Stuttgart’s Highlights

A Highlights of Stuttgart tour starts with Europaviertel, with the new city library and Stuttgart 21. The Europaviertel is one of the most important inner city development projects in Europe.

The city library on Mailänder Platz rises to a height of 40 meters. Grey and sober by day, this ‘cube of books’ is transformed by night with blue lighting.

A must stop, Stuttgart State Gallery, is one of the leading art museums in Germany and contains works spanning 700 years. The oldest part, the Old State Gallery, is a three-winged neo-classical building erected for King Wilhelm I of Württemberg between 1838 and 1843. This makes it one of the oldest museum buildings in Germany. Adjoining the Old State Gallery is the annex building, the New State Gallery. Built in 1984 to designs by architect James Stirling, it is a masterpiece of postmodern architecture. The State Gallery contains Old German, Italian and Dutch paintings as well as a section devoted to Swabian Classicism. Pablo Picasso is represented at the gallery with works spanning his entire career. On display are important groups of works from the various stylistic movements (Fauvism, the Brücke and Blauer Reiter groups and Cubism) as well as eye-catching collections by individual artists such as Beckmann, Schlemmer, Beuys, Kiefer and Baselitz.

One of the top cultural attractions in the regional capital of Baden-Württemberg is Stuttgart State Theater – Europe’s largest multi-genre theatre. The Opera House, built in the classical style, is located at the heart of the extensive palace gardens. In the 1950s a conscious choice was made to design the State Parliament building so that it would not compete with the neighboring Opera House.

Schlossplatz square is the most central location in Stuttgart, the very heart of the city. In the middle of the square is the towering Jubilee Column (1841), crowned with a statue of Concordia, the goddess of harmony. It stands in front of the New Palace, built from 1746 to 1807, and combining elements of Baroque, Classicism, Rococo and Empire.

The Stuttgart Art Museum is also a work of art. By night the stone cubes inside the glass cuboid light up, illuminating parts of Schlossplatz square as well. The museum’s collection features more than 15,000 exhibits, from the end of the 18th century to the present day, from Swabian Impressionism to contemporary art. It is also home to the world’s leading Otto Dix collection, comprising around 250 works.

Schillerplatz square was built for Duke Friedrich of Württemberg. Once a venue for prestige occasions, it now hosts the flower market three times a week. At the centre of the square is a statue of the poet Friedrich Schiller, who spent the most important years of his life in Stuttgart and who gives Schillerplatz its name. The Old Palace was the ancestral residence of the first counts and dukes of Württemberg and is today home to the Württemberg State Museum.

Because of its location in a valley basin, Stuttgart has more flights of steps than many other cities. If you want to climb them all, you would have to walk some 20 kilometers! The Galatea Fountain on Eugensplatz square is one of the most magnificent fountains in the city and offers glorious views over Stuttgart.

Stuttgart’s Fernsehturm was the world’s first television tower and it is considered an architectural and aesthetic masterpiece. Built 57 years ago, it is one of the city’s most famous landmarks and most striking cultural monuments. No other vantage point in the city offers such magnificent panoramic views, encompassing the Neckar valley and its vineyards, the Swabian Alb, the Black Forest and the Odenwald region, unfortunately nowadays is closed for visiting.