Encyclopedia
Stuttgart [], a
city located in southern
Germany, is the capital of the state of
Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 in the city and around 3 million in the
metropolitan area.
Overview
Stuttgart,
Germany, the capital of
Baden-Württemberg state and the Administrative Region of Stuttgart , is located in the center of the very densely populated southwestern
Stuttgart Region of
Germany, close to both the
Black Forest and the
Swabian Jura. The city center itself has a population of 591 528 and covers an area of 207 km². Stuttgart with its metropolitan area is one of the most prominent and well-known German towns, especially due to its cultural, administrative and huge economic importance.
Stuttgart is the sixth largest city in Germany and
Stuttgart Region is the nation's fourth largest conurbation . Neighbouring large cities are
Frankfurt and
Munich .
The City of Stuttgart is subdivided into 23 city districts, among the most well-known are:
Stuttgart is also the seat of a protestant
bishop and one of the two co-seats of the bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese Rottenburg-Stuttgart. The pentecostal
Biblische Glaubens-Gemeinde ist the largest
megachurch in Germany.
History
The coat of arms shows a black, rampant horse on a yellow or golden field. It is a
canting seal due to the fact that the name "Stuttgart" is an over the centuries modified version of "Stutengarten", in English roughly "mare garden" or "stud farm". About 950, Stuttgart was originally founded by Duke Liudolf of
Swabia, one of the sons of the Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great, and used for horse breeding . Later on , Stuttgart became the residence of the counts of
Württemberg. In 1496, the counts of Württemberg were promoted to dukes by the emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire. After
Napoleon's breakup of the Holy Roman Empire, the dukes of Württemberg earned the title of kings and Stuttgart became a royal residence.
The name of the royal family of Württemberg and of the state originates from a steep Stuttgart hill, formerly known as Wirtemberg, nowadays called Württemberg. On top of that hill, the mausoleum from 1824 of Queen Katharina and King Wilhelm I of Württemberg is located.
During the
revolution of 1848/1849, a democratic pan-German national parliament was formed in
Frankfurt to overcome the division of Germany. After long discussions, the parliament decided to offer the title of German Emperor to the
Prussian king. Since the democratic movement became weaker, the German princes regained control of their independent states. Finally the Prussian king declined the revolutionaries' offer. The members of parliament were driven out of Frankfurt, and the most radical members fled to Stuttgart. A short while later, this rump parliament was dissolved by the Württemberg military.
In 1871, as an autonomous kingdom, Württemberg joined the
German Empire or Kaiserreich, created by the Prussian prime minister Otto von
Bismarck through several successful wars and diplomacy. After
World War I, the monarchy broke down and the Free State of Württemberg was established, as a part of the
Weimar Republic. In 1920, Stuttgart was the seat of the German National Government . During
World War II, the city center of Stuttgart was nearly completely destroyed due to Allied air raids.
In 1945 the Allied Forces took control of Germany. They merged parts of the former German States of
Baden and
Württemberg and later in 1952 on the new, democratic state Baden-Württemberg with Stuttgart as its capital was created by a referendum.
After World War II, an early concept of the
Marshall Plan to support the reconstruction and economic/political recovery of Europe was presented during a speech given by US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes at the Stuttgart Opera House . This speech led directly to the unification of the British and American occupation zones, resulting in the so called bi-zone. Two years later, the French also joined the bi-zone, creating the tri-zone and thereby paving the way for the foundation of the
Federal Republic of Germany. Stuttgart, like
Frankfurt, was a serious contender to become the federal capital, but finally
Bonn succeeded.
In the late seventies, the city district of Stammheim was center stage of one of the most controversial periods of German post-war history: The
Red Army Faction trial at the Stammheim high-security court and the subsequent suicides of Ulrike Meinhof, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe . The trial and the period thereafter were accompanied by several new terroristic assaults to liberate the inmates .
During the
Cold War, the joint command center of all
United States military forces in Europe, Africa and the Atlantic was moved to Stuttgart .
EUCOM is still headquartered there today.
U.S. Army bases in and around Stuttgart include or included the following: Patch Barracks , Robinson Barracks, Kelley Barracks , and Panzer Kaserne.
In the past American dependent schools, affiliated with either the United States Dependents Schools Europe or Department of Defense Education Activity Schools , included Stuttgart American High School ; Stuttgart Elementary and Junior High Schools ; Patch American High School ; and Boeblingen Elementary School . American high school sports teams from Stuttgart would play against American high schools in
Frankfurt,
Kaiserslautern,
Wiesbaden, and sometimes
Munich, an international high school. In 1994 Pattonville, and subsequently Stuttgart American High School were returned to the local German governance.
Economy
Approximately 150,000 companies are located in the Stuttgart region. The area is known for its high-tech industry; some of its most prominent companies include
DaimlerChrysler,
Porsche,
Bosch, Celesio,
Hewlett-Packard and
IBM all of whom located their world or German headquarters here. In fact, the Porsche badge, as seen on the front of Porsche cars has this town's name in the centre of the badge, something that is unique amongst the world's vehicle makers. A theory even suggests that also the
Ferrari logo "Cavallino Rampante" had its origin in the Stuttgart coat-of-arms.
Stuttgart is the place where the motorbike and the four-wheeled automobile were invented , it's hence the starting point of the worldwide automotive industry. Such famous and prestigious brands as
Mercedes-Benz,
Porsche and Maybach are produced there. Also the very first prototypes of the eventual
VW Beetle were fabricated in Stuttgart, based on a design by
Ferdinand Porsche.
The region currently has Germany's highest density of scientific, academic and research organisations, and tops the national league for patent applications. More than 11% of all R&D-expenses in the Federal Republic of Germany are generated in the Stuttgart Region . In addition to several universities and colleges, the area has six institutes of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, four institutes for collaborative industrial research at local universities, two
Max-Planck Institut, as well as one large-scale research centre—the German Aerospace Centre .
Stuttgart holds top place of all European Union regions according to the share of employment in high-tech and medium-high tech manufacturing with a figure of 21.0% .
The Stuttgart Stock Exchange is the second largest in Germany and important financial companies are headquartered in Stuttgart , as well. In addition to these global players, the Stuttgart economy consists of many highly versatile and dynamic medium-sized enterprises .
Furthermore, Stuttgart is still one of Germany's largest wine-growing towns with a century-long tradition and is situated at the geographic center of the "Württemberg Wine Growing Area" .
Stuttgart is also home to Dinkel-Acker Brewing Co.
Public transportation
Stuttgart, like other cities in Germany, is served by a regional rapid transit system called the
S-Bahn. The S-Bahn trains operate on the rails of the Deutsche Bahn AG and are powered with normal traction current taken from overhead wires. Stuttgart also has a
light rail system which has incrementally replaced the city's tram lines. It runs with DC with a voltage of 750 volts and uses normal gauge. In the city centre as well as in other densely built-up districts of the city, the
Stadtbahn runs underground; hence the "U"-symbol for
U-Bahn is used to signify it. Because the old tram lines used metre gauge, some of the light rail system's trackage still has three rails.
A peculiarity of Stuttgart is the
Zahnradbahn, a
rack railway operating from Marienplatz in the heart of the city to the Degerloch district; it is the only urban rack railway in Germany and is powered by electricity. Furthermore, there is a
cable car that operates in the city's Heslach district to the forest cemetery , employing cars built of wood.
On the Killesberg, a prominent hill in the city, there is a
park railway run by diesel , which makes roundtrips through the
Killesberg Park. At the forest hostel of the city's public transport provider, there is a small electric tram for children called "Rumpelstilzchen", which is closed to tourists.
People, culture & architecture
Stuttgart is known for its cultural life, in particular the Staatstheater and
Staatsgalerie. The Staatstheater contains an opera house and three smaller theaters, where opera, ballet, theatre and concerts are produced. The world-renowned Stuttgart Opera won the prestigious "Opera of the year" award for five years running . The famous Stuttgart Ballet is connected to names like John Cranko and Marcia Haydée. The city also offers two broadway-style Musical theaters, the Apollo and the Palladium Theater .
Stuttgart is home to ten institutes of higher education, the largest being
University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart Media University and
University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart.
Stuttgart's city center was heavily destroyed during World War II. During the reconstruction of the city in the style of the 1950s and 1960s many surviving historic buildings were demolished, e.g. the Kronprinzenpalais at Schlossplatz. The city today is thus poor in historic buildings. Nevertheless, many historic buildings have been reconstructed, and the city boasts of some fine pieces of modern post-war architecture.
- 1200 - 1600 Collegiate Church ; Interior: Romanesque/Gothic/Modern); reconstructed with simplified interior
- 1300 - 1500 Old Palace ; reconstructed
- 1700 - 1800 New Palace ; reconstructed with modern interior
- 1700 - 1800 Castle Solitude ;
- 1850 King's Building ; reconstructed
- 1910 Market Hall ;
- 1920 Main Railway Station ;
- 1927 Weissenhof Estate ;
- 1950 TV Tower
...
;
...
.
In 1992, the
VfB Stuttgart claimed the first German Championship title after the reunification of the football federations of West and East Germany. The city also has a reputation for organizing other major sports events. It hosted the
1993 World Championships in Athletics and many other world and European championships of all kind of sports. The town was one of the twelve hosts of the
Football World Cup 2006. I.a. the 3rd and 4th place playoff of the World Cup was be held at the City's Daimler Stadium. Stuttgart also is "European Sports Capital 2007" and will host the 2007 UCI World Cycling Championships Road Race and Time Trials for elite men, women, and under-23 year old riders.
Stuttgart's Swabian cuisine, beer and wine are also well known. There are two famous annual beer festivals; the "
Cannstatter Volksfest" on the "
Cannstatter Wasen" and the slightly smaller "Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest" - However, both are second only in size to the
Oktoberfest in
Munich. The
Christmas Market of Stuttgart is the largest and one of the oldest and most beautiful in Europe, especially renowned for the abundant decorations.
The famous "
Wilhelma" is Germany's only combined zoological and botanical garden. The whole compound was built around 1850 as a summer palace in moorish style for King
Wilhelm I of
Württemberg. Close to the Wilhelma, there are the Stuttgart city districts of
Bad Cannstatt and Berg which are the second largest mineral spas in Europe .
Other important towns in the Stuttgart Region are
Ludwigsburg with its enormous
baroque palace, Sindelfingen and
Esslingen.
Famous people from Stuttgart
Notable people born in Stuttgart or residents who influenced the history of the city:
...
- Grand Prix race car driver
- St Helens, Merseyside, England, United Kingdom, since 1948
- Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, since 1955
- St. Louis, USA, since 1960
- Strasbourg, France, since 1962
- Mumbai , India, since 1968
- Menzel-Bourguiba, Tunisia, since 1971
- Cairo
...
, Egypt, since 1979
External links
- - Panoramic Views and Virtual Tours
