is located in the south-west of Stuttgart. On the way to the confluence into the Enz next to Unterriexingen (a quarter of Markgr ...
, and the
Nesenbach
The Nesenbach is a stream in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, a tributary of the Neckar.
It has its source in the city's southwestern district of Vaihingen. After 12.8 kilometres, it discharges into the Neckar in the east ...
from 1566 to 1575. In 1575,
Georg Beer was also appointed Court Architect, and he built the
Lusthaus. But it was architect
Heinrich Schickhardt Heinrich may refer to:
People
* Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
*Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
who would carry Tretsch's torch further; Schickhardt constructed the
Stammheim Castle in the suburb of
Stammheim, rebuilt the
Fruchtkasten in the today's Schillerplatz, and expanded the Prinzebau.
The Thirty Years' War devastated the city,
and it would slowly decline for a period of time from then on.
After the catastrophic defeat of the Protestant
Heilbronn League
The Heilbronn League was formed in the Free Imperial City of Heilbronn, on 23 April 1633, during the Thirty Years' War. Led by Sweden, it brought together various Protestant states in western and northern Germany. It was supported by Saxony a ...
by the Habsburgs at
Nörlingen in 1634,
Duke Eberhard III and his court fled in exile to
Strasbourg, abandoning the Duchy to looting by pro-
Habsburg forces. The Habsburgs once again had full reign of the city for another four years, and in that time Stuttgart had to carry the burden of billeting the pro-Habsburg armies in
Swabia.
Ferdinand III,
King of the Romans, entered the city in 1634 and, two years later in 1636, once again attempted to re-Catholicize Württemberg. The next year, the
Bubonic plague struck and devastated the population. The Duke returned in 1638 to a realm somewhat partitioned to Catholic factions in the region, and entirely ravaged by the war. In the Duchy itself, battle,
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...
,
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
and war reduced the Duchy's population of 350,000 in 1618 to 120,000 in 1648 – about 57% of the population of Württemberg. Recovery would be slow for the next several decades, but began nonetheless with the city's first bookstore in 1650 and high school in 1686. This progress was almost entirely undone when
French soldiers under
Ezéchiel du Mas appeared outside the city's walls in 1688 during the
Nine Years' War, but the city was saved from another sack due to the diplomatic ability of
Magdalena Sibylla, reigning over Württemberg as regent for her son,
Eberhard Ludwig.
For the first time in centuries, Duke Eberhard Ludwig moved the seat of the Duchy out of the declining city of Stuttgart in 1718 to
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...
, founded in 1704, while the
namesake Baroque palace, known as the "Versailles of Swabia", was still under construction. When Eberhard Ludwig died, his nephew
Charles Alexander, ascended to the throne.
Charles Alexander himself died in 1737, meaning his son
Charles Eugene became the premature Duke (and later King) at the age of nine. When he came of age and returned from his tutoring at the court of
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
,
King of Prussia
The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...
, Charles desired to move the capital back to Stuttgart. He commissioned the construction of the
New Castle in 1746,
Castle Solitude in 1763,
Castle Hohenheim in 1785, and the
Karlsschule
Hohe Karlsschule (''Karl's High School'') was the strict military academy founded by Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart, Germany. It was first founded in 1770 as a military orphanage, but then converted into a military academy in 1773 ...
in 1770. The rule of Charles Eugene also saw the tutoring and origins of
Friedrich Schiller in Stuttgart, who studied medicine and completed
The Robbers
''The Robbers'' (', ) is the first drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. The play was published in 1781 and premiered on 13 January 1782 in Mannheim, Germany, and was inspired by Leisewitz' earlier play '' Julius of Taranto''. It ...
here.
Stuttgart, at the end of the 18th century, remained a very provincial town of 20,000 residents, narrow alleys, and agriculture and livestock. Despite being the capital and seat of the Duchy, the general staff of the
Army of Württemberg
The army of the German state of Württemberg was until 1918 known in Germany as the ''Württembergische Armee''.
Its troops were maintained by Württemberg for its national defence and as a unit of the Swabian Circle (district) of Holy Roman Empi ...
was not present in the city. In 1794, Duke Charles dissolved the Karlsschule to prevent the spreading of revolutionary ideas.
Stuttgart was proclaimed capital once more when Württemberg became an electorate in 1803,
and was yet again named as capital when the
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...
was formed in 1805 by the
Peace of Pressburg.
Kingdom of Württemberg and German Empire
King
Frederick I Frederick I may refer to:
* Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht.
* Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978)
* Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105)
* Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...
's Württemberg was given high status in the
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...
among the College of Kings, and the lands of nearby secondary German states.
Within Stuttgart, the royal residence was expanded under Frederick although many of Stuttgart's most important buildings, including
Wilhelm Palace, Katharina Hospital, the
State Gallery, the
Villa Berg and the
Königsbau
The Königsbau is one of the formative buildings of Stuttgart's Schlossplatz. It forms the north-west end of the square and is mainly home to shops and cafés. Since April 2006, the Königsbau-Passagen, a 45,000 square meter retail and comm ...
were built under the reign of
King Wilhelm I. In 1818. King Wilhelm I and
Queen Catherine in an attempt to assuage the suffering caused by the
Year Without Summer
The year 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer because of severe climate abnormalities that caused average global temperatures to decrease by . Summer temperatures in Europe were the coldest on record between the years of 1766–2000. Thi ...
and following famine, introduced the first
Cannstatter Volksfest to celebrate the year's bountiful harvest.
Hohenheim University was founded in 1818, and two years later the
Württemberg Mausoleum as completed on the hill where
Wirtemberg Castle
Wirtemberg Castle, a ruined hilltop castle, is the second family seat of the House of Württemberg, whose ancestors had abandoned Beutelsbach Castle (also known as "Kappelberg Castle"). Built on the eponymous Württemberg mountain in a spur of t ...
once stood.
From the outset of the 19th century, Stuttgart's development was once again impeded by its location (population of the city at the time was around 50,000), but the city began to experience the beginning of economic revival with the opening of the
Main Station in 1846. Prior to then, the signs of rebirth in Stuttgart were evidenced by the construction of such buildings of
Rosenstein Castle
)
, alternate_names =
, etymology = ''Die Rosenstein'' (german: link=no, The Rose Rock), for the rock it sits upon.
, status = Complete
, cancelled =
, topped_out =
, building_type = Pala ...
in 1822–1830, the
Wilhelmspalais
The Wilhelmspalais (german: link=no, Wilhelm's Palace) is a Palace located on the Charlottenplatz in Stuttgart-Mitte. It was the living quarters of the last Württemberg King Wilhelm II. It was destroyed during World War II and between 1961 and ...
1834–1840, and the foundations of the
Staatsgalerie in 1843,
University of Stuttgart in 1829, the
University of Music and Performing Arts
The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817.
With a student body of over three thousa ...
later, in 1857. Stuttgart had a role to play during the
revolution of 1848/1849 as well. When internal divisions of the
Frankfurt Parliament
The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...
began the demise of that congress, the majority of the Frankfurt Congress voted to move to Stuttgart to flee the reach of the Prussian and Austrian armies in Frankfurt and
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
. Even though the Congress may have had contacts with revolutionaries in
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
and
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
, the Congress, not popular with the content citizens of Stuttgart, were driven out by the King's army.
Stuttgart's literary tradition also bore yet more fruits, being the home of such writers of national importance as
Wilhelm Hauff
Wilhelm Hauff (29 November 180218 November 1827) was a Württembergian poet and novelist.
Early life
Hauff was born in Stuttgart, the son of August Friedrich Hauff, a secretary in the Württemberg ministry of foreign affairs, and Hedwig Wilhelmi ...
,
Ludwig Uhland
Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian.
Biography
He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in ...
,
Gustav Schwab
Gustav Benjamin Schwab (19 June 1792 – 4 November 1850) was a German writer, pastor and publisher.
Life
Gustav Schwab was born in Stuttgart, the son of the philosopher Johann Christoph Schwab: he was introduced to the humanities early in ...
, and
Eduard Mörike
Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...
.
From 1841 to 1846, the
Jubiläumssäule was erected on the
Schlossplatz before the New Palace according to the plans of
Johann Michael Knapp to celebrate the rule of King Wilhelm I. A decade later, the
Königsbau
The Königsbau is one of the formative buildings of Stuttgart's Schlossplatz. It forms the north-west end of the square and is mainly home to shops and cafés. Since April 2006, the Königsbau-Passagen, a 45,000 square meter retail and comm ...
was constructed by Knapp and court architect
Christian Friedrich von Leins as a concert hall. Another milestone in Stuttgart's history was the running of the first rail line from
Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's ...
to
Untertürkheim
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 Swab ...
on 22 October 1845. The advent of
Industrialisation in Germany heralded a major growth of population for Stuttgart: In 1834, Stuttgart counted 35,200 inhabitants,
rose to 50,000 in 1852, 69,084 inhabitants in 1864,
and finally 91,000 residents in 1871.
By 1874, Stuttgart once again exceeded the 100,000 inhabitant mark. This number doubled, due to the incorporation of local towns, to approximately 185,000 in 1901 and then 200,000 in 1904. In 1871, Württemberg joined the
German Empire created by
Otto von Bismarck,
Prime Minister of Prussia, during the
Unification of Germany
The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...
, as an autonomous kingdom.
Stuttgart is purported to be the location of the automobile's invention by
Karl Benz
Carl Friedrich Benz (; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929), sometimes also Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent Motorcar from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automobile and fir ...
and then industrialized by
Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf ( Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He w ...
and
Wilhelm Maybach
Wilhelm Maybach (; 9 February 1846 – 29 December 1929) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers".
From the late 19th ce ...
in a small workshop in
Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's bo ...
that would become
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated as DMG, also known as ''Daimler Motors Corporation'') was a German engineering company and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and ...
in 1887.
[''Stuttgart – Where Business Meets the Future.'' CD issued by Stuttgart Town Hall, Department for Economic Development, 2005.] As a result, it is considered to be the starting point of the worldwide automotive industry and is sometimes referred to as the 'cradle of the automobile',
[ and today ]Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
and Porsche both have their headquarters in Stuttgart, as well as automotive parts giants Bosch and Mahle. The year prior, Robert Bosch
Robert Bosch (23 September 1861 – 12 March 1942) was a German industrialist, engineer and inventor, founder of Robert Bosch GmbH.
Biography
Bosch was born in Albeck, a village to the northeast of Ulm in southern Germany as the eleventh of ...
opened his first "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering" in Stuttgart. In 1907, the International Socialist Congress was held in Stuttgart was attended by about 60,000 people. In 1912, VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...
was founded. Two years later, the current iteration of the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof was completed according to plan by Paul Bonatz from 1914 to 1927.
During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the city was a target of air raids. In 1915, 29 bombs struck the city and the nearby Rotebühlkaserne, killing four soldiers and injuring another 43, and likewise killing four civilians. The next major air raid on Stuttgart occurred 15 September 1918, when structural damage caused house collapses that killed eleven people.
Weimar Republic
At the end of the First World War, November revolutionaries stormed the Wilhelmpalais on 30 November 1918 to force King Wilhelm II
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United)
, signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
to abdicate, but failed halfway. Under pressure from the revolutionaries, Wilhelm II refused the crown, but also refused to abdicate the throne. When he did eventually abdicate, the Free State of Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
was established as a part of the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
, and Stuttgart was declared its capital. On 26 April 1919, a new constitution was devised, and the final draft was approved and ratified on 25 September 1919 by the Constituent Assembly. In 1920, Stuttgart temporarily became the seat of the German National Government when the administration fled from Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
from the Kapp Putsch
The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo th ...
. Also in 1920, Erwin Rommel became the company commander of the 13th Infantry Regiment based in Stuttgart and would remain as such for the next nine years.
Nazi Germany
Due to the Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
's practice of '' Gleichschaltung'', Stuttgart's political importance as state capital became totally nonexistent, though it remained the cultural and economic centre of the central Neckar region. Stuttgart, one of the cities bestowed an honorary title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
by the Nazi regime, was given the moniker "City of the Abroad Germans" in 1936.[ (Uppsats)] The first prototypes of the Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...
were manufactured in Stuttgart, according to designs by Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first gasoline–electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner–Porsche), the Volksw ...
, by a design team including Erwin Komenda
Erwin Komenda (6 April 1904 - 22 August 1966) was an Austrian automobile designer and Porsche employee, and a lead contributor to the design of the bodies for the VW Beetle and various Porsche sports cars.
Erwin Komenda was born on 6 April 1904 ...
and Karl Rabe Karl Rabe (29 October 1895, Pottendorf, Austria - 28 October 1968) was an automobile designer and was the Chief Designer at Porsche. He helped Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austrian-Ge ...
.
The Hotel Silber ( en, Silver), previously occupied by other forms of political police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
, was occupied by the Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
in 1933 to detain and torture political dissidents. The hotel was used for the transit of Nazi prisoners of conscience including Eugen Bolz, Kurt Schumacher
Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician who became chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the Wes ...
, and Lilo Herrmann Liselotte Herrmann (called "Lilo", 23 June 1909 – 20 June 1938, Capital punishment, executed) was a Germans, German Communist German Resistance to Nazism, Resistance fighter in Nazi Germany.
Life
Born in Berlin, Liselotte Herrmann, an engineer ...
to concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
. The nearby court at Archive Street (german: Archivstraße) 12A was also used as a central location for executions in Southwest Germany, as the headstone located in its atrium dedicated to the 419 lives lost there recalls. Participants of the Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
burned the Old Synagogue to the ground along with the relics contained within and also destroyed its Jewish cemetery. The next year the Nazi regime began the arrests and deportation of Stuttgart's Jewish inhabitants, beginning with the entire male Jewish population of Stuttgart, to the police-run prison camp at Welzheim
Welzheim is a town in the Rems-Murr district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located 35 km east of Stuttgart, and 15 km northwest of Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Welzheim has 11,239 (2005) inhabitants and is located in the 'Welzheimer Wa ...
or directly to Dachau. Other Jews from around Württemberg were brought to Stuttgart and housed in the ghetto on the former Trade Fair grounds in Killesberg
The Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg) is an urban public park of half a square kilometre (123 acres) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is just north of the state capital, where Killesberg is a quarter of the borough of ''Stuttgart-Nord'' (North).
...
. As the Memorial at Stuttgart North records, between 1941 (the first train arrived 1 December 1941, and took around 1,000 men to Riga) and 1945, more than 2,000 Jews from all over Württemberg were deported to Theresienstadt
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination ca ...
, Auschwitz, and the ghettos at Riga and Izbica
Izbica ( yi, איזשביצע ''Izhbitz, Izhbitze'') is a village in the Krasnystaw County of the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina administrative district called Gmina Izbica. It lies approximately south of Kr ...
. Of them, only 180 held in Internment survived the Shoah
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...
.
Stuttgart, like many of Germany's major cities, was ravaged throughout the war by Allied air raids. For the first four years of the war, successful air raids on the city were rare because of the capable defence of the city by Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
ground forces, the Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
, and artificial fog. Despite opinions among some Royal Air Force members that day-time air raids on the city were suicidal, substantial damage to the city's industrial capacity still occurred, such as the 25 August bombing of the Daimler AG plant in 1940 that killed five people. With the war increasingly turning against the Third Reich, more and more troops were pulled from the defence of the city in 1943 to fight on the Eastern Front. In 1944, the city centre was entirely in ruins due to Allied bombing raids that could now more easily attack the city. The heaviest raid took place on 12 September 1944, when the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
, dropping over 184,000 bombs – including 75 blockbusters – levelled Stuttgart's city centre, killing 957 people in the resulting firestorm
A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...
. In totality, Stuttgart was subjected to 53 bombing raids, resulting in the destruction of 57.7% of all buildings in the city, the deaths of 4,477 inhabitants, the disappearance of 85 citizens, and the injury of 8,908 more people. The Allies lost 300 aircraft and seven to ten enlisted men. To commemorate the city citizens who died during the war, the rubble was assembled and used to create the Birkenkopf
The Birkenkopf () is a prominent hill in Stuttgart, Germany. At an elevation of 511m, is almost 260m higher than city centre. It is in part a Schuttberg, an artificial hill built from the ruins and rubble from World War II.
During the war, 53 ...
.
French-American Tensions
The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Stuttgart in April 1945. Although the attack on the city was to be conducted by the US Seventh Army's 100th Infantry Division, French leader Charles de Gaulle found this to be unacceptable, as he felt the capture of the region by Free French forces
__NOTOC__
The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...
would increase French influence in post-war decisions. Independently, he directed General de Lattre to order the French 5th Armored Division, 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division
The 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division (french: 2e Division d'Infanterie Marocaine, 2e DIM) was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (french: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War II.
Created in Morocco following the liberation of ...
and 3rd Algerian Infantry Division
The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (french: 3e Division d'Infanterie Algérienne, 3e DIA) was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (french: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War II.
Following the liberation of French North Afri ...
to begin their drive to Stuttgart on 18 April 1945. Two days later, the French forces coordinated with the US Seventh Army and VI Corps heavy artillery, who began a barrage of the city. The French 5th Armored Division then captured Stuttgart on 21 April 1945, encountering little resistance. The city fared poorly under their direction; French troops forcefully quartered their troops in what housing remained in the city, rapes were frequent (there were at least 1389 recorded incidents of rape of civilians by French soldiers), and the city's surviving populace were poorly rationed. The circumstances of what later became known as "The Stuttgart Crisis" provoked political repercussions that reached even the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
was unable to get De Gaulle to withdraw troops from Stuttgart until after the final boundaries of the zones of occupation were established. The French army remained in the city until they finally relented to American demands on 8 July 1945 and withdrew. Stuttgart then became capital of Württemberg-Baden
Württemberg-Baden was a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was created in 1945 by the United States occupation forces, after the previous states of Baden and Württemberg had been split up between the US and French occupation zones. ...
, one of the three areas of Allied occupation in Baden-Württemberg, from 1945 until 1952.
Baden-Württemberg
The military government of the American occupation zone
Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...
established a Displaced persons camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peop ...
for displaced person
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...
s, mostly forced labourers from Central and Eastern European industrial firms in the area. There was, however, a camp located in Stuttgart-West that, until its closure and transportation of internees to Heidenheim an der Brenz in 1949, housed almost exclusively 1400 Jewish survivors of the Shoah
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...
.
An early concept of the Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
aimed at supporting reconstruction and economic/political recovery across Europe was presented during a speech 6 September 1946 given by US Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
James F. Byrnes
James Francis Byrnes ( ; May 2, 1882 – April 9, 1972) was an American judge and politician from South Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in U.S. Congress and on the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as in the executive branch, ...
at the Stuttgart Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...
. His speech led to the unification of the British and American occupation zones, resulting in the 'bi-zone' (later the 'tri-zone' when the French reluctantly agreed to cede their occupied territory to the new state). In 1948, the city applied to become the capital of the soon to-be Federal Republic of 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 between ...
, and was a serious contender against Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, Kassel, and Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
. All these cities were examined by the Parlamentarischer Rat
The ''Parlamentarischer Rat'' (German for "Parliamentary Council") was the West German constituent assembly in Bonn that drafted and adopted the constitution of West Germany, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, promulgated on 23 Ma ...
, but ultimately Bonn won the bid when the Republic was founded on 23 May 1949.[ The city's bid for capital failed primarily because of the financial burdens its high rents would place on the government.
The immediate aftermath of the War would be marked by the controversial efforts of Arnulf Klett, the first Oberbürgermeister of Stuttgart, to restore the city. Klett favored the idea of a ]modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
Automotive city
An automotive city or auto city is a city that facilitates and encourages the movement of people via private transportation, through 'physical planning', e.g., built environment innovations ( street networks, parking spaces, automobile/pedest ...
with functional divisions for residential, commercial and industrial areas according to the Athens Charter
The Athens Charter (french: Charte d'Athènes, Greek: Χάρτα των Αθηνών) was a 1933 document about urban planning published by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier. The work was based upon Le Corbusier’s '' Ville Radieuse'' (Radiant C ...
. Klett demolished both ruins and entire streets of largely undamaged buildings without rebuilding them to their original visage, a move that earned him much scorn from his contemporaries. In the 150th year since his death (1955), the last remnant of the alma mater of Friederich Schiller, the Karlsschule, was removed in favor of an expansion to the Bundesstraße 14. Klett also dramatically expanded the public transportation
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
of Stuttgart with the Stuttgart Stadtbahn
The Stuttgart Stadtbahn is a light rail system in Stuttgart, Germany. The Stadtbahn began service on 28 September 1985. It is operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB), which also operates the bus systems in that city. The Stuttgar ...
and, in 1961, initiated a city partnership with the French city of Strasbourg as part of an attempt to mend Franco-German relations. It would be finalized in 1962 and is still active today. Klett's Stuttgart saw two major media events: the same year the partnership with Strasbourg was finalized, then French president
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...
Charles de Gaulle visited the city and Ludwigsburg Palace
Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. T ...
in the ending moments of his state visit to Germany, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited the city 24 May 1965.
On 25 April 1952, the other two parts of the former German states of Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
and Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
, South Baden
South Baden (german: Südbaden; ), formed in December 1945 from the southern half of the former Republic of Baden, was a subdivision of the French occupation zone of post-World War II Germany. The state was later renamed to Baden and became a fo ...
and Württemberg-Hohenzollern
Württemberg-Hohenzollern (french: Wurtemberg-Hohenzollern ) was a West German state created in 1945 as part of the French post-World War II occupation zone. Its capital was Tübingen. In 1952, it was merged into the newly founded state of Bad ...
merged and formed the modern German state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, with Stuttgart as its capital. Since the 1950s, Stuttgart has been the third largest city in southern Germany
Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...
behind Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
and Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
. The city's population, halved by the Second World War, began sudden growth with the mass influx of German refugees expelled from their homes and communities by the Soviets from the late 1940s until 1950 to the city. Economic migrants
An economic migrant is someone who emigrates from one region to another, including crossing international borders, seeking an improved standard of living, because the conditions or job opportunities in the migrant's own region are insufficient. Th ...
, called "''Gastarbeiter
(; both singular and plural; ) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally consider ...
''," from Italy, and later Greece and Turkey but primarily from Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, came flocking to Stuttgart because of the economic wonder called the "''Wirtschaftswunder
The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social ma ...
''" unfolding in West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. These factors saw the city reach its (then) peak population of 640,000 in 1962.
In May 1965 Queen Elizabeth II made a state visit to Stuttgart and nearby Marbach and Schwäbisch Hall
Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...
. Her great-grandfather Duke Francis (1837-1900) had been a member of the Württemberg royal family.
In the late 1970s, the municipal district of Stammheim was centre stage to one of the most controversial periods of German post-war history. Stammheim Prison
Stammheim Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Stuttgart-Stammheim) is a prison in Stuttgart, Baden Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the northern boundaries of Stuttgart in the city district of Stuttgart-Stammheim, right between fields a ...
, built from 1959 to 1963, came to be the place of incarceration for Ulrike Meinhof
Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author ...
, Andreas Baader
Berndt Andreas Baader (6 May 1943 – 18 October 1977) was one of the first leaders of the West German left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction (RAF), also commonly known as ''the Baader-Meinhof Group''.
Life
Andreas Baader was born i ...
, Gudrun Ensslin
Gudrun Ensslin (; 15 August 1940 – 18 October 1977) was a German far-left terrorist and founder of the West German far-left militant group Red Army Faction (, or RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang).
After becoming involved with co-foun ...
, and Jan-Carl Raspe
Jan-Carl Raspe (24 July 1944 – 18 October 1977) was a member of the German militant group, the Red Army Faction (RAF).
Early life
Raspe was born in Seefeld in Tirol (then Germany, now Austria). He was described as gentle but had difficulty co ...
, members of a communist terrorist organization known as the Red Army Faction
The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970.
The ...
, during their trial at the Oberlandesgericht Stuttgart in 1975. Several attempts were made by the organization to free the terrorists during the "German Autumn
The German Autumn (german: Deutscher Herbst) was a series of events in Germany in 1977, mostly late in the year, associated with the kidnapping and murder of industrialist, businessman, and former SS member Hanns Martin Schleyer, president of t ...
" of 1977 that culminated in such events as the kidnap and murder of Hanns-Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181
Lufthansa Flight 181 was a Boeing 737-230C jetliner (reg. D-ABCE) named the ''Landshut'' that was hijacked on the afternoon of 13 October 1977 by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who called themselves Commando ...
. When it became clear, after many attempts to free the inmates including the smuggling of three weapons into the prison by their lawyer, that the terrorists could not escape and that they would receive Life sentencing, the terrorists killed themselves in April 1977 in an event remembered locally as the "''Todesnacht von Stammheim''," "Night of Death at Stammheim."
The trauma of the early 1970s was quickly left behind, starting in 1974 with the 1974 FIFA World Cup and the opening of the Stuttgart S-Bahn on 1 October 1978 with a scheduled three routes. from 17 to 19 June 1983, ten European heads of state and representatives from the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
met in Stuttgart for a summit and there made the Solemn Declaration on European Union. In 1986, the European Athletics Championships of that year were held in the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Mikhail Gorbachev, while on a trip to West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
to offer a spot for a West German astronaut in a Soviet space mission, visited Stuttgart 14 June 1989 and was the honored guest of a sumptuous reception held at the New Palace.
Since the monumental happenings of the 1980s, Stuttgart has continued being an important centre of not just Europe, but also the world. In 1993, the World Horticultural Exposition, for which two new bridges were built, and World Athletics Championships
The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...
of that year took place in Stuttgart in the Killesburg park and Mercedes-Benz Area respectively, bringing millions of new visitors to the city. At the 1993 WCA, British athlete Sally Gunnell
Sally Jane Janet Gunnell (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track and field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunn ...
and the United States Relay team both set world records. In 2003, Stuttgart applied for the 2012 Summer Olympics but failed in their bid when the German Committee for the Olympics decided on 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 ...
to host the Olympics in Germany. Three years later, in 2006, Stuttgart once again hosted the FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
as it had in 1974.
Stuttgart still experienced some growing pains even long after its recovery from the Second World War. In 2010, the inner city become the focal point of the protests against the controversial Stuttgart 21.
US military in Stuttgart
Since shortly after the end of World War II, there has been a US military presence in Stuttgart. At the height of the Cold War over 45,000 Americans were stationed across over 40 installations in and around the city. Today about 10,000 Americans are stationed on 5 installations (Patch Barracks, Panzer Kaserne, Kelley Barracks, Robinson Barracks, and Stuttgart Army Airfield) representing all branches of service within the Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
, unlike the mostly Army presence of the Occupation and Cold War.
In March 1946 the US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
established a unit of the US Constabulary
The United States Constabulary was a United States Army military gendarmerie force. From 1946 to 1952, in the aftermath of World War II, it acted as an occupation and security force in the U.S. Occupation Zone of West Germany and Austria.
Reas ...
and a headquarters at Kurmärker Kaserne (later renamed Patch Barracks
Patch Barracks is a U.S. military installation in Stuttgart, Germany. It is named after U.S. Army General Alexander M. Patch (1889–1945).
History
Patch Barracks was renamed from the German ''Kurmärker Kaserne'' in 1952; it was originally ...
) in Stuttgart. These units of soldiers retrained in patrol and policing provided the law and order in the American zone of occupied Germany until the civilian German police forces could be re-established. In 1948 the headquarters for all Constabulary forces was moved to Stuttgart. In 2008 a memorial to the US Constabulary was installed and dedicated at Patch Barracks. The US Constabulary headquarters was disbanded in 1950 and most of the force was merged into the newly organized 7th Army. As the Cold War developed US Army VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to:
* VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars
* VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I
* VII ...
was re-formed in July 1950 and assigned to Hellenen Kaserne (renamed Kelley Barracks
Kelley Barracks (formerly ''Helenen-Kaserne'') is a U.S. military installation and headquarters of United States Africa Command, and is a part of US Army Garrison Stuttgart in Stuttgart-Möhringen in Germany. The post is administered by IMCOM- E ...
in 1951) where the headquarters was to remain throughout the Cold War.
In 1990 VII Corps was deployed directly from Germany to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
to include many of the VII Corps troops stationed in and around Stuttgart. After returning from the Middle East, the bulk of VII Corps units were reassigned to the United States or deactivated. The VII Corps Headquarters returned to Germany for a short period to close out operations and was deactivated later in the United States. The withdrawal of VII Corps caused a large reduction in the US military presence in the city and region and led to the closure of the majority of US installations in and around Stuttgart which resulted in the layoff of many local civilians who had been career employees of the US Army.
Since 1967, Patch Barracks in Stuttgart has been home to the US EUCOM
The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territorie ...
. In 2007 AFRICOM was established as a cell within EUCOM and in 2008 established as the US Unified Combatant Command
A unified combatant command (CCMD), also referred to as a combatant command, is a joint military command of the United States Department of Defense that is composed of units from two or more service branches of the United States Armed Forces, an ...
responsible for most of Africa headquartered at Kelley Barracks. Due to these 2 major headquarters, Stuttgart has been identified as one of the few "enduring communities" where the United States forces will continue to operate in Germany. The remaining U.S. bases around Stuttgart are organized into US Army Garrison Stuttgart and include Patch Barracks, Robinson Barracks Robinson may refer to:
People and names
* Robinson (name)
Fictional characters
* Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719
Geography
* Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...
, Panzer Kaserne
Panzer Kaserne (German notation: Panzerkaserne) is a U.S. military installation in Böblingen, Germany, part of U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart. The post is administered by U.S. Army Installation Management Command-Europe (IMCOM-Europe), a legac ...
and Kelley Barracks. From the end of 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 opposing ...
until the early 1990s these installations excepting Patch were almost exclusively Army, but have become increasingly "Purple"—as in joint service—since the end of the Cold War as they are host to United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
Unified Commands and supporting activities.
Geography
The core area of Stuttgart lies in a fertile bowl-shaped valley about above sea level, an hour from the Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
and Swabian Jura on the banks of the Neckar river at to the west and north of Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
. The city is often described as being "''zwischen Wald und Reben''", or "between forest and vines" because of its viticulture and surrounding forests.
Stuttgart covers an area of and sits at elevation ranging from above sea level by the Neckar river to on Bernhartshöhe hill – something rather unique in large German cities. The most prominent elevated locales in Stuttgart are the Birkenkopf
The Birkenkopf () is a prominent hill in Stuttgart, Germany. At an elevation of 511m, is almost 260m higher than city centre. It is in part a Schuttberg, an artificial hill built from the ruins and rubble from World War II.
During the war, 53 ...
() on the edge of the Stuttgart basin, the Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
() rising above the Neckar valley, and the Grüner Heiner () at the northeast end of the city.
Stuttgart is one of 14 regional centers in Baden-Württemberg and is naturally the primary centre of the Stuttgart Region, making it the administrative centre for a region of containing a total of 2.76 million people as of December 2014. In addition, Stuttgart serves as a Mittelzentrum for Esslingen District
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
cities Leinfelden-Echterdingen
Leinfelden-Echterdingen (Swabian: ''Laefälda-Ächdordeng'') is a town in the district of Esslingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Stuttgart, near the Stuttgart Airport and directly adjacent to t ...
and Filderstadt
Filderstadt (; Swabian: ''Fildorsdadd'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located approximately 13 km south of Stuttgart.
Filderstadt is located next to the Stuttgart Airport and t ...
as well as Ditzingen
Ditzingen ( Swabian: ''Ditzenge'') is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km northwest of Stuttgart, and 12 km southwest of Ludwigsburg. The Hirschlanden transmitter was ...
, Gerlingen
Gerlingen (Swabian: ''Gaerlenge'') is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 9 km west of Stuttgart, and 15 km southwest of Ludwigsburg. Gerlingen is home to Bosch, a major engineering and ...
, and Korntal-Münchingen
Korntal-Münchingen is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated at the northwestern border of Stuttgart and 8 km of its centre, and 10 km southwest of Ludwigsburg. Korntal was begun in the 1 ...
in Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...
District. Stuttgart is also chief of the three centres Stuttgart Metropolitan Region
The Stuttgart Metropolitan Region is a metropolitan region in south-west Germany consisting of the cities and regions around Stuttgart, Heilbronn, Tübingen/Reutlingen. These cities are arranged into three agglomeration areas. The population of t ...
, an area of containing 5.3 million persons.
Climate
Stuttgart experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cfb''), just like the British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
and Northern France, but it is very extreme at times. As a result of the urban heat island
An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparen ...
caused by the dense development of the city, inside its "Cauldron" average temperatures in the summer months regularly beat from June to August and come very near in September. In the winter temperatures are quite mild, with daily means never sinking below even in the coldest months (January and February). In spite of the heat, there is no dry season and the city receives frequent but moderate precipitation year-round. Annually, the city receives average of rain (German average national annual rainfall is ). On average, Stuttgart enjoys 1,807 hours of sunshine per year and an average annual temperature of .
Typically during summer months, the nearby hills, Swabian Alb mountains, and Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
, Schurwald
The Schurwald is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany, which at its highest point is 513.2 m above sea level.
It is one of the most important Recreation areas for the Stuttgart area. Over the centuries, the vast forests ...
, and Swabian-Franconian Forest act as a shield from harsh weather but the city can be subject to thunderstorms, whereas in the winter periods snow may last for several days. Winters last from December to March. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of . Snow cover tends to last no longer than a few days although it has been known to last several weeks at a time as recently as 2010. The summers are warm with an average temperature of in the hottest months of July and August. Summers last from May until September. Though it is a rare occurrence in Stuttgart, the city sometimes receives damaging hailstorms
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...
, such as in July 2013. In order to fight this phenomenon, weather stations known as "''Hagelflieger''" are stationed near the city and are largely funded by Daimler AG
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufactu ...
, who maintain several parking lots and factories in the municipal area.
Landmarks and culture
Inner city
At the center of Stuttgart lies its main square, Schlossplatz. As well as being the largest square in Stuttgart, it stands at the crossover point between the city's shopping area, ''Schlossgarten'' park which runs down to the river Neckar, Stuttgart's two central castles and major museums and residential areas to the south west. Königstraße, Stuttgart's most important shopping street which runs along the northwestern edge of Schlossplatz, claims to be the longest pedestrianized street in Germany.
Although the city center was heavily damaged during World War II, many historic buildings have been reconstructed and the city boasts some fine pieces of modern post-war architecture. Buildings and squares of note in the inner city
The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...
include:
*The '' Stiftskirche'' (Collegiate Church), dates back to the 12th century, but was changed to the Late Gothic style in the 15th century and has been a Protestant church since 1534. Exterior: Romanesque/Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
; interior: Romanesque/Gothic/Modern. Reconstructed with simplified interior after World War II.
*''Altes Schloss'' (the Old Castle), mostly dating from the late 15th century, some parts date back to 1320. Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
style; reconstructed
*''Alte Kanzlei'' (the Old Chancellery) on Schillerplatz square which backs onto the 1598 Mercury Pillar
*''Neues Schloss'' (the New Castle), completed in 1807. Baroque/Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...
); reconstructed with modern interior, currently houses government offices. The cellars with a collection of stone fragments from the Roman times are open to visitors
*''Wilhelmpalais'' (the King Wilhelm Palais), 1840
*''Königsbau'' (the King's Building), 1850. Classicism; reconstructed; has been housing the "Königsbau Passagen" shopping centre since 2006.
*The ''Großes Haus'' of Stuttgart National Theatre, 1909–1912
*''Markthalle'' Market Hall, 1910. ( Art Nouveau)
*The ''Hauptbahnhof
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
'' (Main Railway Station) was designed in 1920; its stark, functional lines are typical of the artistic trend 'Neue Sachlichkeit' (New Objectivity
The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, wh ...
)
*The ''Württembergische Landesbibliothek
The State Library of Württemberg (german: Württembergische Landesbibliothek or WLB) is a large library in Stuttgart, Germany, which traces its history back to the ducal public library of Württemberg founded in 1765. It holds c. 4 million vol ...
'' state library, rebuilt in 1970.
*''Friedrichsbau Varieté'' (Friedrich Building), rebuilt in 1994 on the site of the former art nouveau building
Architecture in other districts
A number of significant castles stand in Stuttgart's suburbs and beyond as reminders of the city's royal past. These include:
* Castle Solitude, 1700–1800. Baroque/Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
)
*Ludwigsburg Palace
Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. T ...
, 1704–1758. Baroque, with its enormous baroque garden.
* Castle Hohenheim, 1771–1793
Other landmarks in and around Stuttgart include (''see also museums
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
below''):
* Castle Rosenstein (1822–1830) Classical
* Württemberg Mausoleum (1824) which holds the remains of Catherine Pavlovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia (russian: Екатерина Павловна; 21 May 1788 S 10 May 1788– 9 January 1819) later Queen Catharina Pavlovna of Württemberg, was the fourth daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia and D ...
and King William I of Württemberg
William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl; 27 September 178125 June 1864) was King of Württemberg from 30 October 1816 until his death.
Upon William's accession, Württemberg was suffering crop failures and famine in the "Year Without a Summer", ...
*Wilhelma
)
, native_name_lang = deu / ger
, logo = Wilhelma Zoo Logo.png
, logo_size =
, logo_alt = Logo of Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden
, logo_caption = Logo of Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden
, image ...
Zoo and Botanical Gardens (1853)
*The Observation Tower of Burgholzhof an 1891 brick observation tower constructed by the Cannstatt municipal architect Friedrich Keppler on behalf of the Verschönerungsverein Cannstatt e. V. ("Society for the Beautification of Cannstatt"), in the style of a Roman tower.
*Weissenhof Estate
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, effici ...
(1927), ( International Style)
*Friedenskirche
The Protestant Church of Peace (german: Friedenskirche) is situated in the Marly Gardens on the Green Fence (''Am Grünen Gitter'') in the palace grounds of Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, Germany. The church was built according to the wishes and ...
, a 1966 church using the 1892 tower of a bombed church
*The TV Tower
Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...
(1950), the world's first concrete TV tower
* Stuttgart Airport Terminal Building, 2000. In neighboring Leinfelden-Echterdingen
Leinfelden-Echterdingen (Swabian: ''Laefälda-Ächdordeng'') is a town in the district of Esslingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Stuttgart, near the Stuttgart Airport and directly adjacent to t ...
Parks, lakes, cemeteries and other places of interest
At the center of Stuttgart lies a series of gardens which are popular with families and cyclists. Because of its shape on a map, the locals refer to it as the ''Green U''. The Green U starts with the old Schlossgarten, castle gardens first mentioned in records in 1350. The modern park stretches down to the river Neckar and is divided into the upper garden (bordering the Old Castle, the Main Station, the State Theater and the State Parliament building), and the middle and lower gardens – a total of 61 hectares. The park also houses Stuttgart planetarium.
At the far end of Schlossgarten lies the second ''Green U'' park, the larger Rosensteinpark which borders Stuttgart's Wilhelma
)
, native_name_lang = deu / ger
, logo = Wilhelma Zoo Logo.png
, logo_size =
, logo_alt = Logo of Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden
, logo_caption = Logo of Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden
, image ...
zoo and botanical gardens. Planted by King William I of Württemberg
William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl; 27 September 178125 June 1864) was King of Württemberg from 30 October 1816 until his death.
Upon William's accession, Württemberg was suffering crop failures and famine in the "Year Without a Summer", ...
, it contains many old trees and open areas and counts as the largest English-style garden in southern Germany. In the grounds of the park stands the former Rosenstein castle, now the Rosenstein museum.
Beyond bridges over an adjacent main road lies the final ''Green U'' park, Killesbergpark
The Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg) is an urban public park of half a square kilometre (123 acres) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is just north of the state capital, where Killesberg is a quarter of the borough of ''Stuttgart-Nord'' (North).
...
or 'Höhenpark' which is a former quarry that was converted for the Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
garden show of 1939 (and was used as a collection point for Jews awaiting transportation to concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
). The park has been used to stage many gardening shows since the 1950s, including the Bundesgartenschau and 1993 International Gardening Show, and runs miniature trains all around the park in the summer months for children and adults. The viewing tower (Killesbergturm) offers unique views across to the north east of Stuttgart.
On the northern edge of the Rosensteinpark is the famous 'Wilhelma
)
, native_name_lang = deu / ger
, logo = Wilhelma Zoo Logo.png
, logo_size =
, logo_alt = Logo of Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden
, logo_caption = Logo of Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden
, image ...
', Germany's only combined zoological and botanical garden. The whole compound, with its ornate pavilions, greenhouses, walls and gardens was built around 1850 as a summer palace in moorish style for King Wilhelm I
William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...
of Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
. It currently houses around 8000 animals and some 5000 plant species and contains the biggest magnolia
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
grove in Europe.
Other parks in Stuttgart include the historic Botanischer Garten der Universität Hohenheim and Landesarboretum Baden-Württemberg
The Landesarboretum Baden-Württemberg (16.5 hectares) is a historic arboretum and part of the Hohenheim Gardens maintained by the University of Hohenheim, on Garbenstrasse in the Hohenheim district of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Th ...
at Castle Hohenheim (which date back to 1776 and are still used to catalog and research plant species), Uhlandshöhe hill (between the city center, Bad Cannstatt and Frauenkopf, and home to Stuttgart observatory), the Weißenburgpark (a five-hectare park in the Bopser area of Stuttgart South which dates back to 1834 and is now home to a 'tea house' and the 'marble room' and offers a relaxing view across the city center), the Birkenkopf
The Birkenkopf () is a prominent hill in Stuttgart, Germany. At an elevation of 511m, is almost 260m higher than city centre. It is in part a Schuttberg, an artificial hill built from the ruins and rubble from World War II.
During the war, 53 ...
a Schuttberg
''Schuttberg'' ( en, debris hill) is a German term for a mound made of rubble or out of a rubbish heap.
Many were amassed following the extensive damage from strategic bombing during World War II. These types are more specifically termed ...
(at the highest point in central Stuttgart, where many ruins were laid to commemorate the Second World War), and the Eichenhain park in Sillenbuch (declared a nature reserve in 1958 and home to 200 oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
trees, many 300–400 years old).
There are a number of natural and artificial lakes and ponds in Stuttgart. The largest is the Max-Eyth-See, which was created in 1935 by reclaiming a former quarry and is now an official nature reserve. It is surrounded by an expansive open area overlooked by vineyards on the banks of the river Neckar near ühlhausen
There are expansive areas of woodland to the west and south west of Stuttgart which are popular with walkers, families, cyclists and ramblers. The most frequented lakes form a trio made up of the Bärensee, Neuer See and Pfaffensee. The lakes are also used for local water supplies.
In the Feuersee area in the west of Stuttgart lies one of two 'Feuersee's (literally fire lakes), striking for its views of the Johanneskirche
The Johanneskirche (Church of St. John) is a catholic church located in Freiburg im Breisgau. It was first opened in 1899 and is currently located in the Wiehre district. Around the church, further historic buildings were built. On the western side ...
(St. Johns) church across the lake, surrounded by nearby houses and offices. The other Feuersee can be found in Vaihingen.
Cemeteries in Stuttgart include:
*The Hoppenlaufriedhof in Central Stuttgart, the oldest remaining cemetery which dates back to 1626, an infirmary
Infirmary may refer to:
*Historically, a hospital, especially a small hospital
*A first aid room in a school, prison, or other institution
*A dispensary (an office that dispenses medications)
*A clinic
A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambu ...
graveyard last used in 1951
*The Waldfriedhof, the 1913 forest cemetery that is connected to Südheimer Platz by funicular railway
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...
*The Pragfriedhof, with its Art Nouveau crematorium
A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also b ...
. Established in 1873 it was extended to include Jewish graves in 1874 and also now houses the Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
of Alexander Nevsky
*The Uff-Kirchhof cemetery in Bad Cannstatt which stands at the crossroads of two ancient Roman roads
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
and Cannstatter Hauptfriedhof, the largest graveyard in Stuttgart which has been used as a Muslim burial ground since 1985.
The city boasts the second-largest mineral water deposits in Europe after Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,[ with over 250 springs within the urban area.] The Athenebrunnen
The Athenebrunnen (or Fountain of Pallas Athena) is a fountain that bears the name of the Greek goddess Athena and is along Jean-Amery-Weg towards Karlsruhe in the western part of Stuttgart. Karlshöhe is also the name of the area south of the H ...
(or Fountain of Pallas Athena) is along Jean-Amery-Weg in the western part of Stuttgart, dating from 1911.
Culture and events
Stuttgart is known for its rich cultural heritage, in particular its State Theatre (''Staatstheater'') and State Gallery (''Staatsgalerie''). The '' Staatstheater'' is home to the State opera and three smaller theatres. It regularly stages opera, ballet and theatre productions as well as concerts. The Staatstheater was named Germany/Austria/Switzerland "Theatre of the year" in 2006; the Stuttgart Opera has won the 'Opera of the year' award six times. Stuttgart Ballet is connected to names like John Cranko
John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet.
Life and career
Early life
Cranko was born in Rustenburg in the former province of Transv ...
and Marcia Haydée
Marcia Haydée Salaverry Pereira da Silva (born 18 April 1937) is a Brazilian ballet dancer, choreographer and ballet director. She was prima ballerina of the Stuttgart Ballet under John Cranko and succeeded him as the company's director, serv ...
.
Stuttgart is also home to one of Germany's most prestigious symphony orchestras, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, with famous English conductor Sir Roger Norrington
Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington (born 16 March 1934) is an English conductor. He is known for historically informed performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music.
In November 2021 Norrington announced his retirement.
Life
No ...
, who developed a distinct sound of that orchestra, known as the ''Stuttgart Sound''. They mostly perform in the ''Liederhalle'' concert hall.
The city offers two Broadway-style musical theatres, the Apollo and the Palladium Theater (each approx. 1800 seats). Ludwigsburg Palace
Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. T ...
in the nearby town of Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...
is also used throughout the year as a venue for concerts and cultural events.
As a result of Stuttgart's long history of viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...
(Even today there are vineyards less than from the Main Station), there are more than 400 flights of stairs (known in the local dialect as the "''Stäffele''") around the city, equivalent to approximately of steps. Later, in the early 19th Century, the city continued to grow and many vineyards were replaced by houses and streets and the ''Stäffele'' were used as footpaths to connect the newly built neighborhoods. Some of the stairs were elaborately decorated with fountains and plantings.
The Schleyerhalle
Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle (sometimes shortened to Schleyer-Halle) is an indoor arena located in Stuttgart, Germany. The capacity of the arena is nearly 15,000 people. The venue was built in 1983 and is named for Hanns Martin Schleyer, a German ...
sports arena is regularly used to stage rock and pop concerts with major international stars on European tour.
Stuttgart's Swabian cuisine
Swabian cuisine is native to Swabia, a region in southwestern Germany comprising great parts of Württemberg and the Bavarian part of Swabia, as well as the Allgäu which has parts lying in Austria. Swabian cuisine has a reputation for being r ...
, beer and wine have been produced in the area since the 17th century and are now famous throughout Germany and beyond. For example, Gaisburger Marsch is a stew that was invented in Stuttgart's Gaisburg area of Stuttgart East.
In October 2009 the Stuttgart Ministry of Agriculture announced that the European Union was to officially recognise the pasta dish Maultasche
(singular ''Maultasche'' , ) are a kind of large meat-filled dumpling in Swabian cuisine. They consist of sheets of pasta dough filled with minced meat, smoked meat, spinach, bread crumbs and onions and flavored with various herbs and spice ...
n as a "regional specialty", thus marking its significance to the cultural heritage of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
.
In 1993 Stuttgart hosted the International Garden Show in the suburb of Killesberg
The Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg) is an urban public park of half a square kilometre (123 acres) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is just north of the state capital, where Killesberg is a quarter of the borough of ''Stuttgart-Nord'' (North).
...
. In 2006 it was also one of the host cities of the Football World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
. In 2007, Stuttgart hosted the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle (sometimes shortened to Schleyer-Halle) is an indoor arena located in Stuttgart, Germany. The capacity of the arena is nea ...
. In 2008 it was host to the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships
The World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships (WIDPSC) is an annual English language debating and public speaking tournament for individual high school-level students representing different countries. It is the public speaking e ...
. In 2015, Stuttgart hosted the Protestant Kirchentag
The German Evangelical Church Assembly (German ''Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag'', DEKT) is an assembly of lay members of the Evangelical Church in Germany, that organises biennial events of faith, culture and political discussion.
History
...
(church convention) festival, a festival that takes place in a different German city every two years.
Regular events that take place in Stuttgart:
*The world-famous annual 'Volksfest', originally a traditional agricultural fair which now also hosts beer tents and a French village and is second in size only to the Oktoberfest
The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...
in Munich. There is also a Spring festival on the same grounds in April of each year.
*With more than 3.6 million visitors in 2007 and more than 200 stands, Stuttgart's Christmas Market
A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: ''Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Chris ...
, running from late November to 23 December, is the largest and one of the oldest traditional Christmas markets in Europe. It is especially renowned for its abundant decorations and takes place in the four weeks leading up to Christmas.
*The Fish Market (''Hamburger Fischmarkt'', late July) with fresh fish, other food and beer from Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
.
*The Summer Festival (''Stuttgart Sommerfest'', usually in early August) with shows, music, children's entertainment and local cuisine in Schlossplatz, Stuttgart
Schlossplatz is the largest square in Stuttgart Mitte and home to the Neues Schloss which was built between 1746 and 1807. From its construction until the mid-1800s it was used as a military parade ground and not open to general public use. It ...
[Peters, p. 430] and adjacent parks
*The Lantern Festival (''Lichterfest'', early July) in Killesberg
The Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg) is an urban public park of half a square kilometre (123 acres) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is just north of the state capital, where Killesberg is a quarter of the borough of ''Stuttgart-Nord'' (North).
...
park with its famous firework display and fairground attractions
*The Wine Village (''Weindorf'', late August/early September) – vintages are sold at this event held at Schillerplatz and Marktplatz (Market Square)
Museums
Stuttgart is home to five of the eleven state museums in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
. The foremost of these is the Old State Gallery (opened in 1843, extended in 1984) which holds art dating from the 14th to 19th century including works by Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
, Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...
, Cézanne and Beuys. Next door to the Old State Gallery is the New State Gallery (1980) with its controversial modern architecture. Among others, this gallery houses works from Max Beckmann
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement. In the 1920s ...
, Dalí, Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...
, Miró, Picasso, Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
, Chagall
Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
and Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...
.
The Old Castle is also home to the State Museum of Württemberg which was founded in 1862 by William I of Württemberg
William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl; 27 September 178125 June 1864) was King of Württemberg from 30 October 1816 until his death.
Upon William's accession, Württemberg was suffering crop failures and famine in the "Year Without a Summer", ...
. The museum traces the rich history of Württemberg
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
with many artifacts from its dukes, counts and kings, as well as earlier remnants dating back to the Stone Age. On the Karlsplatz side of the Old Castle is a museum dedicated to the memory of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair.
Despite ...
, former resident of Stuttgart who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
on 20 July 1944.
Other leading museums in Stuttgart include:
*The History Museum (''Haus der Geschichte'', 1987), examining local history, finds, the conflict between modern society and its cultural history
* State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (SMNS) in Park Rosenstein housed in Castle Rosenstein (with an emphasis on biology and natural history) and Löwentor Museum (paleontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
and geology, home of the Steinheim skull and many unique fossils from the triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
, jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
and tertiary periods)
*The Mercedes-Benz Museum
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is an automobile museum in Stuttgart, Germany. It covers the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the brands associated with it. Stuttgart is home to the Mercedes-Benz brand and the international headquarters of the Me ...
(1936, moved in 2006), now the most visited museum in Stuttgart (440,000 visits per year). The museum traces the 125-year history of the automobile from the legendary silver arrow to the Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
brand of today
* Stuttgart Art Museum (''Kunstmuseum Stuttgart'', 2005), the number two museum in Stuttgart in terms of visitors with a strong leaning towards modern art (the foremost exhibition of Otto Dix
Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Along with George ...
works). The museum stands on the corner of Schlossplatz, Stuttgart
Schlossplatz is the largest square in Stuttgart Mitte and home to the Neues Schloss which was built between 1746 and 1807. From its construction until the mid-1800s it was used as a military parade ground and not open to general public use. It ...
in a huge glass cube, in strong contrast to the surrounding traditional architecture.
*The Porsche Museum
The Porsche Museum is an automobile museum in the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart, Germany on the site of carmaker Porsche.
History
The original Porsche museum opened in 1976 in a side-road near the Porsche factory. It was a relatively s ...
(1976, reopened in 2008 on new premises).
* Hegel House (''Hegelhaus''), birthplace of the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
which documents his life works
*The Linden Museum
The Linden Museum (German: ''Linden-Museum Stuttgart. Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde'') is an ethnological museum located in Stuttgart, Germany. The museum features cultural artifacts from around the world, including South and Southeast Asia ...
, established in 1911, a leading international ethnological
Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...
museum
*Stuttgart Tram Museum (''Straßenbahnwelt Stuttgart'') in Bad Cannstatt, a display of historical vehicles dating back to 1868
*Theodor Heuss House ('' Theodor-Heuss-Haus'', 2002) in Killesbergpark
The Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg) is an urban public park of half a square kilometre (123 acres) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is just north of the state capital, where Killesberg is a quarter of the borough of ''Stuttgart-Nord'' (North).
...
, a tribute to the life and times of the former German president
*The North Station Memorial (''Gedenkstätte am Nordbahnhof Stuttgart'') in memory of the 2000 or so Jewish holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
victims deported by the Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
from the now disused North Station
Churches
Stuttgart is the seat of a Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
bishop (Protestant State Church in Württemberg) and one of the two co-seats of the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart
The Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, '' Bu ...
. The Stuttgart-based Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement ''Gospel Forum'' is the largest place of worship (megachurch
A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...
) in Germany. It is also home to a large English speaking church, The International Baptist Church of Stuttgart.
Libraries
The Württembergische Landesbibliothek
The State Library of Württemberg (german: Württembergische Landesbibliothek or WLB) is a large library in Stuttgart, Germany, which traces its history back to the ducal public library of Württemberg founded in 1765. It holds c. 4 million vol ...
(WLB) is one of two state libraries for Baden-Württemberg. The WLB is specifically responsible for the administrative regions of Stuttgart and Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...
. Especially devoted to the National Library of acquiring, cataloging, archiving and provision of literature about Württemberg, called ''Württembergica''. Together with the Badische Landesbibliothek (BLB) in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
it also has the legal deposit for Baden-Württemberg, making it an archive library.
The Stuttgart University
The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with ...
Library (UBS) is a central institution of the University of Stuttgart . It forms the center of the library system of the university, ensuring the supply of research, teaching and studies with literature and other information resources. It stands next to the members of the university and citizens of the city are available. Together with other research libraries and documentation centers in the Stuttgart area – such as the University of Hohenheim
The University of Hohenheim (german: Universität Hohenheim) is a campus university located in the south of Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1818, it is Stuttgart's oldest university. Its primary areas of specialisation had traditionally bee ...
Library – it forms the UBS Library Information System of the Stuttgart Region (BISS).
The Central State Archive Stuttgart is the archive in charge of the Ministries of the State of Baden-Württemberg. Since 1965, it is located right next to the WLB and belongs since 2005 as a department of the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg in. It includes the stocks of the county and the duchy Württemberg until 1806, the Württemberg central authorities of the 19th and 20th century and the early 19th century as a result of media coverage of fallen Württemberg gentlemen and imperial cities in South Württemberg.
The Stadtarchiv Stuttgart is the archive in charge of the provincial capital Stuttgart. The archived material is in principle open to the public and can be consulted in the reading room in Bellingweg 21 in Bad Cannstatt.
The Landeskirchliche Archives preserve the stocks of the Württemberg church leaders and of other ecclesial bodies and institutions: the ducal and royal Württemberg consistory, the Evangelical Supreme Ecclesiastical Council, deanery and parish archives, educational institutions, the works and associations as well as estates and collections. It also has the microfilms of all church books (especially baptism, marriage, and family Death's Register) in the area of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg (german: Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the German former state of Württemberg, now part of the state of Baden-Württem ...
.
The "Archive instigator" is dedicated to the dead of the city. Since 2005, the instigators are working on a memoir about "The dead town". So far, about 5,000 names of victims of the regime of National Socialism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...
have been acquired.
There are two large tours that are available to visitors to Stuttgart. The first is the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour (also called the CityTour Stuttgart), lasting from 10 AM to 4 PM that takes visitors around the city. The other is the Neckar-Käpt'n, only available from May to October, which cruises on the Neckar river from its dock at Wilhelma
)
, native_name_lang = deu / ger
, logo = Wilhelma Zoo Logo.png
, logo_size =
, logo_alt = Logo of Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden
, logo_caption = Logo of Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden
, image ...
in Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's bo ...
.
Demographics
The population of Stuttgart declined steadily between 1960 (637,539) and 2000 (586,978). Then low levels of unemployment and attractive secondary education opportunities led to renewed population growth, fuelled especially by young adults from the former East Germany. For the first time in decades, in 2006 there were also more births in the city than deaths. In April 2008 there were 590,720 inhabitants in the city.
Immigrants
More than half of the population today is not of Swabian background, as many non-Swabian Germans have moved here due to the employment situation, which is far better than in most areas of Germany. Since the 1960s, many foreigners have also immigrated to Stuttgart to work here (as part of the "Gastarbeiter
(; both singular and plural; ) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally consider ...
" program); another wave of immigrants came as refugees from the Wars in Yugoslavia
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
in the 1990s. Thus, 40% of the city's population is of foreign background. In 2000, 22.8% of the population did not hold German citizenship
German nationality law details the conditions by which an individual holds German nationality. The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Act, which came into force on 1 January 1914.
Germany is a member state of the Europ ...
, in 2006 this had reduced to 21.7%. by end of 2018 the largest groups of foreign nationals were Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
(17,900), Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
(13,757), Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
(14,021), Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...
(15,268), Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
(5,844) followed by immigrants from Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Poland, France, and Austria. 39% of foreign nationals come from the European Union (mostly Italy, Greece, and Poland).
Religion
The religious landscape in Stuttgart changed in 1534 as a direct result of the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. Since this time Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
has been predominantly Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. However, since 1975 the number of Protestants in Stuttgart has dropped from around 300,000 to 200,000. In 2014, 26.2% of inhabitants were Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
and 24.0% were Roman Catholic. 49.8% of the population fell into other categories: Muslims, Jews and those who either followed no religion or one not accounted for in official statistics.
Unemployment
Unemployment in the Stuttgart Region is above the average of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, but very low compared to other metropolitan areas in Germany. In November 2008, before the annual winter rise, unemployment in the Stuttgart Region stood at 3.8%, 0.1% lower than the rate for Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, in February 2009 it was 4.7%. Unemployment in the actual city of Stuttgart during the same periods stood at 5.2% and 6.0% (8 Nov and 9 Feb respectively). By comparison: unemployment for the whole of Germany stood at 7.1% (8 Nov) and 8.5% (9 Feb).
Crime rates
Stuttgart ranks as one of the safest cities in Germany. In 2003, 8535 crimes were committed in Stuttgart for every 100,000 inhabitants (versus the average for all German cities of 12,751). Figures for 2006 indicate that Stuttgart ranked second behind Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
. 60% of Stuttgart crimes were solved in 2003, ranking second behind Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
.
Government and politics
When Stuttgart was run as a (or within) the Duchy of Württemberg, it was governed by a type of protectorate called a Vogt
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
appointed by the Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
. After 1811 this role was fulfilled by a City Director or 'Stadtdirektor'. After 1819 the community elected its own community mayor or 'Schultheiß'. Since 1930 the title of Oberbürgermeister (the nearest equivalent of which would be an executive form of lord mayor in English) has applied to Stuttgart and all other Württemberg towns of more than 20,000 inhabitants.
At the end of the Second World War, French administrators appointed the independent politician Arnulf Klett as Burgomaster
Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chie ...
, a role he fulfilled without interruption until his death in 1974. Since this time Stuttgart has mainly been governed by the CDU. One former mayor was Manfred Rommel
Manfred Rommel (24 December 1928 – 7 November 2013) was a German politician belonging to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served as mayor of Stuttgart from 1974 until 1996. Rommel's policies were described as tolerant and liberal, an ...
(son of perhaps the most famous German field marshal of World War II, Erwin Rommel).
As the capital of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, Stuttgart is an important political centre in Germany and the seat of the State Parliament, or Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...
as well as all Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
state departments.
In June 2009, for the first time the Greens gained the most seats in a German city with more than 500,000 inhabitants, effectively changing the balance of power in the city council. For the first time since 1972 the CDU no longer held the most seats, toppling its absolute majority shared with the Independent Party and the FDP. According to the German newspaper Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter All ...
, the main reason for the Greens' victory was disgruntlement with the controversial Stuttgart 21 rail project.
Mayor
The current mayor of Stuttgart is Frank Nopper
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Curre ...
of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 8 November 2020, with a runoff held on 29 November, and the results were as follows:
! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate
! rowspan=2, Party
! colspan=2, First round
! colspan=2, Second round
, -
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Frank Nopper
, align=left, Christian Democratic Union
, 69,338
, 31.8
, 83,812
, 42.3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Veronika Kienzle
, align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens
, 37,620
, 17.2
, align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew''
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Marian Schreier
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
(SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
)
, 32,678
, 15.0
, 73,209
, 36.9
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Hannes Rockenbauch
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
( Left/SÖS/Pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
/ DiB)
, 30,465
, 14.0
, 35,349
, 17.8
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Martin Körner
, align=left, Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
, 21,281
, 9.8
, align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew''
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Sebastian Reutter
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 9,494
, 4.4
, align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew''
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Michael Ballweg
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 5,687
, 2.6
, 2,439
, 1.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Malte Kaufmann
, align=left, Alternative for Germany
, 4,712
, 2.2
, align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew''
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Ralph Schertlen
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 2,113
, 1.0
, 1,183
, 0.6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, John Heer
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 1,774
, 0.8
, align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew''
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Issam Abdul-Karim
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 1,322
, 0.6
, 770
, 0.4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Marco Völker
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 734
, 0.3
, 392
, 0.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Friedhild Anni Miller
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 722
, 0.3
, 616
, 0.3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Werner Ressdorf
, align=left, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 143
, 0.1
, 114
, 0.1
, -
, colspan=3 align=left, ''Other''
, 40
, 0.0
, 266
, 0.1
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 218,123
! 99.8
! 198,150
! 99.6
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 540
! 0.2
! 751
! 0.4
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 218,663
! 100.0
! 198,901
! 100.0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 446,375
! 49.0
! 445,577
! 44.5
, -
, colspan=7, Source: City of Stuttgart
1st round
City council
The Stuttgart city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2, Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
, 3,694,305
, 26.3
, 2.3
, 16
, 2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
, 2,722,927
, 19.4
, 8.9
, 11
, 6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
(SPD)
, 1,632,732
, 11.6
, 2.7
, 7
, 2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP)
, 1,116,739
, 7.9
, 2.0
, 5
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Free Voters Baden-Württemberg (FW)
, 995,622
, 7.1
, 0.0
, 4
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD)
, 856,335
, 6.1
, 1.4
, 4
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, The Left (Die Linke)
, 746,365
, 5.3
, 0.8
, 3
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left, Stuttgart Ecological Social (SÖS)
, 615,986
, 4.4
, 1.0
, 3
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left, City People (Stadtisten)
, 356,808
, 2.5
, 0.8
, 2
, 1
, -
,
, align=left, Youth List (JL)
, 272,933
, 1.9
, 0.7
, 1
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left, No Driving Ban for Stuttgart (KFiS)
, 220,044
, 1.6
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Die PARTEI
(''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazi ...
(PARTEI)
, 207,970
, 1.5
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Pirate Party (Piraten)
, 163,575
, 1.2
, 0.8
, 1
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Human Environment Animal Protection
The Human Environment Animal Protection Party (german: Partei Mensch Umwelt Tierschutz, short form: Animal Protection Party, german: Tierschutzpartei, links=no) is a political party in Germany, founded in 1993. In 2014 one candidate was elected ...
(Tierschutzpartei)
, 145,525
, 1.0
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey,
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Ecological Democratic Party
The Ecological Democratic Party (german: Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei, ÖDP) is a conservative and ecologist minor party in Germany. The ÖDP was founded in 1982.
The strongest level of voting support for the ÖDP is in Bavaria, where in ...
(ÖDP)
, 101,475
, 0.7
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG)
, 69,842
, 0.5
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Alliance Future Stuttgart 23 (BZS23)
, 45,410
, 0.3
, New
, 0
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Democracy in Motion
Democracy in Motion (german: Demokratie in Bewegung, ) is a minor party in Germany. The basis for the party's founding was a petition on change.org, in which petitioners promised to run as a party in September 2017 at the federal election if the ...
(DiB)
, 36,389
, 0.3
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Schertlens' Independent Citizens (SchUB)
, 23,792
, 0.2
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Feminist List (FeLi)
, 22,576
, 0.2
, New
, 0
, New
, -
! colspan=2, Valid votes
! 254,770
! 98.0
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Invalid votes
! 5,247
! 2.0
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Total
! 260,017
! 100.0
!
! 60
! ±0
, -
! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout
! 452,227
! 57.5
! 10.9
!
!
, -
, colspan=7, Source
City of Stuttgart
City districts
The city of Stuttgart is administratively divided into 23 city district
A City district is a designated administrative division that is generally managed by a local government. It is used to divide a city into several administrative units.
City districts are used in Russia (raion), Pakistan and Croatia ( hr, gradsk ...
s – five "inner" districts and 18 "outer" districts. Each district has a council headed by a district director. From there, the districts are broken down into quarters. Since the changes in city statutes on 1 July 2007 and 1 January 2009, the total number of quarters rose to 152.
Economy
The Stuttgart area is known for its high-tech industry. Some of its most prominent companies include Mercedes-Benz Group
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
, Porsche,[,] Robert Bosch GmbH, McKesson Europe, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Sika AG – all of whom have their world or European headquarters here.
Stuttgart is home to Germany's ninth biggest exhibition center, Stuttgart Trade Fair, which lies on the city outskirts next to Stuttgart Airport. Hundreds of SMEs are still based in Stuttgart (often termed ''Mittelstand
commonly refers to a group of stable business enterprises in Germany, Austria and Switzerland that have proved successful in enduring economic change and turbulence. The term is difficult to translate and may cause confusion for non-Germans. It ...
''), many still in family ownership with strong ties to the automotive, electronics, engineering and high-tech industry.
Stuttgart has the highest general standard of prosperity of any city in Germany. Its nominal GDP per capita is €57,100 and GDP purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita is €55,400. Total GDP of Stuttgart is €33.9 billion, of which service sector contributes around 65.3%, industry 34.5%, and agriculture 0.2%.
The cradle of the automobile
The automobile and motorcycle were purported to have been invented in Stuttgart (by Karl Benz
Carl Friedrich Benz (; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929), sometimes also Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent Motorcar from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automobile and fir ...
and subsequently industrialized in 1887 by Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf ( Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He w ...
and Wilhelm Maybach
Wilhelm Maybach (; 9 February 1846 – 29 December 1929) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers".
From the late 19th ce ...
at the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated as DMG, also known as ''Daimler Motors Corporation'') was a German engineering company and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and ...
). As a result, it is considered to be the starting point of the worldwide automotive industry and is sometimes referred to as the 'cradle of the automobile'.[ Today, ]Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
and Porsche both have their headquarters in Stuttgart, as well as automotive parts giants Bosch and Mahle. A number of auto-enthusiast magazines are published in Stuttgart.
Science and research and development
The region currently has Germany's highest density of scientific, academic and research organisations. No other region in Germany registers so many patents and designs as Stuttgart. 45% of Baden-Württemberg's R&D capacities are concentrated in the Swabian capital. More than 11% of all German R&D costs are invested in the Stuttgart region (approximately 4.3 billion euros per year). In addition to several universities and colleges (e.g. University of Stuttgart, University of Hohenheim
The University of Hohenheim (german: Universität Hohenheim) is a campus university located in the south of Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1818, it is Stuttgart's oldest university. Its primary areas of specialisation had traditionally bee ...
, Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology and several Stuttgart Universities of Applied Sciences
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...
), the area is home to six Fraunhofer institutes, four institutes of collaborative industrial research at local universities, two Max-Planck institutes and a major establishment of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).
Financial services
The Stuttgart Stock Exchange
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 Swab ...
is the second largest in Germany (after Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
). Many leading companies in the financial services sector are headquartered in Stuttgart with around 100 credit institutes in total (e.g. LBBW Bank, Wüstenrot & Württembergische, Allianz Life Assurance).
A history of wine and beer
Stuttgart is the only city in Germany where wine grapes are grown within the urban area, mainly in the districts of Rotenberg, Uhlbach and Untertürkheim.
Wine-growing in the area dates back to 1108 when, according to State archives, Blaubeuren Abbey was given vineyards in Stuttgart as a gift from 'Monk Ulrich'. In the 17th century the city was the third largest German wine-growing community in the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
. Wine remained Stuttgart's leading source of income well into the 19th century.
Stuttgart is still one of Germany's largest wine-growing cities with more than 400 hectares of vine area, thanks in main to its location at the center of Germany's fourth largest wine region, the Württemberg wine growing area which covers and is one of only 13 official areas captured under German Wine law Wine laws are legislation regulating various aspects of production and sales of wine. The purpose of wine laws includes combating wine fraud, by means of regulated protected designations of origin, labelling practices and classification of wine ...
. The continuing importance of wine to the local economy is marked every year at the annual wine festival ('Weindorf').
Stuttgart also has several famous breweries such as Stuttgarter Hofbräu, Dinkelacker
Dinkelacker is a brand of German beer brewed in Stuttgart, Germany.
The Dinkelacker brewery was founded by Carl Dinkelacker in Stuttgart's Tübinger Straße in 1888. The company still brews at that location. By the end of the 19th century Dinke ...
, and Schwaben Bräu.
Education
Stuttgart and its region have been home to some significant figures of German thought and literature, the most important ones being Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
, Friedrich Schiller and Friedrich Hölderlin
Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Part ...
.
The city, in its engineering tradition as the cradle of the automobile, has also always been a fruitful place of research and innovation. Stuttgart has Germany's second-highest number of institutions (six) of applied research of the Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...
(after Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
).
Tertiary education
The city is not considered a traditional university city, but nevertheless has a variety of institutions of higher education. The most significant of them are:
* University of Stuttgart, it is the fourth biggest university in Baden-Württemberg after Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...
and Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
. Founded in 1829, it was a ''Technische Hochschule'' ("Technical University") until 1967, when it was renamed to "university". Its campus for social sciences and architecture is located in the city centre, near the main train station, while the natural science campus is in the southwestern city district of Vaihingen. Historically, it has been especially renowned for its faculty of architecture (''Stuttgarter Schule''). Today, its main focus is on engineering and other technical subjects.
*University of Hohenheim
The University of Hohenheim (german: Universität Hohenheim) is a campus university located in the south of Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1818, it is Stuttgart's oldest university. Its primary areas of specialisation had traditionally bee ...
, founded in 1818 as an academy for agricultural science and forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
. While these subjects are still taught there today, its other focus today is on business administration. It is located in Hohenheim quarter of the southern city district of Plieningen.
* State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, founded in 1857, located in the city center, next to the Neue Staatsgalerie.
* State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, one of the biggest art colleges in Germany, founded in 1761, located in the Killesberg quarter of the northern city district Stuttgart-Nord.
* Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart), founded in 2001 as a university of applied sciences, a merger of the former ''College of Printing and Publishing'' and the ''College of Librarianship'', located in Vaihingen.
* Stuttgart Technology University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart), founded in 1832 as a college for craftsmanship, university of applied sciences since 1971, located in the city center, near the University of Stuttgart's city-center campus.
* University of Cooperative Education Baden-Württemberg, founded in 1974, with a focus on practical experience, subjects are business, technology and social work.
Historically, an elite military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
existed in Stuttgart in the late 18th century (1770–1794), the Hohe Karlsschule, at Solitude Castle. Friedrich Schiller and the city's most famous Classicist architect, Nikolaus Friedrich von Thouret, were among its many esteemed alumni.
Primary and secondary education
The first Waldorf School
Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its educational style is holistic, intended to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical ...
(also known as Rudolf Steiner School) was founded here in 1919 by the director of the Waldorf Astoria tobacco factory, Emil Molt
Emil Molt (14 April 1876, in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Kingdom of Württemberg – 16 June 1936, in Stuttgart) was a German industrialist, social reformer and anthroposophist. He was the director of the Waldorf-Astoria-Zigarettenfabrik, and with Rudolf ...
, and Austrian social thinker Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as ...
, a comprehensive school following Steiner's educational principles of anthroposophy
Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Follower ...
and humanistic ideals. Today, four of these schools are located in Stuttgart.
International School
Since 1985 Stuttgart is home to the International School of Stuttgart
The International School of Stuttgart (ISS) operates from Kindergarten through grade 12 on campuses in the Degerloch (main and original campus) and Sindelfingen areas of Stuttgart organized on the International Baccalaureate program. The school ...
, one of fewer than 100 schools worldwide that offer all three International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...
programs- the IB Primary Years (Early Learning to Grade 5), IB Middle Years (Grade 6 to 10), IB Diploma (grades 11–12). The International School of Stuttgart is accredited by both the Council of International Schools and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
Media and publishing
One of the headquarters of the public Südwestrundfunk
Südwestrundfunk (SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany , specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices ...
(SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') channels (several radio and one TV channel; regional focus on the southwestern German States of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
) is located in Stuttgart (the other ones being Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...
and Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
). It also has a ''Landesmedienzentrum'', a state media center.
Furthermore, the city is a significant centre of publishing and specialist printing, with renowned houses such as Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group
Holtzbrinck Publishing Group () is a privately held German company based in Stuttgart which Holding company, owns publishing companies worldwide. Through Macmillan Publishers, it is one of the Publishing#Book publishing, Big Five English-langu ...
, Ernst Klett Verlag
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975-) ...
(schoolbooks), Kohlhammer Verlag
W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart.
History
Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-l ...
, Metzler Verlag and Motor Presse having their head offices there. The Reclam
Reclam Verlag is a German publishing house, established in Leipzig in 1828 by Anton Philipp Reclam (1807–1896).[Ditzingen
Ditzingen ( Swabian: ''Ditzenge'') is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km northwest of Stuttgart, and 12 km southwest of Ludwigsburg. The Hirschlanden transmitter was ...]
.
The newspapers ''Stuttgarter Zeitung
The ''Stuttgarter Zeitung'' ("Stuttgart newspaper") is a German-language daily newspaper (except Sundays) edited in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with a run of about 200,000 sold copies daily.
History and profile
It was first edited ...
'' (StZ; regional, with significant supra-regional, national and international sections) and Stuttgarter Nachrichten (StN; regional) are published here as well as a number of smaller, local papers such as ''Cannstatter Zeitung''.
As is the case wherever the US military is stationed, there is an American Forces Network (AFN) station. It transmits on FM on 102.3 MHz from Fernmeldeturm Frauenkopf and on AM on 1143 kHz from Hirschlanden transmitter
The Hirschlanden transmitter was a facility of the Deutsche Telekom AG (in earlier days: Deutsche Bundespost) for mediumwave broadcasting south of Ditzingen-Hirschlanden (a village which is a part of the German city of Ditzingen) situated at 48°4 ...
.
Transport
Following the suit of other German cities such as Berlin, Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
and Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, on 1 March 2008 a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) came into effect in Stuttgart with the aim of improving air quality. This affects all vehicles entering the Stuttgart 'Environmental zone' (''Umweltzone''), including vehicles from abroad.
Local transport
Stuttgart has a light rail system known as the Stuttgart Stadtbahn
The Stuttgart Stadtbahn is a light rail system in Stuttgart, Germany. The Stadtbahn began service on 28 September 1985. It is operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB), which also operates the bus systems in that city. The Stuttgar ...
. In the city center and densely built-up areas, the Stadtbahn runs underground. Stations are signposted with a 'U' symbol, which stands for ''Untergrundbahn'' (underground rail). Until 2007, Stuttgart also operated regular trams. Stuttgart also has a large bus network. Stadtbahn lines and buses are operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB). The outlying suburbs of Stuttgart and nearby towns are served by a suburban railway system called the Stuttgart S-Bahn, using tracks supplied by the national Deutsche Bahn AG (DB).
A peculiarity of Stuttgart is the '' Zahnradbahn'', a rack railway
A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with th ...
that is powered by electricity and operates between Marienplatz in the southern inner-city district of the city and the district of Degerloch. It is the only urban rack railway in Germany. Stuttgart also has a '' Standseilbahn'', a funicular
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...
railway that operates in the Heslach area and the forest cemetery (Waldfriedhof). In Killesberg Park, on a prominent hill overlooking the city, there is the miniature railway
A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petro ...
run by diesel (and on weekends with steam).
Rail links
Stuttgart is a hub in the Intercity-Express
The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerl ...
and Intercity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
networks of Deutsche Bahn AG (DB), with through services to most other major German cities. It also operates international services to Strasbourg, Vienna, Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
and Paris (five times a day, journey time 3 hours 11 minutes).
Long-distance trains stop at Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, the city's main line terminus, which is also used by Interregio-Express, Regional-Express
In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at ...
and Regionalbahn trains for services to stations in the Stuttgart metropolitan area. The local rail networks (see above) operate underneath the terminus.
Stuttgart also has its own rail freight centre with marshalling yards
A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard ( British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...
and a container terminal in the Obertürkheim area of Hedelfingen.
Rail: The ''Stuttgart 21'' project
After years of political debate and controversy, plans were approved in October 2007 to convert the existing above-ground main train station to an underground through station. The '' Stuttgart 21 project'' will include the rebuilding of surface and underground lines connecting the station in Stuttgart's enclosed central valley with existing railway and underground lines. Building work started in 2010 with controversial modifications to the Hauptbahnhof and was slated to be completed in 2019, then 2021 and now 2025.
Air transport
Stuttgart is served by Stuttgart Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Stuttgart, IATA airport code ''STR''), an international airport approximately south of the city centre on land belonging mainly to neighboring towns. It takes 30 minutes to reach the airport from the city center using S-Bahn
The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...
lines S2 or S3 or Stadtbahn line U6. Stuttgart airport is Germany's only international airport with one runway. Despite protests and local initiatives, surveys are currently underway to assess the impact of a second runway.
Road transport
Stuttgart is served by Autobahn A8, that runs east–west from Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
to Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, and Autobahn A81 that runs north–south from Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg ...
to Singen. The Autobahn A831 is a short spur entering the southern side of Stuttgart.
Besides these Autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track' ...
s, Stuttgart is served by a large number of expressways, many of which are built to Autobahn standards, and were once intended to carry an A-number. Important expressways like B10, B14, B27 and B29 connect Stuttgart with its suburbs. Due to the hilly surroundings, there are many road tunnels in and around Stuttgart. There are also a number of road tunnels under intersections in the center of Stuttgart.
Waterways
Stuttgart has an inland port in Hedelfingen on the Neckar.
Sport
Football
As in many parts of Germany, football is the most popular sport in Stuttgart which is home to 'The Reds' and 'The Blues'. 'The Reds', VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...
, are the most famous and popular local club. An established team currently playing in the German Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
, VfB was founded in 1893 and has won five German titles since 1950, most recently in 1992 and 2007. VfB is based at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Bad Cannstatt.
'The Blues', Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers.
History
In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...
, are the second most important football team. They currently play in the Regionalliga Südwest
The Regionalliga Südwest ( en, Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together wit ...
(fourth division) at the smaller Gazi Stadium close to the TV tower
Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...
in Degerloch.
Other lower-division football teams are ''Sportfreunde Stuttgart'' – most famous for taking part in the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy
The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was an association football competition that took place twice, in Turin, Italy, in 1909 and 1911. It is regarded as an early European trophy.[TV Bittenfeld
TVB 1898 Stuttgart is a handball club from Waiblingen, town of Bittenfeld, Germany. that plays in the Handball-Bundesliga.
History
TV Bittenfeld played in the 2nd Division German Handball Championship from the 2006/07 season to the 2014/15 ...]
has been playing in the men's Handball-Bundesliga
The Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) is the top German professional handball league. From 2007 onwards, the league was sponsored by Toyota and has officially been called the ''Toyota Handball-Bundesliga''. This lasted until 2012 when the Deutsche Kr ...
since the 2015–2016 season under the name TVB 1898 Stuttgart. The home venue is the Scharrena Stuttgart
The Scharrena Stuttgart (''SCHARRena Stuttgart'' official spelling) is a multi-purpose hall in Stuttgart's Bad Cannstatt district. The hall is located on the fairgrounds Neckar Park, is the Mercedes-Benz Arena affiliated, under ''Unterthürkheime ...
, part of the home games also take place in the Porsche-Arena
Porsche-Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located in Stuttgart, Germany. The seating capacity of the arena varies, from 5,100 to 8,000 people and it was opened in 2006, after 14 months of construction. The arena is part of a sport complex located i ...
for capacity reasons. VfL Pfullingen/Stuttgart played in the Bundesliga from 2001 to 2006, where they played their home games in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle (sometimes shortened to Schleyer-Halle) is an indoor arena located in Stuttgart, Germany. The capacity of the arena is nearly 15,000 people. The venue was built in 1983 and is named for Hanns Martin Schleyer, a German fo ...
. In the 1990–1991 season, SG Stuttgart-Scharnhausen also played in the Bundesliga.
Since 2008, the women's volleyball team Allianz MTV Stuttgart
Allianz MTV Stuttgart is a German professional volleyball team based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg.
In 2020, sports director was Kim Renkema whereas managing director was Aurel Irion.
For the 2020-21 season, Stuttgart re-hired Athina Papaf ...
(until 2010 Allianz Volley Stuttgart, until 2012 Smart Allianz Stuttgart) plays in the Deutsche Volleyball-Bundesliga. They became German champions in 2019, having previously been runners-up four times in a row from 2015 to 2018, and also won the German cup three times. CJD Feuerbach was German champion in women's volleyball three times. The club withdrew its first team from the Bundesliga in 1996 for financial reasons.
Stuttgart has two major ice hockey teams. Stuttgart Rebels EC, plays in the "Landesliga" (4th tier) at the Waldau ice rink in Degerloch. The Bietigheim Bissingen Steelers play in the first division of the DEL. The Steelers play in the new Ege Trans Arena in Bietigheim.
The strongest local water polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
team is SV Cannstatt, which won the German championship in 2006.
Stuttgart has three American Football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
teams: the Stuttgart Silver Arrows, who play in the Regionalliga Südwest, and the Stuttgart Scorpions as part of the German Football League
The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based on those of the American NCAA. In 1999, the league switched its name from ''American-Football-Bundesliga'' to ''German Foot ...
, who play in Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers.
History
In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...
' Gazi Stadium. With Stuttgart Surge
The Stuttgart Surge are an American football team based in Stuttgart, Germany. They play in the European League of Football (ELF) as part of the league's South division. The team plays its home games at the Gazi Stadium which is currently the ol ...
a third team was founded in 2021 as part of the European League of Football
The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional American football league. The league (as of the 2023 season) consists of 17 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic and France, with p ...
(ELF) and is likewise supposed to play in the Gazi Stadium.
Australian Football is practiced by the Stuttgart Emus – one of only six active teams in Germany. It participates in the Australian Football League Germany when they play their home games in the Eberhard-Bauer-Stadion.
TC Weissenhof is a Stuttgart-based women's tennis team that has won the German championship four times. Another women's team is TEC Waldau Stuttgart (German champions in 2006).
HTC Stuttgarter Kickers is one of the most successful field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...
clubs in Germany, having won the German championship in 2005 and a European title in 2006.
Stuttgart has also hosted the Stihl Timbersports Series in world logging championships.
Sporting events
Stuttgart has a reputation for staging major events, including the FIFA World Cup 1974
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...
, the finals stages of the FIBA EuroBasket 1985
The 1985 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1985, was the 24th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 5 to 16 June 1985 in West Germany. The Soviet Union defeated Czec ...
, the UEFA Euro 1988
The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA.
The tournament crowned the Nethe ...
, and the World Championships in Athletics 1993. It was also one of the twelve host cities of the FIFA World Cup 2006
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
. Six matches, three of them second round matches, including the third and fourth place playoff, were played at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium (today Mercedes-Benz Arena). Stuttgart was also 2007 European Capital of Sport, hosting events such as the UCI World Cycling Championships Road Race and the IAAF World Athletics Final.
Other famous sports venues are the Weissenhof tennis courts, where the annual Mercedes Cup
The Stuttgart Open (sponsored since 2022 by Hugo Boss and called BOSS Open) is an ATP Tour 250 series professional tennis tournament on the ATP Tour. Between 1970 and 1989, the Stuttgart Open was a Grand Prix tennis circuit event. From 1990 to 19 ...
tennis tournament is played, the Porsche Arena
Porsche-Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located in Stuttgart, Germany. The seating capacity of the arena varies, from 5,100 to 8,000 people and it was opened in 2006, after 14 months of construction. The arena is part of a sport complex located in ...
(hosting tennis, basketball and handball) and the Schleyerhalle
Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle (sometimes shortened to Schleyer-Halle) is an indoor arena located in Stuttgart, Germany. The capacity of the arena is nearly 15,000 people. The venue was built in 1983 and is named for Hanns Martin Schleyer, a German ...
(boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
, equestrianism/ show jumping, gymnastics, track cycling
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles.
History
Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...
etc.), Scharrena Stuttgart
The Scharrena Stuttgart (''SCHARRena Stuttgart'' official spelling) is a multi-purpose hall in Stuttgart's Bad Cannstatt district. The hall is located on the fairgrounds Neckar Park, is the Mercedes-Benz Arena affiliated, under ''Unterthürkheime ...
.
International relations
Twin towns – sister cities
Stuttgart is twinned with:
* St Helens, England (1948)
* Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, Wales (1955)
* St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, United States (1960)
* Strasbourg, France (1962)
* Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, India (1968)
* Menzel Bourguiba
Menzel Bourguiba ( ar, منزل بورقيبة, Manzil Būrgībah, lit=House of Bourguiba), formerly known as Ferryville, is a town located in the extreme north of Tunisia, about from Tunis, in the Bizerte Governorate.
Toponymy
The town's na ...
, Tunisia (1971)
* Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
, Egypt (1979)
* Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...
, Poland (1988)
* Brno, Czech Republic (1989)
* Samara, Russia (1992)
The city district of Bad Cannstatt is twinned with:
* Újbuda (Budapest), Hungary
The city district of Vaihingen is twinned with:[
* ]Melun
Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of the Seine-et-Ma ...
, France
The city district of Zuffenhausen is twinned with:[
* ]La Ferté-sous-Jouarre
La Ferté-sous-Jouarre () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne département in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.
It is located at a crossing point over the river Marne between Meaux and Château-Thierry.
History
This area of Fr ...
, France
Friendships
Stuttgart has friendly relations with:[
* ]Ōgaki
Ōgaki Castle
is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 161,539, and a population density of 782 persons per km2 in 65,931 households. The total area of the city was . Ōgaki was the final destination for the h ...
, Japan
* Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, China
* Shavei Tzion
Shavei Tzion ( he, שָׁבֵי צִיּוֹן, ''lit.'' Returnees to Zion) is a moshav shitufi in northern Israel. Located between Acre and Nahariya and covering 2,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In ...
, Israel
Notable people
In popular culture
Gaming
*In the 2003 video game '' Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour'', GLA forces attacked the US base in Stuttgart in their final mission. In the first Chinese mission, the player must reclaim the city from the GLA.
*Dr Ludwig, more commonly known as the Medic in Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
's 2007 first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...
game ''Team Fortress 2
''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' mod for '' Quake'' and its 1999 remake, '' Team Fortress Classic''. The game was ...
'' is a native of Stuttgart, but was raised in Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...
.
*In the 2008 adventure game episodic video game, episode ''Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, Sam & Max: Night of the Raving Dead'', the title characters travel to Stuttgart to kill a vampire.
*Reinhardt, one of the tank classes in Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard's 2016 team based shooter ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'', originates from Stuttgart. Furthermore, the game also features the map Eichenwalde, which is a fictional castle town near the city.
Novels
*In the 2005 novel ''The Book Thief'', protagonist Max Vandenburg resides in Stuttgart until his flight later in the book.
TV and cinema
*In the 2012 film ''The Avengers (2012 film), The Avengers'', the villain Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Loki is tracked to a gala in Stuttgart, where he intends to steal a large quantity of iridium for his schemes. These scenes were actually filmed in Cleveland, Ohio, and a number of Stuttgart residents noted the errors in the film's depiction of the city.
Gallery
File:Stuttgart, Blickrichtung Nord von der Weinsteige aus, Innenstadt.jpg, Stuttgart from Weinsteige Road
File:Markthalle Stuttgart.jpg, The ''Markthalle Stuttgart'' (Stuttgart Market Hall)
File:Fernsehturm Stuttgart and Full Moon Summer 2013 06.jpg, The Fernsehturm Stuttgart (Stuttgart Television Tower) at night
File:Schloß-Rosenstein.jpg, Castle Rosenstein
File:Stuttgart Schlossplatz Nacht new.jpg, New Castle (Stuttgart), Neues Schloss at night
File:Stuttgart-Hegel-Birthplace-2006-04-09a.jpg, The Hegel Museum, birthplace of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel
File:Stuttgart Christmas Market.JPG, Stuttgart annual Christmas Market
File:Stuttgart Downtown.JPG, Old downtown area of Stuttgart
File:Stuttgart1999.jpg, Romantic view on the downtown area seen from upper Lenzhalde
File:Stuttgart-haus-der-wirtschaft.jpg, The ''Haus der Wirtschaft'' (House of Commerce)
StuttgartSchlossPlatz.JPG, Schlossplatz
Grabkapelle Württemberg.JPG, The Württemberg Mausoleum, grave chapel atop the Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
Obertürkheim und Neckartal.jpg, The mild climate and hilly landscape are perfect for viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...
, as the Roman Empire, Romans discovered. Pictured are vineyards near Obertürkheim.
Stuttgart View from Birkenkopf.jpg, View of Stuttgart from atop the Birkenkopf
The Birkenkopf () is a prominent hill in Stuttgart, Germany. At an elevation of 511m, is almost 260m higher than city centre. It is in part a Schuttberg, an artificial hill built from the ruins and rubble from World War II.
During the war, 53 ...
Stuttgart, Blickrichtung Nord von der Weinsteige aus, Innenstadt.jpg, View from the Killesbergpark
The Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg) is an urban public park of half a square kilometre (123 acres) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is just north of the state capital, where Killesberg is a quarter of the borough of ''Stuttgart-Nord'' (North).
...
Neckar bei Hedelfingen und Obertürkheim.jpg, Neckar river flowing through Hedelfingen and Obertürkheim
Zuckerle.jpg, Vineyards on the Neckar river in the Mühlhausen am Neckar, Mühlhausen area of Stuttgart during the Autumn of 2006
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
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Further reading
;Published in the 19th century
*
*
;Published in the 20th century
*
*Hagel, Jürgen: ''Mensch und Natur im Stuttgarter Raum.'' Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen 2001, .
*Hagel, Jürgen: ''Das Paradies des Neckars Bad Cannstatt.'' In: Wolfgang Niess, Sönke Lorenz (Hrsg.): ''Kult-Bäder und Bäderkultur in Baden-Württemberg.'' Markstein-Verlag, Filderstadt 2004, .
*Kreh, Ulrike: ''Naturdenkmale Stuttgart. Naturschätze vor der Haustüre.'' Hrsg. v. Amt für Umweltschutz der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart. verlag regionalkultur Ubstadt-Weiher, 2005, .
*Hermann Lenz:'' Stuttgart. Portrait einer Stadt''. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main/Leipzig 2003, .
*Ostertag, Roland (Hrsg.): ''Das Bosch-Areal.'' Verlag Karl Krämer, Stuttgart 2004, .
*Ostertag, Roland (Hrsg.): ''Stuttgart… wohin?'' Band 2, mit Beiträgen von Max Bächer, Helmut Böhme, Otto Borst, Hermann Hesse, Timo John, Wolfgang Kil, Arno Lederer, Roland Ostertag, Frei Otto, Hannelore Schlaffer, Walter Siebel, Klaus Töpfer. Karl Krämer Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, .
*Schaefer, Albert T.: ''Stuttgart Panorama.'' Mit Texten von Manfred Rommel. edition braus, Heidelberg 2006, (Fotoband).
*Schäfer, Hartmut: ''Befunde aus der "Archäologischen Wüste:" Die Stiftskirche und das Alte Schloss in Stuttgart.'' Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg 31, 2002, S. 249–258.
*Zelzer, Maria (Hrsg.): ''Stuttgart unterm Hakenkreuz. Chronik 1933–1945.'' Cordeliers, Stuttgart 1983, .
External links
*
*
Official website
Official tourist board
Tourist attractions
Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen Porsche Town
Stuttgart International Airport
International School of Stuttgart
Stuttgart-Stammheim homepage
Stuttgart's public transportation system
Stuttgart-American Expatriate Spouses Group
{{Authority control
Stuttgart,
Württemberg
Germania Superior
950s establishments
Populated places established in the 10th century
Populated places on the Neckar basin
Populated riverside places in Germany