Dimitris’ Diary: Stuttgart, cradle of the automobile and the imperial family.

My adventure today takes me to the historic Stuttgart, the capital and largest city of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. I came to visit my good friend Herr Hauser, who took me to see the main points of the city and told me more about the region and its curiosities.

The first thing I noticed upon arriving here was people’s accent, as it is common to hear the Schwäbisch. This kind of dialect can be heard in Baden-Württemberg regions, mainly in the rural area known as the Schwäbische Alb and in southwest Bavaria. The Schwäbisch originates in an area close to the river Danube in Hungary.

In most large German cities there is at least one television tower and it isn’t different in Stuttgart. What differs from the others is that it is the oldest in Germany, built in 1956. You can go up and get a panoramic view of the city and all its surroundings, gorgeous, by the way. The tour is highly recommended on days with good visibility. Access can be made by U-Bahn (U15), final station Ruhbank or by bus, with the line number 70.

Following my script, I headed to the city center to explore the old town. Once there, started by the Stiftskirche, Protestant church initially built between the tenth and eleventh centuries. It is a beautiful building that was restored after the 1944 bombings that fell over Stuttgart. The church is next to squares that bring together other beautiful buildings in the German style.

At lunchtime, I was really hungry and decided to stop in a special place: the Markthalle! This is a central market with many options, not only food, but also decoration items, handcrafts, etc. On the first floor there are the sausages, fruits, cheeses (delicious by the way), jellies, etc. I just wanted to be able to take them all home! On the second floor, there are some restaurants where I had lunch with my friends.

For the afternoon, I had planned to see the museum of Mercedes-Benz, a company whose headquarter is exactly in Stuttgart. I knew it was an interesting ride, but I got much more surprised and highly recommend it to be visited, even if you are not a big fan of cars! To get there, the nearest station is Neckarpark (S-Bahn S1 / S11 / S13 / S60).

The museum building is very futuristic, just like the elevator that leads you to the top floor, where the exhibition begins. The first item you see is a horse and as of it begins the evolution of the automobile. I consider this to be the most complete museum of this kind in the world, because there is the first car in history. Karl Benz launched through the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the prototype of what would become the cars we use today. This back in 1876!

The exhibition takes you through the time, showing trends of the periods, the race cars, trucks, buses, police cars, tractors, etc. In the aisles that lead you from one floor to another, you can follow the most striking historical events of humanity of each period. It is a time travel, very exciting even for those not so fond of that subject.

My last stop was the New Library (Neue Bibliothek). The concept of “public building” is seriously taken here: in the building there’s no entrance and access control to the huge collection. Located not far from the central station, in the Mailänder square, the library impresses by the extreme simplicity of its composition, all white in straight lines, but with a stark beauty. The place was reopened in 2011 after the Korean architect Eun Young Yi have won the competition to design the new building.

Unfortunately, because of the rainy weather, I didn’t have conditions to visit the city of Hechingen, where is located the Hohenzollern Castle, cradle of the noble homonymous family, descendant from the Order of the Teutonic Knights, which led to the German Empire, that ruled between the years 1871 and 1918, and was also part of the royal family of Prussia.

And so ended my visit to Stuttgart. Do you like my tips? Now I travel more to the south of Germany and go to one of the most beautiful scenery in the country: the Bodensee! I’ll be back soon with more news for you. Hugs!

Dimitris.