Grünanlage

Grünanlage die [green space]: basically Germany in a nutshell; see: Stuttgart.

"Landtag von Baden Württemberg"

It is funny how Germans often question why I chose to visit a particular German city, since they claim there’s nothing to see, nor is there anything special there. That is usually the reaction I received when I told my roommates and some other German I know that I would be visiting Stuttgart a couple weeks ago. I have come to realize that the Germans that I correspond with often devalue a city when it had to be almost completely rebuilt after WWII. In their eyes, the beauty and charm is taken out of the city without the authentic or restored historic Innenstadt (inner city). Yes, cities like Rothenburg or Freiburg have a perfect, picturesque charm to them, but there is something that other German cities have that make them equally as unique in many American’s eyes- parks. I am not saying that American cities don’t have parks inside them, because they sure do, but a big city has the feel of a typical small city in the US, because of the many parks and open spaces. The perfect example: Stuttgart.

Stuttgart is the “capitol” of the German state Baden-Württemberg, the state that Freiburg belongs to and also one of the biggest cities in Germany. To me, big city means skyscrapers, cars, pollution, and people. My mind was blown in Stuttgart, just as much as my mind was blown when I toured Hamburg over Pentecost break (which is the 2nd largest city in Germany, by the way). In the core of city of Stuttgart, a huge Baroque castle dominate the view with a huge park along side. THIS IS A BIG CITY, PEOPLE!! Okay, there are a ton of districts in Stuttgart, industry, a huge TV tower (fun fact: the first one built with concrete in the world), and lots of shopping, but I just didn’t get the rush, one normally receives when in a big city.

Wilhelma Zoo

I was in good company during approximately three-hour train ride, costing a total of 21 Euros (and included the streetcar rides that evening in Stuttgart too). My friend, Edith, is also from the Milwaukee area and goes to a college that also in my Conference for tennis! On Friday, we checked out the inner city a little, roamed through the Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Gardens, and casually walked the main park in Stuttgart. Dinner was at the Biergarten in the Schlosspark, where I tried the popular Maultaschen for the first time (delicious) and had the best beer in my entire life.

Mercedes-Benz Museum

Saturday was the main reason why I wanted to go to Stuttgart so bad…TENNIS! There was an ATP tennis tournament going on all week in Stuttgart, the Mercedes Cup, with a lot of well-known professional tennis players participating. On Saturday, after touring the Mercedes-Benz Museum (an absolutely awesome exhibit of the history of the car company), my friend and I watched the semi-finals of the tournament.

The Mercedes Cup was hosted by a large club, that had clay courts. There were Mercedes-Benz cars on display and also a section where you could buy souvenirs and tennis stuff. Clay tennis courts and German food booths dominated the rest of the tournament area.  First we watched two semi-final doubles matches. Following the doubles was an exhibition match where the tennis legends Ivo Karlovic and Thomas Muster played. The match was more for show and fun and both players were so entertaining. Karlovic had a great sense of humor and did stuff like give his tennis racquet to the ball girl and made her play a point for him and later he stole the chair from a line judge and played a point sitting on it, dragging it with him when he needed to reach the ball. At one point both players threw the umpire’s shoe into the audience and forced him out of his chair, after making a supposed bad call. Then Henri Leconte appeared and was the ump for the rest of the match, making the crowd and the players laugh until it hurt.

And then came the special event- BORIS BECKER! Boris Becker, the German tennis legend had a fundraiser where he played tennis with kids and gave them some tips. It was so amazing to see in person such an important figure in tennis!

After sipping on some delicious beer and a turkey and cheese crepe, my friend and I returned to our seats and enjoyed two amazing singles matches. The first match I watched Janko Tipsarevic play.

Tipsarevic is one of my favorite players to watch on tv and it was an honor to watch him in action in person. He pretty much dominated that whole match, although it took him three sets.The second match was had Juan Monaco and the match was also really good, but by the end my friend and I were exhausted and cold. Needless to say, I dreamt of tennis after I fell asleep right away.

After a solid breakfast from our cute Gasthaus, Edith and I checked out and headed to the cute little Baroque town Ludwigsburg. This city has a huge Baroque castle that boasts to be just as beautiful and grandiose as Versailles. I’ve never been to Versailles, but I was pretty impressed with the Ludwigsburgschloss.  

We took the German tour with an absolutely awesome guide. I discovered that the Graf von Zeppelin was friends with the Baron who lived in the castle, so he was a frequent visitor there. My interest in the subject led me to ask the young tour guide a bazillion questions and she kindly gave me more information and took me behind the scenes, so I could learn more about the Graf! Ludwigsburg itself is absolutely quaint and beautiful and I recommend everyone to go there.

Okay, that is all for now :)