In order not to get lost, you have to remember three K’s in Stuttgart: the three main roads have been renamed Kapitalmeile, Kaufmeile and Kulturmeile. Banking institutions, shops and museums are neatly grouped around these parallel main arteries, which are actually called Theodor Heussstrasse, Königstrasse and Konrad Adenauerstrasse. In between you will find a number of mostly rebuilt old buildings, a large railway station and lots of greenery.
General info:
- The distance Utrecht – Stuttgart is 600 kilometers.
- The train will take you there in four and a half hours.
- Information point: at the main station exit on Königstrasse.
Monuments from the past and present
Those who arrive by train can walk straight from the station into the large castle gardens with their beautiful buildings. The medieval Altes Schloss is now a museum, the baroque Neues Schloss serves as housing for the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Stuttgart is its capital. The parliament building, the Landtag, is a stone’s throw from the Neues Schloss, also in the park. The opera in the park is the only major building that survived the war without damage. Stuttgarters gather on the spacious Schlossplatz, with an obelisk in the middle, when there is something to celebrate or argue. But when it is windy and cold, everyone crosses the windy plain as quickly as possible. For example, towards the Konrad Adenauerstrasse with its special museums. The entrance to the state gallery (early eighties) is surprisingly bright pink and bright green. An architectural guide reports that no other building has caused as much excitement in the city over the past century as this design by James Stirling.
So many other exciting buildings have followed. Right next to the state gallery, for example, you are welcome in the Haus der Geschichte, built in 2002. A colorful building, with of course a lot of attention to those inevitable, terrible world wars.
A brave residential area holds its ground
The art museum does not adhere to the K classification and has strayed to the Kaufmeile, or the Königstrasse with its shops. The building is a glass cage: warm and cool at the same time. From the café-restaurant on the top floor you can watch the shoppers endlessly through the glass walls. The shopping area itself is quite seventies in style, but is being pimped little by little to suit today’s tastes. A cozy neighborhood is the Bohnenviertel, an old residential area close to the ‘real center’. This used to be a neighborhood for the poor, who apparently had to eat beans quite often. The aim now is to create a viable mix of residential homes, local shops and alternative and artistic small-scale businesses. A friendly neighborhood where families with children can also feel at home. One of the large stores is the classic Stuttgart department store Breuninger, since 1881. That store is also a sight to see: almost the entire ground floor is exclusively dedicated to handbags, and especially very expensive handbags. Wahnsinn if you don’t care about brands. The department store likes to be compared to London’s Harrods.
Have lunch in the market hall
Things are more relaxed in the covered market hall from 1914, on Dorotheenstrasse, where you can buy vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, dairy and other foodstuffs every day. The glass roof sheds light on the supply: what a wealth, such a daily supply. The gallery on the floor of the building houses a trendy interior design store and a classy restaurant, Empore. An Italian kitchen with lots of vegetables, on large plates, with beautiful glaze and old-fashioned waiters in suits. A perfect lunch spot.
High level
From the roof of that tower, under a large rotating Mercedes star, you can see that Stuttgart is located in a valley, surrounded by hills. To keep the climate in this valley healthy, new buildings may not be higher than the existing church towers: further high-rise buildings would negatively affect air circulation. This is how Stuttgart keeps everything under control. A little outside the city, on the edge of the hill itself, a tall structure protrudes into the sky: the television tower, which is more than two hundred meters high. An elegant needle, built in the 1950s, with the first in the world a round restaurant and viewing platform at the top.
Dutch architect names are not lacking in Stuttgart. Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos designed the Mercedes museum, a silver-gray mirage on the Neckar. The history of Mercedes and Daimler Benz hangs on the walls, in the context of German history.
Refresh in a mineral bath
Does this only concern buildings in Stuttgart? It seems like it, but if you need to rinse off the concrete grit at the end of the day, you can do so. Thanks to its deep location between the hills, mineral springs have formed under Stuttgart, which you can enjoy in three bathhouses. Simply travel to the ‘Mineralbäder’ metro station and take your pick from the establishments.
At the Leuze mineral bath, it is all about water fun with slides and screaming children, but you can also enjoy bubbles. A mega jacuzzi ensures that all the city fatigue starts to flow away.
Tips:
Museums top 4
You need quite a few days to visit all the museums in Stuttgart. The absolute highlights are:
- Landesmuseum
- The State Gallery
- The art museum
- Mercedes Benz museum
The television tower
In 1955, the Stuttgarter Fernsehturm was opened, an elegant steel-concrete needle on top of the hill that surrounds Stuttgart. Structural engineer Fritz Leonhardt designed a restaurant with a viewing platform at the top of the mast. And for the first time, such a tower also became a tourist attraction. For a few euros you can take the elevator up to enjoy the landscape.