From the Britannica98 CD-ROM:
Stuttgart is the capital (1945) of Baden-Württemberg Land (state), in southwestern Germany, astride the Neckar River, in a forested vineyard-and-orchard setting in historic Swabia. It lies between the Black Forest on the west and the Swabian Jura to the south. There were prehistoric settlements and a Roman fort in the area of Bad Cannstatt (a suburb of Stuttgart), but Stuttgart itself originated as a Stuotgarten, a Gestüt, or stud farm, set up c. 950. A wine industry developed, and Stuttgart received civic rights after passing to the counts of Württemberg in the 13th century. It became the principal residence of the counts c. 1320 and after 1482 was successively the capital of the Württemberg county, duchy, kingdom, and Land. Prosperity in the 16th century was followed by a decline during the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) and the French invasions of Louis XIV (1681-84), from which it did not recover until the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century caused rapid expansion. The city centre was almost completely destroyed during World War II.
Historic buildings in the city, most of them rebuilt since 1945, include the old castle (13th century; rebuilt 1553-78), housing the Landesmuseum; the new palace (1746-1807); the Rosenstein Palace (1824-29), now the natural history museum; the Gothic St. Leonard's Church (1463-74), of the hall type; and the Stiftskirche (collegiate church), a 12th-century Romanesque basilica completed in the Gothic style (1436-95). Outside the city centre are Solitude Palace (Schlöss Solitude - 1763-67) to the west, and Hohenheim Palace (1768-85) to the south, now occupied by the College of Agriculture. Examples of modern architecture include the Weissenhof Estate (1927), the town hall (1954-56), the 633-ft (193-m) television tower (1955), and Stuttgarter Liederhall (concert and congress hall, built in 1954-56).
There is a technological college and academies for art, music, and architecture. Stuttgart is the site of the state art gallery, archives, library, observatory, opera, ballet, and the Wilhelma Botanical and Zoological Gardens. Stuttgart University was founded in 1829. The Daimler-Benz, Mercedes-Benz automobile factory (one of the world's oldest) and museum are in the suburb of Untertürkheim. The suburbs of Bad Cannstatt and Berg are health centres with many mineral springs, from which are exported bottled mineral water, and the famous Cannstatter Folk Festival is held in the Cannstatter Wasen (Cannstatt Meadows) every autumn.
An important rail junction on the natural route connecting the Danube with northern Germany and the Rhine, Stuttgart has a port (opened in 1958) and an international airport. It is the centre of the largest industrial zone in southwestern Germany and holds various trade fairs and congresses. Electrical engineering and motor vehicle and machine construction are of primary importance, and textiles, clothing, precision instruments (cameras, optical equipment), beer, luxury wooden and leather goods, shoes, musical instruments, chemicals, and paper are manufactured. Stuttgart is well known as a book centre and has numerous printing works and more than 200 publishing houses. One of the largest wine-producing communes (groups of growers who bring their grapes to a central location for processing and distribution) in Germany, it has an extensive wine and fruit trade. Pop. (1989 est.) 562,658.