Today we’re going to get to know Stuttgart, the capital of the Land Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany which was founded 51 years ago, on 25th April 1952. Last year there were celebrations and festivities everywhere!

We’ve met in the main train station which isn’t only a good starting-point for our tour, but also worth seeing in itself as it was built in the 1920s in the style of New Realism. The tower is 56 metres high topped by a rotating Mercedes star which signals to all people arriving what Stuttgart stands for worldwide: car industry!

The first show starts at 10 a.m, you can meet us afterwards at the Pavilion on the Schlossplatz (Palace Square) at 12.15; you get there walking out of the station (cross the street parallel to it via the subway), the street in front of you is the Königsstrasse (King‘s Street), the main pedestrian precinct and shopping centre, to the Schlossplatz it‘s not even 200m; we won’t go there, it only has big and boring buildings with department stores and banks, we’re strolling through the Schlosspark (Castle Park) which runs parallel to it, to the left when we‘ve got the back to the station. It’s beautiful with a lake with a fountain and swans and ducks, and you’re allowed to lie on the grass! Something worth mentioning in this part of the world.

On one side we see the Königsbau (King’s Building) which today houses the stock exchange among other things, a classicist buildings with a colonnade of 135 metres, rebuilt in 1950s. Opposite is the Neues Schloss (New Castle), late baroque, also rebuilt, the third side is formed by the Altes Schloss (Old Castle), a 16th century Renaissance building, badly destroyed as well and rebuilt.

I’d like to take you to the Museum in the Altes Schloss, not to start with the history of the Land from the Stone Age on, but to look with you at the crown and sceptre of the Kings of Württemberg. Have you seen the crown jewels in the Tower? If so, you’ve queued for a long time, haven’t you, only to be able to glance at them for a short time before you were pushed on! The regalia here may not be so glorious, but you can take your time, and admire them from all sides, as well as all the nice things the kings got as presents from their guests, and you can see the gold dinner service of the Russian Princess Catherine Pavlovna, wife of King William I of Württemberg. Keep that name in mind, some of us will ‘meet’ her again in the afternoon.

We have to pass the central market-hall, so why not peep in? It’s an art deco building with stalls offering mouth-watering specialties from all over the world, d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! When we come to the Rathausplatz (City Hall Square), you’ll see one of the ugliest buildings of post-war concrete-ism, the city hall, so just walk by.

How can we spent the afternoon? I’ve heard some of you mention the TV tower. If you like heights and looking down you can go there, of course (U-Bahn [tube]) 7, tram 15, bus 70, all to the stop ‘Ruhbank‘), you can see up to the Swabian Alb and, if you’re lucky, even the Alps. You might like to know that you stand on a superlative there: the Stuttgart TV tower, built in 1956, was the first of its kind worldwide and is the father (or mother?) of all later towers which are all taller, as it is with the offspring. ;-)

The Mercedes freaks can travel to Bad Cannstatt (5 minutes) together with the House & Garden friends who want to visit the Wilhelma, the Zoological and the Botanical Gardens, built by the then King in the Moorish style which was en vogue at the beginning of the 19th century. Well worth a visit.

Or do you prefer the New State Gallery built from 1979-1984 by the British architect J. Sterling and recognised today as one of the main works of Postmodernism architecture? I’ve been there many times before, but will go with you again, the artefacts are worth another visit. Just to drop some names: Matisse, Picasso, Beckmann, Schlemmer, Beuys, Newman, Pollock, Kiefer, Paik.

From there we look into the valley of the river Neckar, one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas of Germany (and one of the richest), from the other side we see rolling hills covered by vineyards, the area round Stuttgart is one of the most productive when it comes to viniculture. Let’s stroll leisurely down to the village of Uhlbach, one of the small, romantic, cosy villages full of half-timbered houses foreign tourists look for and find in Germany. We can just pop into the Wine Museum, where they show old wine presses, barrels, glasses and goblets and a corkscrew collection.

Let’s all meet at midnight at the hotel bar and exchange and share our impressions of the day!