Stuttgart tourist information

The coat of arms shows a black, rampant horse on a yellow or golden field. It is a canting seal due to the fact that the name "Stuttgart" is an over the centuries modified version of "Stutengarten", in English roughly "mare garden" or "stud farm". About 950, Stuttgart was originally founded by Duke Liudolf of Swabia, one of the sons of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I the Great, and used for horse breeding (especially for his father's cavalry). Later on (about 1300), Stuttgart became the residence of the counts of Württemberg. In 1496, the counts of Württemberg were promoted to dukes by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. After Napoleon's breakup of the Holy Roman Empire, the dukes of Württemberg earned the title of kings and Stuttgart became a royal residence.

The name of the royal family of Württemberg and of the state originates from a steep Stuttgart hill, formerly known as Wirtemberg, nowadays called Württemberg. On top of that hill, the mausoleum from 1824 of Queen Katharina (daughter of Czar Paul I of Russia) and King Wilhelm I of Württemberg is located.

During the revolution of 1848/1849, a democratic pan-German national parliament (Frankfurt Parliament) was formed in Frankfurt to overcome the division of Germany. After long discussions, the parliament decided to offer the title of German Emperor to the Prussian king. Since the democratic movement became weaker, the German princes regained control of their independent states. Finally the Prussian king declined the revolutionaries' offer. The members of parliament were driven out of Frankfurt, and the most radical members (those who wanted to establish a republic) fled to Stuttgart. A short while later, this rump parliament was dissolved by the Württemberg military.

In 1871, as an autonomous kingdom, Württemberg joined the German Empire or Kaiserreich, created by the Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck through several successful wars and diplomacy. After World War I, the monarchy broke down and the Free State of Württemberg was established, as a part of the Weimar Republic. In 1920, Stuttgart was the seat of the German National Government (since the administration had to flee from Berlin). During World War II, the city center of Stuttgart was nearly completely destroyed due to Allied air raids.

In 1945 the Allied Forces took control of Germany. They merged parts of the former German States of Baden and Württemberg and later in 1952 on the new, democratic state Baden-Württemberg (3rd largest German state) with Stuttgart as its capital was created by a referendum.

After World War II, an early concept of the Marshall Plan to support the reconstruction and economic/political recovery of Europe was presented during a speech given by US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes at the Stuttgart Opera House (September 6, 1946). This speech led directly to the unification of the British and American occupation zones, resulting in the so called bi-zone. Two years later, the French also joined the bi-zone, creating the tri-zone and thereby paving the way for the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany. Stuttgart, like Frankfurt, was a serious contender to become the federal capital, but finally Bonn succeeded.

In the late seventies, the city district of Stammheim was center stage of one of the most controversial periods of German post-war history: The Red Army Faction trial at the Stammheim high-security court and the subsequent suicides of Ulrike Meinhof, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe (all imprisoned in the Stammheim jail). The trial and the period thereafter were accompanied by several new terroristic assaults to liberate the inmates (German Autumn 1977: i.a. the abduction and murder of the German industrialist and President of the German Employers' Association Hanns Martin Schleyer resp. the hijacking of Lufthansa flight LH181, redirecting the jet to Mogadishu).

During the Cold War, the joint command center of all United States military forces in Europe, Africa and the Atlantic was moved to Stuttgart (US European Command, EUCOM). EUCOM is still headquartered there today.

U.S. Army bases in and around Stuttgart include or included the following: Patch Barracks (HQ EUCOM), Robinson Barracks, Kelley Barracks (General Patton's son once lived there), Nellingen Barracks, Panzer Kaserne, and Granadier Kaserne.

American dependent schools, affiliated with either the United States Dependents Schools Europe (USDESEA) or Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DODDS), included Stuttgart American High School (Pattonville); Stuttgart Elementary and Junior High Schools (Robinson Barracks); Patch High School (Patch Barracks); and Boeblingen Elementary School (Panzer Kaserne). American high school sports teams from Stuttgart would play against American high schools in Frankfurt, Kaiserslautern, Wiesbaden, and sometimes Munich.