Heard of the name Stuttgart? No? You must definitely have heard of world's iconic brands, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche even if you are not a fan of the automobiles. Both of them have their museums in Stuttgart.
To talk a little more about Stuttgart, it is the capital of Baden-Wurttemberg state in Germany. It is one of Germany's main industrial centers and a manufacturing hub. It is well known for cars and wine. Stuttgart is also a historical city as it was almost totally destroyed during the World War II bombing but was later rebuilt.
If you are a soccer fan then you might even remember that Stuttgart hosted FIFA World Cup in the year 2006.
I was impressed by Germany's beauty during my short visit to Nuremberg in 2006 and was excited to explore more when I visited the country again a few years ago. Here comes a brief account of the visit and a peek into the places through the pictures clicked.
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| Birds eye view of Stuttgart city |
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| Koenigstrasse - King Street |
King Street is one of the busiest streets in Stuttgart and longest pedestrian street with a stretch of 1100 meters! With many departmental stores , bars and international brands, it is shoppers' paradise.
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| Aerial view of the street |
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| Young & old alike, sitting and watching cartoon show near Schlossplatz (Palace Square) |
The Solitude palace was built in the 18th century and is located on the top of a hill. It provides a magnificient view of the city.
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| Solitude Palace |
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| The opera house - one of the largest in Europe |
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| One of the 'galli' in the city |
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| Bright & colourful vegetable stalls |
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| The Market hall - any comparison to our city market? |
The city is dotted with many museums and Wurttemberg State Museums is one of them. Check out some interesting clocks that are displayed there...
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| A tomb |
People here love adventure and very concious about fitness. You will notice that a lot of them move around in bicycles and even carry them in and out of trains!
Here comes a monastery and palace from the 12th century, called the Bebenhausen Monastery. It is located amidst charming scenery in Schonbuch
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| Corridor inside the monastery |
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| Rooms inside the monastery |
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Bebenhausen Palace
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| Picturesque Schonbuch |
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| View of a vineyard |
Germans are football fans. Here is the Mercedez Benz Arena (stadium) which has hosted some FIFA matches including that of 2006.
You can watch out for some eye popping automobiles on the streets of Stuttgart....
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| Wanna ride this? |
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| Renault Twizy |
There are more exciting things to look out for, the Mercedez Benz Museum and the Porsche Museum. I did not get a chance to visit the latter though.
Mercedez Benz Museum is a nine storey building designed in the form of double helix and has received numerous awards. It elicits a 'wow' response as soon as you enter it.
It documents the history of automobiles from the beginning, the birth of Mercedez Benz and different developments till date for the last 125 years!
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| Mercedes Benz Museum |
The journey starts from the topmost floor which houses the very first models of the cars that touched the roads. You will be fascinated by the volume and variety of the models displayed in the museum including the recent ones and the upcoming ones.
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| Turning the wheels of history backwards.... |
There is a separate gallery dedicated to the cars used by celebrities and the ones used in Hollywood movies. And one more for racing cars...
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| Remember seeing this? |
Stuttgart holds its beer festival every year. A few pics below from this....
Summer here is from May to September and as my visit was during the month of May, it was a pleasant site everywhere.
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| Picture shot @ around 9 PM during sunset and it was still bright outside. |
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| Cherry blossom |
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| Agricultural fields |
Next comes the most interesting part of my visit. It is about lake Constance (Bodensee in German),
largest lake in Germany with 65 kms length and 15 kms width. Though it is called a lake, it looked more like a river because of its vastness. The speciality of this lake is that it borders Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps. The place swells with travellers and adventure seekers alike. There is a town on the lake known by the same name.
This place is so close to Swiss that you will have an irresistible urge to walk into it ;)
Here is an interesting piece of history...Constance is suppose to have escaped the bombing during World War II because of its proximity to Swiss which made it difficult for the fighter aircraft to differentiate between the two towns!
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| View of snow-clad peaks of Alps from the lake. |
Take a look at the statue of Imperia which is located at the entrance of Constance's harbour. It stands on a pedestal and rotates on its axis every 4 minutes. The lady is holding two naked men in her hands, one representing Pope Martin V and the other Emperor Sigismund. It is erected in memory of the Council of Constance that was held in the 15th century.
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| The statue of Imperia |
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| Garden on the lake bed |
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| Narrow lanes of Constance |
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| Couples dancing on the dance floor near the lake. Mount Alps in the background |
By the way, Black Forest which is a forest mountain range is also present in the state of Wurttemberg. It is well known for its cuckoo clocks as well. If you happen to visit the state, do not miss the chance to go there. Black Forest cakes are named after the liquor from this region. And next time you eat a Black Forest cake, think of this. ;)
Please bear with the quality of the pictures as they were taken using a point and shoot camera and before I learnt the nuances of photography.
