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With the merger of the Länder in 1952, it was the card of complementarity between Baden and Württemberg that was, in a way, played: one renowned for its art of living, its beautiful nature and the quality of its wines; the other for its industrial wealth. The new Land thus created has become the third in Germany for its economic and demographic weight.

Bordering France and Switzerland, there are nine cities-districts (Kreisfreie Städte), including the state capital, Stuttgart (6th largest city for its population). Cities as varied as the romantic Heidelberg, the Baden-Baden spa or the southern Freiburg im Breisgau… On the way for a trip from city to city!

Stuttgart, the capital of museums

Stuttgart, capital of the Land and museums! This is the label that could easily be affixed to it, given that it takes into account the fascinating … even the most anecdotal (albeit?), Like the Pig Museum. It is the largest in the world, with around twenty rooms, retracing the importance of pigs in art, history or mythology, and even with a sculpture garden!

To stay in the register of (good) taste, the viticulture museum, or Weinbau museum, is installed in an old press: indeed, the surroundings of Stuttgart are famous for their vineyards, in particular the great white wines.

But the most prestigious, and one of the most visited in Germany, is the Staatsgalerie museum. In a huge area divided into two buildings, one in 1843 and the extension of 1984 are presented paintings and sculptures from the 14th century to the present: the Dutch masters (Rubens, Rembrandt) to contemporary stars (Bruce Nauman and Jeff Koons) through the geniuses of the 20th century (Picasso, Dalí, Warhol) and minimal art.

A visit to be completed by the Museum of Fine Arts or Kunstmuseum, a huge glass cube opened in 2005 and overlooking the lawns of the castle square. Its 5,000 m² is devoted to modern or contemporary paintings, including many works by Otto Dix and very specialized temporary exhibitions.

In the same square, and in a completely different style, but also very interesting, the Federal Museum of Württemberg. In the former residence of the Dukes of Württemberg, called Altes Schloss, its rich collections bear witness to the regional past and culture, from Prehistory to the kingdom of Württemberg, from religious art to everyday ancient objects and the treasures of the city. ‘aristocracy.

On the outskirts of Stuttgart, lovers of big cars cannot miss two places devoted to the automotive industry. The Mercedes-Benz museum where more than 150 models mark the 130th anniversary of the brand, starting from the first light combustion engine developed in 1883 in Stuttgart by Gottlieb Daimler. Which then teamed up with Carl Benz, originally from Mannheim and inventor, in 1886, of the first motor car in the world. With the merger of their two companies in 1926, they founded the first automobile factory in history.

The second mythical space for driving aces is the Porsche Museum, inaugurated in 2009 and showing 80 dream racing cars.

Heidelberg, the beautiful romantic

The charm Heidelberg exerts on its visitors has remained unchanged for centuries. Certainly, the university town known, which was founded in the late 12th century, has not escaped the destruction caused by French troops of Louis XIV. But she was spared from the bombs of World War II. Hence its Baroque architectural unity and its well-kept old stones which give it a unique power of seduction.

The setting in which it is located also has a lot to do with it! Surrounded by green hills and crossed by the river Neckar, the two banks are connected by a nice bridge the 18th century, it is dominated by the majestic remains of its famous castle. The “schloss” built from the 13th century, was sacked by the French in the late 17th century and partly rebuilt in the 18th century. Then again devastated by lightning and then largely abandoned. In the late 19th century, the ruins were then kept as is. To the delight of romantic artists and authors.

Big names like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Hölderlin, Victor Hugo, Mark Twain, Empress Sissi, Robert Schumann or William Turner fell in love with the beauty of the place. In particular while walking on the heights of the right bank, along a path called Philosophenweg (path of the philosophers).

The panorama on the red silhouette of the castle and on the old one is splendid, in particular at sunset, when the last rays underline with their soft light this marvelous site.

Karlsruhe, all in contrasts

Karlsruhe is famous for its fan-shaped town planning, wanted by the city’s founder, Prince Margrave Karl Wilhelm, in 1715.

In the center of the city is the baroque castle, from which 32 streets leave, arranged like the rays of a sun. The pompous building, devastated in 1944, but whose facade was reconstructed identically, houses the very rich and vast regional museum of Baden, dedicated to the past of Baden-Württemberg, since Prehistoric times. The palace is surrounded by greenery: from the pretty little botanical garden to the large park refurbished in an English style.

Near the castle, the Staatliche Kunsthalle is absolutely essential. This Museum of Fine Arts, inaugurated in 1846, is one of the oldest and most important in the country. It covers 700 years of German, French and Dutch paintings, distributed in several buildings. The first, and the largest, exhibits, in an airy space, paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Hans Baldung Grien, Cranach the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Nicolas Poussin, Monet, Degas, Cézanne, etc. As for the orangery, it houses much more recent works, by Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Paul Klee, Max Ernst, Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, etc.

To push even further in contemporary art, you have to go a little further from the city center and join the ZKM, the center for media art and technology. A huge munitions factory (completed in 1918) was converted, at the end of the 1990s, into a very sharp and conceptual place for digital arts. With only thematic temporary exhibitions including photos, installations, films, video games, etc.

In the same creative and underground spirit that recalls Berlin, the Kreativpark Alter Schlachthof is worth a visit. Located in the middle of the old slaughterhouses, closed in 2006, it is a little out of the way, but well served by trams. New activities have developed in red brick buildings: bars, restaurants, cultural center, concert halls and club. The perfect place to go out!

Line n ° 1 of the tram which passes through this sector in full revival leads to another district full of charm: Durlach, a peaceful village today attached to Karlsruhe. We find there an authenticity and the patina of centuries that are missing in the big city. The atmosphere is totally different: old houses, some of which are half-timbered, fountains, cobbled streets, small parks.

The village is at the foot of a wooded hill, called Turmberg and 256 m high. You can climb it on foot or by the oldest funicular in Germany, inaugurated in 1888. From the belvedere, you take in a wide panorama of Karlsruhe, its surroundings and the Rhine valley.

Baden-Baden, a cure for nature and culture

Baden-Baden is a green city of wine, water and hikes! At the edge of the Black Forest, nestled in Oos Valley, surrounded by green hills and the Rebland vineyards, the opulent spa town has remained intact since the 19thcentury, when it became a chic destination for European high society. Artists, aristocrats and political leaders took up their summer quarters there. Today, Bill Clinton appreciates the places, just like the great German, English, Emirati and Russian fortunes. Hence the luxury boutiques that line the city center, partly pedestrian.

It is also where the two establishments are located, offering baths and treatments with hot water from local thermal springs, effective against cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, rheumatism, osteoarthritis or arthritis.

The oldest, from the late 19th century, Friedrichsbad, where diversity, nudity and traditional treatments are required. The Caracalla thermal baths, a vast modern spa covering 4,000 m², are very complete and allow the wearing of swimsuits: men, women and children relax in large pools, indoor or outdoor, saunas, massage jets, hammam, etc.

And who says city of water, says casino! The one in Baden-Baden is the largest and oldest in Germany. At first, it was not intended for games. It was a ballroom and a music room where Franz Liszt, Brahms, Clara Schumann, Paganini, etc. performed. Its decor is inspired by the Palace of Versailles. In front of the building, there is an attractive, intimate and authentic Christmas market every year.

Prestige requires, the small town has a large opera house with 2,500 seats, the second in Europe. He is also renowned for the quality of his concerts and shows. Another major cultural institution is the Frieder Burda museum, devoted to modern and contemporary art, as is its neighbor, the Staatliche Kunsthalle. They border the Lichtentaler Allee, a 3 km green flow which was planted over 350 years ago along the Oos.

Nature is also at the gates of the city, dominated by Mount Merkur, through which passes the “Panorama Weg”, a hiking trail that goes around Baden-Baden by the ridges, or 40 km in all.

Freiburg im Breisgau, the green pearl

Freiburg im Breisgau was founded in the late 9thcentury and became a college town from the mid-15thcentury. Today, it has 33,000 students over 225,000 inhabitants.

Chance of history, long before giving its name to a European program of university exchanges, Erasmus of Rotterdam lived, from 1529 to 1531, in a beautiful building of the 16th century on Franziskanerstrasse: the whale house, decorated with ‘a splendid Gothic facade. It is a stone’s throw from the cathedral square , which is also bordered by pretty residences, such as that of the merchants (Kaufhaus), from the beginning of the 16th century, decorated with coats of arms, statues, gilding, turrets and glazed tiles.

With its baroque architecture very different from this strong Gothic style, the city’s historic museum or Museum für Stadtgeschichte faces it, on the other side of the lane. From this corner of the square, you can clearly see the stages in the construction of the cathedral (Münster) : between the two superb Gothic bell towers, you can guess the original style of the building, with a Romanesque transept with rounded arches, dating from the very beginning the 13th century. But the whole remains harmonious, because entirely built in pink sandstone.

It is highlighted by the emerald setting of the wooded hills in the background. This is the Schlossberg, a park that can be reached on foot or by a small funicular that is called like an elevator, at the push of a button! On its heights, several places allow you to embrace a magnificent panorama of the city, the Rhine valley and the Vosges, in particular from Kanonenplatz, an ideal belvedere when the sun goes down behind the high openwork bell tower of the cathedral…

Located on the edge of the Black Forest, Freiburg is a green city in every sense of the word: surrounded by nature and green to the point of setting an example in Germany and even internationally. Led by a mayor labeled “Grünen”, the town is a pioneer in terms of sustainable development and respect for the environment. Particularly south of the city center, completely pedestrianized, in the Vauban sector, which is also car-free and equipped with low-consumption infrastructure or buildings, supplied with renewable energy.

Ulm, Mannheim, Pforzheim, Heilbronn… to discover

Exploring Baden-Württemberg on the city side in greater depth leads to the discovery of four cities with well-defined particularities, a little away from the busiest paths… The best known, Ulm, is characterized by several records.

First those of the imposing Ulmer Münster , the Gothic cathedral, spared by the bombs of the Second World War unlike almost the entire municipality: it has the highest bell tower in the world, a spire of 161 m (and 768 steps to reach the top) and it is the largest Protestant church on the planet. On these modern stained-glass windows, visitors have fun looking for the one that presents the face of Albert Einstein, born in Ulm in 1879.

Another record, the oldest animal-man sculpture found on Earth, the lion-man (or Löwenmensch): it was cut 40,000 years ago, thirty centimeters high in a mammoth tusk and unearthed in a cave near the town. It is exhibited in the Ulmer Museum. Which conceals other treasures: paintings by Picasso, Klee, Fernand Léger, Pollock, etc.

Mannheim also hosts a Museum of Fine Arts: Städtische Kunsthalle , founded in 1907 and dedicated to contemporary works and 19thcentury, including those of many Impressionist masters or Courbet, Rodin, Matisse, Chagall, Henry Moore, Kandinsky, Otto Dix, etc. The city also stands out in a classification, that ofBaroque castles: its own is the largest in Germany and the second in the world after Versailles. Devastated during the last war, it was rebuilt and now houses the headquarters of the university.

In Pforzheim, nicknamed the “city of gold”, it is watchmaking and goldsmithing that we study in a highly rated school. Because, from 1767, the city received the authorization to manufacture clocks, watches and jewelry. Know-how and techniques presented at the Technisches Museum. And a story to cover over 5,000 years and various continents at the Schmuckmuseum, the jewelry museum.

As for Heilbronn, it is distinguished by the vine. The city is the center of Germany’s largest red wine region, with renowned vintages, such as Trollinger. Good bottles can be tasted, for example, at the Wein Villa, which, since 1875, has brought together half of the thirty wineries in the area. Or during the essential Weindorf, wine festival which takes place in September.

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