Stuttgart

Stuttgart (/ˈʃtʊtɡɑːrt/ SHTUUT-gart, also US: /ˈstʌt-, ˈstʊt-/ STU(U)T-; German: (listen); Swabian: Schduagert ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Stuttgart is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known locally as the 'Stuttgart Cauldron'. It lies an hour from the Swabian Jura and the Black Forest. Its urban area has a population of 609,219, making it the sixth largest city in Germany. 2.7 million people live in the city's administrative region and 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area, making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Germany. The city and metropolitan area are consistently ranked among the top 20 European metropolitan areas by GDP; Mercer listed Stuttgart as 21st on its 2015 list of cities by quality of living, innovation agency 2thinknow ranked the city 24th globally out of 442 cities and the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked the city as a Beta-status world city in their 2014 survey.Stuttgart from Weinsteige RoadStuttgart Market HallThe 216-metre (709-foot) Fernsehturm Stuttgart at nightCastle RosensteinNeues Schloss at nightThe Hegel Museum, birthplace of HegelStuttgart Annual Christmas MarketOld downtown area of StuttgartRomantic view on the downtown area seen from upper LenzhaldeThe Haus der Wirtschaft (House of Commerce)SchlossplatzThe grave chapel atop the WürttembergThe mild climate and hilly landscape are perfect for viticulture, as the Romans discovered. Pictured are vineyards near ObertürkheimView of Stuttgart from atop the BirkenkopfView from the KillesbergparkNeckar river flowing through Hedelfingen and ObertürkheimVineyards on the Neckar river in the Mühlhausen area of Stuttgart during the Autumn of 2006 Stuttgart (/ˈʃtʊtɡɑːrt/ SHTUUT-gart, also US: /ˈstʌt-, ˈstʊt-/ STU(U)T-; German: (listen); Swabian: Schduagert ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Stuttgart is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known locally as the 'Stuttgart Cauldron'. It lies an hour from the Swabian Jura and the Black Forest. Its urban area has a population of 609,219, making it the sixth largest city in Germany. 2.7 million people live in the city's administrative region and 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area, making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Germany. The city and metropolitan area are consistently ranked among the top 20 European metropolitan areas by GDP; Mercer listed Stuttgart as 21st on its 2015 list of cities by quality of living, innovation agency 2thinknow ranked the city 24th globally out of 442 cities and the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked the city as a Beta-status world city in their 2014 survey. Since the 6th millennium BC, the Stuttgart area has been an important agricultural area and has been host to a number of cultures seeking to utilize the rich soil of the Neckar valley. The Roman Empire conquered the area in 83 AD and built a massive castrum near Bad Cannstatt, making it the most important regional centre for several centuries. Stuttgart's roots were truly laid in the 10th century with its founding by Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, as a stud farm for his warhorses. Initially overshadowed by nearby Cannstatt, the town grew steadily and was granted a charter in 1320. The fortunes of Stuttgart turned with those of the House of Württemberg, and they made it the capital of their county, duchy, and kingdom from the 15th century to 1918. Stuttgart prospered despite setbacks in the Thirty Years' War and devastating air raids by the Allies on the city and its automobile production during World War II. However, by 1952, the city had bounced back and it became the major economic, industrial, tourism and publishing centre it is today. Stuttgart is also a transport junction, and possesses the sixth-largest airport in Germany. Several major companies are headquartered in Stuttgart, including Porsche, Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler AG, and Dinkelacker. Stuttgart is unusual in the scheme of German cities. It is spread across a variety of hills (some of them covered in vineyards), valleys (especially around the Neckar river and the Stuttgart basin) and parks. This often surprises visitors who associate the city with its reputation as the 'cradle of the automobile'. The city's tourism slogan is 'Stuttgart offers more'. Under current plans to improve transport links to the international infrastructure (as part of the Stuttgart 21 project), the city unveiled a new logo and slogan in March 2008 describing itself as 'Das neue Herz Europas' ('The new Heart of Europe'). For business, it describes itself as 'Where business meets the future'. In July 2010, Stuttgart unveiled a new city logo, designed to entice more business people to stay in the city and enjoy breaks in the area. Stuttgart is a city with a high number of immigrants. According to Dorling Kindersley's Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany, 'In the city of Stuttgart, every third inhabitant is a foreigner.' 40% of Stuttgart's residents, and 64% of the population below the age of five, are of immigrant background. Stuttgart, often nicknamed the 'Schwabenmetropole' (English: Swabian metropolis) in reference to its location in the centre of Swabia and the local dialect spoken by the native Swabians, has its etymological roots in the Old High German word Stuotgarten, or 'stud farm', because the city was founded in 950 AD by Duke Liudolf of Swabia to breed warhorses. Originally, the most important location in the Neckar river valley was the hilly rim of the Stuttgart basin at what is today Bad Cannstatt. Thus, the first settlement of Stuttgart was a massive Roman Castra stativa (Cannstatt Castrum) built c. 90 AD to protect the Villas and vineyards blanketing the landscape and the road from Mogontiacum (Mainz) to Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg). As with many military installations, a settlement sprang up nearby and remained there even after the Limes moved further east. When they did, the town was left in the capable hands of a local brickworks that produced sophisticated architectural ceramics and pottery. When the Romans were driven back past the Rhine and Danube rivers in the 3rd century by the Alamanni, the settlement temporarily vanished from history until the 7th century. In 700, Duke Gotfrid mentions a 'Chan Stada' in a document regarding property. Archaeological evidence shows that later Merovingian era Frankish farmers continued to till the same land the Romans did. Cannstatt is mentioned in the Abbey of St. Gall's archives as 'Canstat ad Neccarum' (German: Cannstatt-on-Neckar) in 708. The etymology of the name 'Cannstatt' is not clear, but as the site is mentioned as condistat in the Annals of Metz (9th century), it is mostly derived from the Latin word condita ('foundation'), suggesting that the name of the Roman settlement might have had the prefix 'Condi-.' Alternatively, Sommer (1992) suggested that the Roman site corresponds to the Civitas Aurelia G attested to in an inscription found near Öhringen. There have also been attempts at a derivation from a Gaulish *kondâti- 'confluence'.