Stuttgart Background and History
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Almost undiscovered by travelers, Stuttgart is one of the leading economic centers in Europe and offers a mixture of the old, the new, the exciting and the relaxing.
Have you ever taken a look at the Porsche logo? Notice the yellow coat of arms with a horse in the middle? That didn't just happen by chance. Porsche (pronounced Por-shey by the Germans) took its symbol from the town it is located in, Stuttgart.
Stuttgart dates back to the 10th century when it was founded by Duke Heryoz Luidolf (only son of Otto I, king of Germany). The hilly town was used as a breeding ground for the Duke's and his father's horses. That is where the name comes from. Stuttgart literally means "Stuotgarten" or garden of horses.
It wasn't until the 13th century that Stuttgart officially became a city when it was inhabited by the counts of Wurttemberg. Later the counts were promoted to Dukes by the Holy Roman Empire and when the empire was broken up by Napoleon they became kings and Stuttgart became a royal residence.
The most famous of Stuttgart's royalty is King Wilhelm. He not only began the Volksfest (Stuttgart's version of Oktoberfest) in celebration of opening the Hohenheim University, he also built the zoo and botanical gardens that are named after him, the Wilhelma.
In 1871 Wurttemberg joined the German Empire headed up by the Prussian Kings in Berlin.
In the early 19th century, Stuttgart was the home to industrial men like Gottlieb Daimler and Robert Bosch who transformed Stuttgart into an industrial town. Not only do Porsche, Bosch and Daimler Chryster call Stuttgart home but IBM and Hewlett-Packard have their German headquarters here as well.
During WWII Stuttgart produced many tools of war and was heavily bombed. To this day, they still discover bombs that did not detonate (however,this is not a reason not to go to Stuttgart).
One hill that overlooks the city, Birkenkopf, is quite a bit taller than before the war. The citizens used it as a dumping pile for all of the old concrete and bricks from fallen buildings. You can climb it today and still see parts of the old walls.
In 1952 a referendum was held to determine whether or not to meld the two states, Baden (the Black Forest region) and Wurttemberg into one state. Baden was overly against the proposition and Wurttemberg for it. Because Wurttemberg had the higher population and out-voted Baden, the two where merged into today's Baden-Wurttemberg, the 3rd largest state in Germany.
Today Stuttgart still has remnants of its past royal history and continues to be an industrial center with the lowest unemployment rate in Germany. It was voted "Best Shopping City" by visitors during the 2006 World Cup and because of the many hills, it is known for its many stairs.
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A Stuttgarter, someone who lives in Stuttgart and speaks Schwaebish, the local dialect.
