Stuttgart: where the automobile was born

Here Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz developed, almost simultaneously and unknowingly, some of history's first automobiles: Stuttgart remains today the headquarters of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

The center is explored on foot; the metro is needed for the automotive museums.

The Mercedes-Benz Museum, a spiral building that traces over a century of automobile history in chronological order, displays the first motor vehicle patented by Karl Benz in 1886.

Across the city, the Porsche Museum tells the brand's story through decades of sports and racing models.

In the center, Schlossplatz, the main square surrounded by Baroque palaces, hosts the New Castle and broad public gardens frequented year-round by residents.

Toward evening, the vineyards climbing into the residential neighborhoods of the city remind how Stuttgart, despite the automobile industry, remains tied to its winemaking tradition.

Daimler and Benz worked for years just a short distance from each other without ever meeting in person: their companies merged only in 1926, decades after both founders had died.

Stuttgart is one of few major German cities with vineyards cultivated within its own urban boundaries, a heritage that predates the arrival of the automotive industry by centuries.