Facts for Kids

The city is full of places to hear music and see shows. The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra is famous for a warm, rich sound that people call the “Stuttgart Sound,” and it plays in big concert halls around the city. Two large, Broadway-style theatres — the Apollo and the Palladium — host musicals and big shows for families and visitors.

Nearby, Ludwigsburg Palace holds concerts and cultural events in a grand setting. For pop and rock music, the Schleyerhalle brings international stars to town. These venues, together with museums of art and history, make Stuttgart lively and full of things to explore.

Stuttgart is a big city in southwest Germany and the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg. It sits in a green valley on the Neckar river called the Stuttgarter Kessel (that means Stuttgart Cauldron) because the hills around it make the city feel like it's nestling in a bowl. About 600,000 people live in the city itself, and many more live nearby in the metro area. Because it is near the Black Forest and other hills, people visit Stuttgart for parks, museums, and technology jobs. The city is known for cars, culture, and busy streets where people shop and meet.

Sister cities (also called “twin towns”) are friendships between two towns or cities in different countries. Cities make these links so people can learn about each other, share ideas, and work together. A sister-city friendship is like having a pen pal, but for whole towns—school groups, artists, or city leaders visit and try activities together.

Stuttgart uses these friendships to welcome visitors and to send people out to learn. Because the city has fast trains to nearby countries, it is easy for students or special guests to travel to places such as Strasbourg, Vienna, Zürich, or Paris. Sister-city projects can include school exchanges, festivals, and helpful plans for parks or public transport.

Stuttgart has what scientists call an oceanic climate, which means it usually has mild, changeable weather. Summers are warm, often reaching around 25 °C on sunny days, so people enjoy parks and river walks. Winters are chilly with temperatures near freezing, and snow can fall but usually does not stay very long.

The city sits in a valley, so nearby hills and forests can shelter it from very strong winds. Rain falls through the year—sometimes as sudden thunderstorms or small hail—and the city gets plenty of sunshine for gardens and outdoor play.

A big part of getting around Stuttgart is the Stadtbahn, a light rail system that looks like a tram but sometimes runs underground in the busy city center. Stations on these lines are marked with a letter “U,” which the city calls meaning “unabhängig” (independent). The Stadtbahn and a large bus network are run by SSB, so people can move easily across the city.

For nearby suburbs and towns, the S‑Bahn suburban trains use tracks owned by Deutsche Bahn (DB). Until 2007, regular trams were also common, and buses still fill in many routes for places the trains do not reach.

Stuttgart is often called the cradle of the automobile because inventors here built the first true cars. Inventor Karl Benz made an early automobile in the late 1800s, and others like Daimler and Maybach helped turn ideas into factories around 1887. Because of this history, big car companies such as Mercedes‑Benz and Porsche have their homes in Stuttgart.

Many smaller companies, like Bosch and Mahle, make parts that go into cars. Today the city has lots of engineers, designers, and factories, so cars and their ideas are still very important to local jobs and research.

Stuttgart is rich in arts and live shows. The Staatstheater (State Theatre) puts on opera, ballet, plays, and concerts—opera tells stories using singers and an orchestra, and ballet is storytelling through dance. Stuttgart’s opera company has won big awards for its performances.

Another important place is the Staatsgalerie, an art museum where people can see paintings and sculptures from different times. The city also hosts festivals, concerts, and family events throughout the year, so there are many chances to see music, art, and theatre with friends and family.

Stuttgart offers many places for higher education, where people study after secondary school. The city has universities and specialized schools that teach engineering, design, business, and the arts. These schools are often connected to local industries, so students can learn skills that companies need.

Although Stuttgart is not a ‘classic’ university town by size, its colleges have strong technical and research programs. That helps young people train to work in car design, electronics, and technology, and it brings students and teachers from other countries to study and do projects with local companies.

At the heart of Stuttgart is Schlossplatz, a large open square where people meet, play, and relax. Just next to it is Königsstraße, a long pedestrian shopping street with stores, cafés, and street performers. These places connect to parks, museums, and old castles that give the city its character.

Many of the city’s historic buildings, such as churches and palaces, were repaired or rebuilt after wartime damage and now sit beside modern architecture. Places like the Stiftskirche, Altes Schloss, Neues Schloss, the Markthalle market hall, and the Hauptbahnhof are each a mix of old stories and newer design that visitors enjoy exploring.