Stuttgart, capital of Baden-Württemberg and the administrative district of Stuttgart, 245 m above sea level, in a basin-like widening of the Nesenbach valley towards the Neckar valley; extends with its suburbs to the heights of the Strohgäus, the Filder and the Schönbuch. The urban district, which is divided into 23 districts, has (2019) 635,900 residents.
Stuttgart is the seat of the state government, the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg and the regional council as well as many state, federal and others. Authorities, i.a. Seat of the Protestant regional bishop of Württemberg, second episcopal residence of the Catholic diocese Rottenburg-Stuttgart, state health and supply office, state office for the protection of the constitution, state statistical office, state criminal investigation office, state media center; Securities and commodities exchange, administrative court, constitutional court, higher regional court; State coin.
Stuttgart has important educational and research institutions: University (founded in 1876 as a polytechnic, 1890–1967 TH), University of Hohenheim (founded in 1818 as a school for agriculture and forestry; 1847 academy, 1904 university, 1967 university), Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University, State University for Music and Performing Arts, State Academy of Fine Arts, University of Technology, University of Media, private, state-recognized universities are: AKAD University, Free University of Stuttgart – Seminar for Waldorf Education, University of Communication and Design, Merz Academy – University for design, art and media, Macromedia Academy (Stuttgart location), VWA University for part-time studies; Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and Intelligent Systems.
Stuttgart has numerous museums (including the State Gallery, Art Museum Stuttgart, Württembergisches Landesmuseum, House of History Baden-Württemberg, StadtPalais Museum for Stuttgart, Linden Museum (ethnology), Mercedes-Benz Museum, Porsche Museum, State Museum of Natural History, German Agricultural Museum), State Library, Main State Archives; Headquarters of the Südwestrundfunk; Württemberg State Theater Stuttgart with the three branches opera, ballet and drama, puppet theater, other stages in the branches cabaret, variety, pantomime, musical; Konzerthaus (culture and congress center, Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle); Observatory and planetarium; »Wilhelma« zoological and botanical garden, Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Economy: As the economic and trading center of the whole of southern Germany (besides Munich), Stuttgart has a mixture of small and medium-sized businesses with a diverse range of industries with a few, but significant, large companies. Vehicle construction (Daimler, Porsche), followed by the electrotechnical industry (Bosch) and mechanical engineering (including machine tools, ventilation equipment), precision mechanical and optical industries, large breweries, chemical, leather, textile and clothing industries. In addition, Stuttgart occupies a leading position as a printing and publishing city with over 150 publishers. As the location of the stock exchange, banks and large insurance companies, Stuttgart is also an important financial center. In 2007 the new Stuttgart trade fair opened at the airport.
With 354 hectares of vineyards, Stuttgart is also one of the largest German wine-growing communities.
Despite its poor location in the basin, Stuttgart has developed into a means of transport for Baden-Württemberg. It has a tunnel through a.o. End station accessible to engineering structures, which has been converted into an underground through station since 2010 as part of the controversial major project Stuttgart 21. The new station is planned as a through station with 8 tracks across the previous platforms in the lower ground. It is closely related to the new line to Ulm as part of the Paris-Vienna-Budapest axis; Echterdingen, 12 km away, will also follow this routelocated international airport (2017: 11.0 million passengers) directly connected. The inland port on the canalised Neckar, opened in 1958, is suitable for ships up to 2,200 t. In order to cope with the considerable commuter traffic, the Verkehrsverbund Stuttgart was founded in 1978, whose companies operate rapid transit, tram (partly underground) and bus routes.
For local recreation, among other things. the 50 hectare high park Killesberg with the former fair and exhibition area, small train, restaurants as well as the castle garden and the Rosenstein park. Bad Cannstatt, directly on the Neckar, and the Berg district are located in the area of the second largest mineral water in Europe (Cannstatt).
History
According to tradition, today’s Stuttgart developed out of the Stuotgarten stud established by Duke Liudolf I of Swabia around 950 . The Stuttgart settlement is undated for the first time around 1160 and is mentioned in a document in 1229. The city was founded in the 13th century by the Margraves of Baden (documented as such in 1286). In the 14th century, Stuttgart became the seat of the court and the center of the expanding county of Württemberg, which had been divided since 1442; In 1483, Count Eberhard V. im Bart (from 1495 Duke Eberhard I.) his residence from Urach to Stuttgart.
Due to its flourishing markets and a steadily expanding craftsmanship, Stuttgart grew rapidly. During the expulsion of Duke Ulrichs (1519–34), the city was in the hands of the Swabian Confederation. Stuttgart had to accept another loss of importance in the disputes between the state estates meeting in Stuttgart and Duke Eberhard Ludwig, who was striving for an absolutist government, when he moved the residence to Ludwigsburg in 1718–34. Under Duke Karl Eugen, Stuttgart regained its previous position of supremacy (including the founding of the Karlsschule in 1770). Its importance as the state capital grew through the strong territorial growth of Württemberg in the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic times.
With the settlement of the publisher Johann Friedrich Cotta (1810) Stuttgart became one of the centers of the German book trade. The industrialization that began around this time (precision engineering, textile and iron industry) and the central location in the Württemberg railway network led to rapid population growth (1810: 21,000 residents; 1852: 50,000 residents; 1871: 91,000 residents; 1880: 117,000 residents 1900: 176,000 residents; 1910: 286,000 residents; 1925: 342,000 residents) Century, among other things, the Neckar sewer system since 1922, construction of the Stuttgart airport), largely independent.
After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the heavily destroyed and rebuilt Stuttgart again became the state capital (until 1952 by Württemberg-Baden, since 1952 by Baden-Württemberg). The city (1945/46: 266,000 residents) grew rapidly (1951: 520,000 residents, 1962: with 640,600 residents, a provisional high) and developed into an important economic and technology center as well as a media location.
