Stuttgart

Stuttgart, the capital of Württemberg, stands in a natural basin (817 feet above sea-level) surrounded by hills, which are studded with villas, vineyards, and gardens, and crowned with woods, about 2 miles from the Neckar, and 189 by rail WNW. of Munich, 127 SSE. of Frankfurt. Except the churches, most of the public edifices date from the 19th century, and are chiefly built in the Renaissance style. The centre of the place is the Palace Square, upon or near which stand the following buildings—the new royal palace (1746–1807), the old royal castle (16th century), two or three other palaces of the royal family, the Königsbau (shops, bourse, concert-rooms, &c.), the theatre, the railway station (one of the finest in all Germany), the post-office, the Akademie (formerly the Carl School; now library and guardhouse), and the jubilee column (1841), and statues of Schiller and Duke Eberhard. The Collegiate Church, St Leonard's, and the Hospital Church date from the 15th century. The last two, as well as the modern church of St John, are in the Gothic style. The other chief public institutions of Stuttgart are its famous Polytechnic (with 250 students), the Conservatory of Music, the royal library (425,000 vols., with a fine collection of 7000 Bibles), the museum and picture-gallery (fine Thorwaldsen casts), and other collections and educational establishments. Stuttgart ranks next after Leipzig as a centre of the German book-trade. It has, moreover, active industries connected with textiles, beer, pianofortes, chemicals, chocolate, artists' colours, furniture, and has celebrated fairs for books, hops, horses, and cloth. North-east from the palace lies the picturesque royal park (with some good statuary), extending almost all the way to Cannstatt (q.v.). There are an unusually large number of royal seats and palaces in the vicinity of this place, as the Solitude, Hohenheim, Wilhelma, Rosenstein, Berg. Hegel and Hauff were born at Stuttgart. Pop. (1875) 107,573; (1890) 139,659. Stuttgart owes its name and origin to a stud-farm of the early Counts of Württemberg, and has been the capital since 1482.