The Clever Swabians
The people of Germany’s Southwest, the Swabians (Schwaben), are the target of many jokes where they come across as excessively stingy and serious and speaking an odd dialect. The slogan of a publicity campaign proved that Swabians know how to make fun of themselves: “We can do everything except speak standard German” (Wir können alles außer Hochdeutsch.)
Germany’s Motor City
Entrepreneurial Stuttgart is considered the “cradle of the automobile”. This is where in 1885 Gottlieb Daimler invented the automobile in a small workshop. The history of the automobile comes alive in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, with 440,000 visits per year the most visited museum in Stuttgart. Both Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are produced in the Stuttgart region, the heart of Germany’s automotive industry.
The “Mutterstadt” of Hip Hop
Stuttgart’s creative energy is not limited to engineering. The city is also known as the birthplace of German hip hop. Die “Fantastischen 4” were the first German hip hop artists to register a chart hit with their 1992 single “Die da?!” (That woman there?!) The legendary 0711 Club named after Stuttgart’s area code was in the 1990s a place of pilgrimage for rappers from all over Germany.
The Master of Disaster
Big budget disaster movies with extravagant special affects – that’s the specialty of Roland Emmerich. “Independence Day”, “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012” were some of the German film director and producer’s blockbuster hits. His films have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European director. Emmerich was born in Stuttgart and now lives in Los Angeles and Stuttgart.
Not So Fast!
“Stuttgart 21” is one of Europe’s largest railway and urban renewal projects. Train tracks that today cut through the center of town will be placed underground, creating entirely new neighborhoods. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2020. Many Stuttgart residents have voiced their opposition to the multibillion dollar undertaking in large protests.
Deutscher Herbst
In the late 1970’s, Stuttgart’s high-security Stammheim prison housed the leading members of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist group. On October 18, 1977, three of the group’s leaders were found dead in their cells. The suicides of the prisoners were among the events known as the “German Autumn”, which included a series of terrorist attacks and the West German government’s response.
We Make More Than Just Bread
One of Germany’s best-known bakeries is in Stuttgart. We don’t know how many of Germany’s 300 bread varieties the “Klinsmann Bäckerei” bakes. But we do know that besides bread it also produces World Cup winners.
A National Soccer Hero
Jürgen Klinsmann learned the baker’s trade at his parents’ bakery before starring in the Bundesliga. His goals helped Germany win the 1990 World Cup and he coached the national team to a 3rd-place finish in 2006. “Klinsi” now lives in Southern California and is honorary chairperson of the coolest soccer tournament for German-language students in the US: www.goethe.de/soccerbridge In 2011 he was named coach of the US national team.
Soccer’s Fountain of Youth
VfB Stuttgart was founded in 1893 and has won five German titles, most recently in 1992 and 2007. The team is based at the Mercedes-Benz Arena which hosted six matches at the 2006 World Cup. The VfB is well-known for its youth teams that have won a record number of German national titles.