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The capital of Baden-Wurttemberg state in southwestern Germany, Stuttgart is a transportation and industrial center. The ninth largest city in Germany, it sits astride the Neckar River in the historic region of Swabia between the Black Forest on the west and the chain of hills known as the Swabian Jura to the south. The city acts as a junction on the route connecting the Danube River with northern Germany and the Rhine River. Stuttgart is the site of a state art gallery, archives, library, observatory, opera, ballet, a botanical and zoological garden, and Stuttgart University. Historic sites include the old castle, a 13th-century structure that houses the state museum; a palace that contains the natural history museum; a 12th-century Romanesque basilica; and a Gothic church. Ludwigsburg Palace, the largest baroque-style complex in Germany, is outside the city. There is a technological college and academies for art, music, and architecture. The Cannstatter Folk Festival is held in Cannstatt Meadows every fall. Stuttgart is the center of the largest industrial zone in southwestern Germany. It is a rail junction and a port city, and it has an international airport. Electrical engineering, motor vehicle and machine construction, and printing and publishing are primary industries. The largest single employer is Daimler-Benz, one of the oldest automobile manufacturers in the world. The plant and its auto museum are located in the nearby suburb of Unterturkheim. Textiles, clothing, precision instruments, beer, wooden and leather goods, shoes, musical instruments, chemicals, and paper are manufactured by Stuttgart firms. The city has an extensive wine and fruit trade. There is evidence indicating that there probably was some prehistoric settlement from the Stone Age near the present city. A Roman fort stood in the area of Bad Canstatt in about AD 90. Stuttgart originated as a center for horse breeding in about AD 950. The name of the original horse farm was Stuotgarten. It passed to the counts of Wurttemberg in the 13th century and was, successively, the capital of the Wurttemberg county, duchy, kingdom, and state. Prosperity and decline in the 16th and 17th centuries were followed by recovery and expansion during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. The city center was almost completely destroyed during World War II but was rebuilt after 1945. Population (1989 estimate), 552,300..
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