Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Stuttgart

Environs of Stuttgart.

STUTTGART, the capital of Würtemberg, lies in thesmall valley of the Nesenbach, just above its confluencewith the Neckar, near the centre of the kingdom andabout 115 miles west-by-north of Munich. It is charminglysituated among vine-clad and wooded hills, andstands at a height of nearly 900 feet above the sea. Thetown is intersected fromsouth-west to north-eastby the long and handsomeKönigs-Strasse, dividing itinto an upper and lowerhalf. In all its main featuresit is essentially amodern town, and few ofits principal buildings areolder than the presentcentury. Many of its modernedifices are, however, ofconsiderable architecturalimportance, and the recentrevival of the Renaissancestyle is perhaps nowherebetter illustrated than atStuttgart. The lower orsouth-eastern half containsboth the small group ofstreets belonging to oldStuttgart and also the mostimportant part of the new town. A large proportion ofthe most prominent buildings are clustered round thespacious Schloss-Platz, on or near which are the followingedifices:—the new palace, an imposing structure of the18th century, finished in 1806; the old palace, a buildingof the 16th century, with a picturesque arcaded court;the Königsbau, a huge modern building, with a finecolonnade, containing ball and concert rooms, shops, &c.;the so-called Akademie, formerly (1775-94) the seat ofthe Carls-Schule, where Schiller received part of hiseducation, and now occupied by the king's private libraryand by guard-rooms; the new courts of justice; thepalaces of the crown prince and of Prince William; theStiftskirche, or collegiate church, a fine specimen of15th-century Gothic; the extensive royal stables; the newpost-office; the theatre; and the central railway station, one ofthe handsomest structures of the kind in Germany. In thecentre of the Schloss-Platz is the lofty jubilee columnerected in memory of King William I.; in the court-yardof the old palace is a bronze equestrian statue of CountEberhard with the Beard; and adjacent is a fine statue,designed by Thorwaldsen, of Schiller, who was a native ofWürtemberg. Among the other principal buildings arethe polytechnic and architectural schools, the Late GothicLeonhardskirche and Spitalkirche, the fine modern Gothicchurch of St John, the new Roman Catholic church, theneat little English church, the synagogue, and severalhandsome villas and mansions, chiefly in the resuscitatedRenaissance style.

The art collections of Stuttgart are numerous andvaluable. The museum of art comprises a picture gallery,an almost unique collection of casts of Thorwaldsen'sworks, and a cabinet of engravings. The royal librarycontains about 350,000 printed volumes, including what issaid to be the largest collection of Bibles in the world, andalso 4000 MSS., many of great rarity. To these may beadded the industrial museum, the cabinet of coins, themuseum of natural history, the fine collection of majolicain the new palace, and the museum of antiquities. Thecity also contains numerous excellent educational establishments,though the state university is not here but atTübingen, and its conservatorium of music has long beenrenowned. Stuttgart is the centre of the publishing tradeof South Germany, and has a busy industry in everythingconnected with the production of books. In various otherindustrial departments it also takes a high place, itsmanufactures including machinery, textile fabrics, pianosand other musical instruments, artists' colours, chemicals,sugar, and chocolate. Its trade is considerable. Thepopulation of Stuttgart in 1885 was 125,510, showing anincrease of 7 per cent. since 1880. Four-fifths of these areProtestants. The town proper contains about 110,000inhabitants, while the above total is made up by adding thepopulations of the suburban villages of Berg, Gablenberg,and Heslach. Stuttgart is the headquarters of the 13thcorps of the German army, and contains a comparativelylarge garrison, for which accommodation is provided in threeextensive barracks within the town and on the outskirts.

To the north-east of the new palace lies the beautifulpalace park, embellished with statuary and artificial sheetsof water, and extending nearly all the way to Cannstatt, adistance 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 ofit. Its beautiful situation on the Neckar, its tepid salineand chalybeate springs, and its educational advantagesattract numerous visitors. In the environs of Stuttgartand Cannstatt lie Rosenstein, the Solitude, Hohenheim,the Wilhelma, and other royal chateaus.