Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Stuttgart

Environs of Stuttgart.

STUTTGART, the capital of Würtemberg, lies in the small valley of the Nesenbach, just above its confluence with the Neckar, near the centre of the kingdom and about 115 miles west-by-north of Munich. It is charmingly situated among vine-clad and wooded hills, and stands at a height of nearly 900 feet above the sea. The town is intersected from south-west to north-east by the long and handsome Königs-Strasse, dividing it into an upper and lower half. In all its main features it is essentially a modern town, and few of its principal buildings are older than the present century. Many of its modern edifices are, however, of considerable architectural importance, and the recent revival of the Renaissance style is perhaps nowhere better illustrated than at Stuttgart. The lower or south-eastern half contains both the small group of streets belonging to old Stuttgart and also the most important part of the new town. A large proportion of the most prominent buildings are clustered round the spacious Schloss-Platz, on or near which are the following edifices:—the new palace, an imposing structure of the 18th century, finished in 1806; the old palace, a building of the 16th century, with a picturesque arcaded court; the Königsbau, a huge modern building, with a fine colonnade, containing ball and concert rooms, shops, &c.; the so-called Akademie, formerly (1775-94) the seat of the Carls-Schule, where Schiller received part of his education, and now occupied by the king's private library and by guard-rooms; the new courts of justice; the palaces of the crown prince and of Prince William; the Stiftskirche, or collegiate church, a fine specimen of 15th-century Gothic; the extensive royal stables; the new post-office; the theatre; and the central railway station, one of the handsomest structures of the kind in Germany. In the centre of the Schloss-Platz is the lofty jubilee column erected in memory of King William I.; in the court-yard of the old palace is a bronze equestrian statue of Count Eberhard with the Beard; and adjacent is a fine statue, designed by Thorwaldsen, of Schiller, who was a native of Würtemberg. Among the other principal buildings are the polytechnic and architectural schools, the Late Gothic Leonhardskirche and Spitalkirche, the fine modern Gothic church of St John, the new Roman Catholic church, the neat little English church, the synagogue, and several handsome villas and mansions, chiefly in the resuscitated Renaissance style.

Plan of Stuttgart.

1. Palace.	5. Town-house.	8. Hospital Church.
2. Old Palace.	6. Theatre.	9. Orphanage.
3. Prinzessen Palais.	7. Crown-Prince's Palace.	10. Museum of Art.
4. Collegiate Church.

The art collections of Stuttgart are numerous and valuable. The museum of art comprises a picture gallery, an almost unique collection of casts of Thorwaldsen's works, and a cabinet of engravings. The royal library contains about 350,000 printed volumes, including what is said to be the largest collection of Bibles in the world, and also 4000 MSS., many of great rarity. To these may be added the industrial museum, the cabinet of coins, the museum of natural history, the fine collection of majolica in the new palace, and the museum of antiquities. The city also contains numerous excellent educational establishments, though the state university is not here but at Tübingen, and its conservatorium of music has long been renowned. Stuttgart is the centre of the publishing trade of South Germany, and has a busy industry in everything connected with the production of books. In various other industrial departments it also takes a high place, its manufactures including machinery, textile fabrics, pianos and other musical instruments, artists' colours, chemicals, sugar, and chocolate. Its trade is considerable. The population of Stuttgart in 1885 was 125,510, showing an increase of 7 per cent. since 1880. Four-fifths of these are Protestants. The town proper contains about 110,000 inhabitants, while the above total is made up by adding the populations of the suburban villages of Berg, Gablenberg, and Heslach. Stuttgart is the headquarters of the 13th corps of the German army, and contains a comparatively large garrison, for which accommodation is provided in three extensive barracks within the town and on the outskirts.

To the north-east of the new palace lies the beautiful palace park, embellished with statuary and artificial sheets of water, and extending nearly all the way to Cannstatt, a distance of over two miles. Cannstatt, a town with (1880) 16,205 inhabitants, is not officially incorporated with Stuttgart, but may be looked on as practically forming part of it. Its beautiful situation on the Neckar, its tepid saline and chalybeate springs, and its educational advantages attract numerous visitors. In the environs of Stuttgart and Cannstatt lie Rosenstein, the Solitude, Hohenheim, the Wilhelma, and other royal chateaus.

Stuttgart seems to have originated in a stud (“Stuten Garten”) of the early counts of Würtemberg, and the first mention of it occurs in a document of 1229. Its importance is of comparatively modern growth, and in early Würtemberg history we find it overshadowed by Cannstatt, the central situation of which, on the Neckar, seemed to mark it out as the natural capital of the country. After the destruction of the castle of Würtemberg Count Eberhard, however, transferred his residence to Stuttgart (1320), and in 1482 it became the recognized capital of all the Würtemberg territories. Even as capital its growth was slow, and it enjoys little prominence in history. At the beginning of the present century it did not contain 20,000 inhabitants, and its real advance begins with the reign of King William I. (1816-1864), who exerted himself in every way to improve and beautify his capital. In 1849 Stuttgart was the place of meeting of the so-called “Rump Parliament” (Rumpfparlament). Among its eminent natives are Hegel (b. 1770), the philosopher, and Hauff (b. 1802), the poet and story-teller.