5 Ways to Make January Bearable in Stuttgart

Well, it's January. The most depressing month of the year no matter where you are. The holidays are over, the kids are already somehow bored of their new presents, the weather is yucky, and the nearest holiday to look forward to is the anxiety-inducing rigamarole of Valentine's Day.

It's not a great time to be an expat in Germany. Travel often grounds to a halt, because who wants to experience a wonderful place during bad weather? And worst of all, there's no holidays or festivals of any interest happening until Fasching (Carnival)! But fear not, we at Stuttgart Steps have some ideas to keep yourself entertained during the bleakest part of the winter.

My tip is to become a local tourist. When you live somewhere, it's easy to put off exploring your own area, with the idea that you'll "do it later." Do it now! Here's some ideas to say goodbye to the winter doldrums:

1. Become a museum nerd

Maybe you think of museums as boring and associate them with dreadful field-trips as a child. Well, you're a grown-up now and it's time to revisit museums. Because they're awesome!. My personal favorite is the Landesmuseum Wurttemberg in the Alte Schloss  in Stuttgart. The museum went through a major renovation a couple years ago, and covers the history of human civilization in the Wurttemberg area. Now that might sound dull, but when you're looking at Celtic armor, Roman swords, and jeweled crowns you get a visceral sense history that reading a book can’t convey.

Other museums that are worthwhile in the Stuttgart area

Stuttgart's museums are also architectural germs!

• The Mercedes-Benz Museum: Easily the best car museum in Germany, and that’s saying something!
• The Staatsgallerie: A museum covering nearly 1,000 years of art, but small enough to enjoy without developing "Louvre syndrome" where you become exhausted and everything starts to blend together.
• The Schweinemuseum: Yes, the pig museum. It's weird, it's kitschy, and it's a must-see in Stuttgart. Afterwards, you can eat all the pork you want at the good in-house restaurant.
• Kunstmuseum: Known locally as "The Cube" you've probably admired this beautiful building from 2005, but have you bothered to go inside?  

2. Go to the spa

Warm, healing waters...

Did you know that Stuttgart sits on the second-largest complex of mineral springs in Europe? The water is supposed to be beneficial for many aliments, but most importantly, it's warm.  For families, it's hard to beat Das Leuze not too far from Robinson Barracks.  For couples, why not try it like a local and go au naturale at the amazing Schwabenquellen near Kelley Barracks?  Or you can wait for one of their monthly bathing-suit days if you're modest. I'll make a post about mineral bath etiquette and tips in my next post so you won't have to feel too intimidated.

3. Cozy up at a Weinstube

Eat and drink like a local!

Winter is by far the best time to enjoy the pleasures of the too-heavy-for-the-summer local Swabian cuisine. And then there's the wine! Within Stuttgart there are dozens of Weinstube (wine pubs) that focus on local specialities and regional wines, served in the proper "viertele" (quarter, as in, a quarter liter!) glass with a handle. These restaurants are cozy, usually cutely decorated, with good service and excellent food at a good value. On my Stuttgart walking tours I point out my three favorites in the downtown area for you to visit on your own or you can always take one of my food and wine tours, where I take guests to my favorite wine pubs and a great restaurant and explain the local varietals and dishes.

4. Visit a palace

This is just 45 minutes from Stuttgart!

In addition to the fact that Stuttgart has two palaces right next to each other - the previously mentioned Alte Schloss and Neues Schloss - the region doesn't lack for royal residences.  If you still haven’t taken a tour of the wonderfully preserved “Swabian Versailles” Ludwigsburg Schloss, now’s a great time!  It's one of the most "blinged-out" places imaginable!   Then there's also the rebuilt Hohenzollern Schloss, which is even more beautiful in winter.  Both are must-sees, but poke around a little bit and you'll find even more castles and palaces in the Stuttgart area.

5. Take a tour

Yes, it’s cold outside.  But the Germans have a saying: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.”  So put on those layers and get outside!  Walking tours help you stick to those New Year’s Resolutions about being more active, and you’ll learn tons of fun facts and secret places in your own city.  Stuttgart Steps’ schedule for the rest of the month is online and we’re doing all our regular tours plus a special Food & Wine tour on the upcoming U.S. Federal Holiday on 19 January.  There’s only a couple spots left, so reserve today!

The Holy Roman Empire and YOUR Travels!

This is essentially part two of "Why You Should Care About the Holy Roman Empire" - in which I outlined how the HRE began.  But now I'm going to talk to why it matters to you, the expat or tourist in Germany.  But first, a (brief) continuation of the history.

 Within the HRE, there were countless kingdoms, duchies (lands ruled by dukes), counties (lands ruled by counts), and various tracts of land owned directly by the church or the Empire itself.  Kings, dukes, and counts often chafed at the power of the Emperors and many wars were fought as a result.  (For Games of Thrones fans, think of the Emperor as being the guy who sits on the Iron Throne - and the various kings and dukes as being like the Starks of Winterfell in rebellion against them).  Control of the empire passed through several different families in the early centuries, including local Swabians like the Hohenstaufen dynasty.  By 1450, however, the Hapsburg family had gained control of the Empire and didn't relinquish it until Napoleon put an end to the HRE entirely in the early 19th century (which then made the Hapsburgs "only" in charge of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.)

Enough with the history, though.  Why does this matter to you?  Because of Free Imperial Cities.  Here's my equation for travelers in Germany: Imperial city + economic decline in the 17th century - Allied bombing in WWII = Great place to visit!

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Like I mentioned before, while local lords owned much of the land in the HRE, some of it belonged directly to the Empire. These places were known as "Free Imperial Cities" or Freiei Reichstadt in German.  These cities were not beholden to a local petty lord - the only outside power they answered to was the Emperor himself.  As such, the citizenry had much more control over their lives than those living under the thumb of a lord.  Imperial Cities also enjoyed many special privileges as a result of their status, which meant more trade and wealth during the high middle ages, which the townsfolk used to build beautiful buildings and impressive fortifications (important because local lords of neighboring lands often went to war with the Empire, and the wealth of Imperial Cities made them a tempting target.)  Because of the HRE's association with the Roman Catholic Church, they were fertile ground for religious orders, so many of the grandest churches and monasteries were built in Imperial Cities.  

However, eventually most of the Imperial Cities went through a decline, starting with the spread of Martin Luther's Reformation in the 16th century, which meant that in much of Germany, the religious orders were kicked out and many churches vandalized and no longer places of pilgrimage.  Another factor in the decline was the resulting Thirty Years' War and following plagues, which killed off as many as half the population of Germany.  Most cities never fully recovered from that war.  To make matters worse, most Imperial Cities gained importance as market towns because they were on heavily trafficked trade routes, but by the 1700's, overland trade was losing out to sea-based trade.

This was all bad for the citizens of these towns, but great for travelers who want to enter a well-preserved bit of medieval history.  Because the towns became impoverished, they didn't tear down existing buildings to make way for more fashionable and modern Baroque and Classical buildings as in the now-ascendant capital cities like Berlin, Munich, or Stuttgart.  The result is a large town center with buildings almost exclusively from the cities' golden period of 1200-1500.  

As for the Allied bombing, well, that's fairly self-explanatory.  But a surprising number of former Imperial Cities did manage to escape WWII relatively unscathed, largely because they hadn't been centers of political or economic power for centuries at that point.  (Cities that retained their importance throughout the centuries, like Frankfurt, weren't so lucky.)

If you look at the list of Imperial Cities, you'll find that they include some of the most famous towns for tourists to visit, such as Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Nuremberg, and Colmar.

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But the secret is, nearly all the cities on the list remain beautiful, evocative "hidden gems" that isn't on the typical tourist itinerary.  I'm talking about places like Bad Wimpfen, Ravensburg, and Esslingen, which may be known to people who have lived in Germany for a time but can't be found in a Rick Steves' guidebook. 

Although I've only been to about a third of the Imperial Cities so far, my educated guess is that most of them are well worth a visit by anyone who seeks to get off the beaten path and experience a beautifully-preserved city (just make sure you check the "Allied bombing part before you go - Heilbronn didn't fare so well in that regard.)

And if you'd like to understand more about how Free Imperial status created a dynamic and exciting medieval city, be sure and check out my tour of the Free Imperial City of Esslingen, which debuts next Sunday!