This post is dedicated to a friend of mine, Lisa Schickell, who I recently met online. She is from Stuttgart, Germany and after knowing her, I began to read quite abit about her wonderful city and country. So I decided to write a little post on this lovely place. =) I hope you guys enjoy it.
Germany Flag & Stuttgart Coat Of Arms
About Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemburg in southern Germany. It is the 6th largest city in Germany. Stuttgart is also different from most German cities due to the fact that it is spread out across many hills, valleys, and parks. This may come has a surprise to most visitors/tourist because Stuttgart has a reputation as an industrial power house and being the "Cradle of the automobile".
In total, Stuttgart has 23 city districts - 5 inner districts and 18 outer districts. Stuttgart is also a city filled with history. The first ever known settlement of Stuttgart would go back as far as the end of the 1st century AD (an establishment of a Roman fort). It was also a city that went through many wars (World War 1, World War 2 and the Cold War).
But through all their difficulties, Stuttgart still emerged from all of those hard times and turned itself into an industrial power house of today and for the future. On March 2008, the city unveiled a new logo and slogan, describing itself as "Das neue Herz Europas" (The new heart of Europe).
Important Facts
Official Currency: € Euro
Official Language: German
Other Spoken Languages: English, French, Russian and Spanish
Traveling Around Stuttgart
Transportation is not a problem at all in Stuttgart (since it is known as "Cradle of the automobile"). They have a large bus network, a light rail system (Stuttgart Stadbahn), a rack railway system (the only one in the whole of Germany), and taxis.
But the most efficient mode of transportation would be the light rail system and the bus.
The public transportation is provided by Statbahn (U-bahn) and S-bahn. It is best to use the U-bahn for short distance travel and the S-bahn for longer travels (and also to the suburbs). Tickets can mostly be used for any mixtures of buses and trains that may be required to complete a journey. There are also night buses (after midnight) but they are rather infrequent and go on odd routes. In total, there are 6 S-bahn lines and 12 Statbahn lines. Most lines will lead via Hauptbahnhof, ending in a centralized layout.
Stuttgart's Light Rail System
Local Delicacies
There are loads of local delicacies in Germany and honestly I don't think I would be able to cover all of them. So I have picked out the most famous ones.
We will start of with Käsespätzle. This dish is normal a main course but it can also be a side dish which is a type of Swabian dish. It is basically a traditionally self made noodle and topped of with melted cheese. It often comes with a side salad.
Kasespatzle =)
Next we have the 'national dish', gaisburger marsch, which is a stew of diced beef, potatoes, fried onions, vegetables, and spätzle (noodles). There are also other local dishes such as the schwäbischer rostbraten (slices of roast beef served with fried onions, sauerkraut, maultaschen and spätzle), maultaschen (small pasta squares filled with meat, spinach, eggs, onion and parsley, served with potato salad) and Wein zwiebelkuchen (onion tart with sour cream and diced bacon).
Gaisburger Marsch & Wein Zwiebelkuchen
All and all, there are loads of local delicaceis in Stuttgart. But don't forget their wide selection of beers, wines and other alcoholic beverages. =D And trust me, there are loads of beers in Germany (Oktoberfest!!!).
Top 10 Things To See & Do In Stuttgart
- The Mercedes-Benz Museum (The name of the place says it all =D)
- Wilhelma Zoo & Botanical Garden (A great place for the family and young adults)
- Palace Square - Schlossplatz (A beautiful place filled with statuary and fountains)
- Television Tower - Fernsehtrum (A 712-ft tower where on a clear day you can see the Black forest and the vineyards of the Neckar Valley)
- The Wurttemberg State Museum (One of Stuttgart's oldest standing structures)
- Mineralbad Cannstatt (Visit this place for its mineral springs and enjoy a relaxing moment)
- The Stuttgart State Theater (A place for music lovers. Be entertained by ballet dancers, individual musicians, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, and many more)
- State Gallery - Staatsgalerie (A place for art lovers. Filled with collections dating as far back as the 14th century all the way through the 20th century)
- Carl-zeiss Planetarium (A wonderful place to see the stars =D)
- Christmas Market (This runs from the last Thursday of November right up till the 23rd of December. It has loads of things there and their decorations are simply amazing)
Here are 2 good site that contain some information about Stuttgart. Please do feel free to comment and tell me more if you have been to this wonderful country. =)
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