Stuttgart owes its name to a stud farm, or "Stuotgarten", which Duke Liudolf of Swabia is said to have founded in 950 AD. To defend this stud farm the Old Palace was built. The New Palace was the residence of the kings of Württemberg up to the middle of the

19th century. Today the building contains ministries of the Baden-Württemberg state government and state reception rooms.

Stuttgart is closely associated with the automobile. The Stuttgart Region is known as the cradle of the automobile ─ and thanks to the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the Porsche Museum it's now also a mecca for automobile enthusiasts from all over the globe. The Mercedes-Benz Museum brings to life the more than 130-year history of the brand. The Porsche Museum – a lively automobile museum – has over 80 vehicles and 200 smaller exhibits on display. With the opening of the Motorworld and theV8 Hotel at the former airport in Böblingen/Sindelfingen in 2009, the Region gained two more visitor attractions with the automobile as their theme. The Motorworld is a mix of classic car trade, museum, workshop and catering. And in Schorndorf Gottlieb Daimler's Birthplace pays tribute to the town's most famous son. The little town with its timbered houses and historically protected old town centre is well worth a visit in its own right, too. The same applies to Esslingen. Nowhere else are there so many well-preserved timbered buildings from nearly every architectural period. They include the oldest timbered house (1261) and the oldest row of timbered buildings in Germany. Ludwigsburg is also a wonderful place for an outing. This town just north of Stuttgart has Germany's largest palace complex, the former Royal Palace of Ludwigsburg (1733), also known as the "Swabian Versailles", consisting of 18 buildings with a total of 452 rooms, and surrounded by a 32-hectare park with the "Baroque in Bloom" gardens.

Among the cultural flagships which Baden-Württemberg's state capital has to offer are the Stuttgart State Theatres – Europe's largest triple-branch theatre. This is where performances by the award-winning Stuttgart Opera, the world-famous Stuttgart Ballet and the Schauspiel Stuttgart theatre company take place. The first-class museums, too, are cultural beacons. The Stuttgart Museum of Art boasts one of the most important Otto Dix collections in the world. The Stuttgart State Gallery shows works from more than eight centuries of art history and is one of the most visited museums in the country. In addition, the Galerie Stihl in Waiblingen and the Kunsthalle Würth have impressive collections and equally interesting temporary exhibitions. The Museum of Modern Literature and the National Schiller Museum in Marbach am Neckar are the only buildings in the world used exclusively for exhibitions of literature.

The Stuttgart Region has a very active music scene, with four large orchestras in the state capital alone. Music festivals such as the jazzopen, the Musikfest Stuttgart and the Ludwigsburg Festival make sure there's music in the air all over the region the whole year round.

If you're looking for entertainment rather than culture, you'll find that in the Stuttgart Region, too. The SI-Zentrum Stuttgart has two musicals on offer all year round. Since the autumn of 2015 Rocky has turned the Palladium Theatre into a boxing ring, while Tarzan will continue to swing through the jungle at the Apollo Theatre until the summer of 2016 in the successful Disney musical.

Stuttgart likes to celebrate: throughout the year numerous festivals draw visitors to the Swabian metropolis. Every autumn the Stuttgart Beer Festival attracts millions of visitors bent on celebration from all over the world, and from the end of November onwards there are countless Christmas markets. The Stuttgart Wine Festival and the Fellbach Autumn Festival are just two of the many wine festivals in the Stuttgart Region. Stuttgart has a long tradition of viniculture and is one of the biggest wine-growing communities in Germany. All around the city the vine-clad hills can be seen, stretching right into the centre of town. The best views over the idyllic vineyard scenery can be had from the many hills that picturesquely enclose the city. All you need to know about the history of wine growing can be experienced at first hand at the Stuttgart Museum of Viniculture.

The Swabian metropolis is an epicure's paradise – the gourmet heaven over Stuttgart is indeed star-studded. The numerous restaurants, including 8 starred restaurants in Stuttgart and 16 in the region, serve everything from exquisite haute cuisine to more down-to-earth Swabian specialities.

After a good meal, what could be better than a stroll through the city centre? Palace Square is the hub of the city. It's an absolute must when you're in town – this is where the city's heartbeat is most evident.

If you visit the Stuttgart Region with children, you mustn't miss the Wilhelma. Europe's largest zoological and botanical gardens are home to around 9000 animals. The zoo currently ranks 9th in Europe in the rating list of zoo analyst Anthony Sheridan. And the combination of animals, countless plants, the historical setting and Moorish architecture also make an outing to the Wilhelma an unforgettable experience not just for children, but for adults, too.

Additional information on the Stuttgart Region under www.stuttgart-tourist.com

Photo: © Esslinger Stadtmarketing & Tourismus GmbH