General Information
The capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg is idyllically situated in a lush valley ringed by forests, orchards and vineyards. The city is "only" 1,000 years old and started out as a horse farm (German "Stute" = mare). The Swabian town didn't become the capital of Württemburg until the region was conquered by Napoleon in the early 19th century.
After World War II Stuttgart gradually became one of Germany's leading cities, famous for its economic might (Mercedes, Porsche) and its cultural life (state opera house, chamber orchestra).
Mercedes-Benz
The world's oldest continually produced line of automobiles was created in 1926 by a merger of competing companies founded by two Germans, Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. Benz, the inventor of the four-stroke gasoline engine, had received his first patent for a motor car in 1886. Daimler had begun producing automobiles with his partner, Wilhelm Maybach, in 1890. Because the brand name Daimler was unavailable after the merger for trademark reasons, "Mercedes-Benz" was chosen instead. Mercedes had been the name of a successful line of sports cars produced by Maybach. The original model had been built for a racing enthusiast named Emil Jellinek and bore the name of his daughter, Mércédès. |
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