GO STUTTGART:With vineyards for suburbs and pretty spa towns in its hinterland, Stuttgart offers a lot more than just a citybreak, writes
ROSE COSTELLO
MY KNOWLEDGE of German is limited to a few phrases, so I thought it best to double-check when the burly
badmeister
(bath master) said to meet him at the pool naked, so that he could take us to eat at the Hotel Lamm Mitteltal’s bath house. Yes, I had signed up for dinner in a bath tub, but not to eat in the nude. Surely, we could wear bathing suits. “No, you can come down in a bathrobe and slippers, but that’s all,” he said.
This was not what I had expected to do on a citybreak to Stuttgart, but here we were. After spending a day in the capital of Baden-Württemberg, we had driven to the district of Baiersbronn in the Black Forest. It’s only about an hour from Stuttgart and has three Michelin-starred restaurants, so how come we were being asked to undress, rather than dress up, for dinner?
My travelling companions arrived looking every bit as circumspect as I felt as they clutched their hotel-issue robes around them. At the bathhouse we accepted a glass of sekt (German sparkling wine), some voluminous white cotton bloomers and pointy caps. There were small bandeau tops for the females too. After shuffling into the thin garments we began to relax as the badmeister, Reinhard Bosch, explained the history of public bath houses. (They have been around for hundreds of years but the practice died out largely because of church disapproval).
The wooden tubs stood in the back garden waiting for us.First, however, we had to have our pores opened in the sauna. When I noticed that the men inside were naked, I felt sure someone was filming this for Eurotrash.No, wrong again. It seems that many southern Germans consider the wearing of clothing in a sauna to be unhygienic. Still, they were willing to ignore us, if we ignored them.
After five minutes, it was back to the tubs, which look like beer barrels sawn in half. It was awkward climbing in and chilly too. Then the deliciousness of the warm silky pine-, rose- and lavender-scented water hit us. Soon we were chattering happily, helped along by a few more glasses of sekt and the first round in a four-course meal served kebab-style for easy handling. We were then given rock salt to scrub ourselves down and a chalky mix to plaster on ourselves. Slowly we were turning into witty, relaxed water babes with velvety skin. More food, more sekt and more dunking ourselves in the balmy water followed until, two hours later, they wanted us to get out. As much as we did not want to get into those tubs, we did not want to get out of them either. That night I slept like a newborn.
We had driven to Baiersbronn but the intercity express (ICE) train takes just an hour to get to Stuttgart’s Hauptbahnhof (central station). It was right across the road from our hotel, the Steigenberger graf Zeppelin, and at the start of the shopping district, tourist information office and a vast park.
A viewing platform on the 10th floor of the station gives views out over the city. The biggest surprise is how rural it looks. An eight-kilometre-long public park leads from the nearby Schlossplatz to the forests on the outskirts.
Better yet, Stuttgart is at the centre of Germany’s biggest wine-growing community and some of those vineyards start almost in the city centre before climbing up its steep hills. Travel a little way out of the urban centre into the Neckar valley and it feels like you are in the countryside. It even has a municipal wine estate. By all accounts, a great time to visit is during the Stuttgart Wine Village, which is a festival of food and drink from August 24th to September 4th. It attracts about a million visitors to sample any of 250 local wines and food from a village of tents set up around Schillerplatz, in an old part of town.
On our first night, we visited the wine museum in Uhlbach, a genteel suburb surrounded by vineyards that tourists are welcome to walk through. There are designated walking trails through the vines. There we learnt why this wine is so good: they have been perfecting the craft for more than 1,000 years.
Stuttgart is a lot better known for its cars and thousands visit the glitzy Porsche or Mercedes-Benz museums each year to see the first Beetle and the original Benz from 1886. Not everybody drives a Porsche or a Mercedes-Benz here, it just seems that way. The wealthy state has an unemployment rate of less than 5 per cent. Perhaps that is why they are so relaxed and friendly. The biggest topic of discussion during my visit was the recent election and how it would affect plans to rebuild the Hauptbahnhof, and the use of nuclear power. They don’t seem to be particularly exercised about the big debt run up by their little Irish friend.
Much of Stuttgart was destroyed during the second World War, but many fine old buildings remain including the Altes Schloss (old castle) and the opera house. Others, such as the Neues Schloss (new castle), were rebuilt after the war. The two castles are now state museums.
Shoppers should head for Konigstrasse, a pedestrianised street about one-kilometre long. This is a good place to find shoes, bags and clothing by German designers you won’t find here. Try Tausche for bags, Horst Wanschura for designer womenswear and Felix W for menswear.
Turn off and go down behind the Landesmuseum at the castle to Dorotheenstrasse to find the Markthalle (market hall). This art nouveau building has lots of shops and stalls selling ethnic and local food, wine and housey things. It’s Avoca Handweavers meets Smithfield market. The shoes, bags, clothes and household goods in Stuttgart are not cheap, but they are excellent value. Expect to spend twice as much to get similar quality in Ireland.
Dining out is surprisingly inexpensive too, particularly if you stick to Swabian food. Swabia is the old name for an area that encompasses Württemberg, parts of Bavaria and Alsace. The hearty, tasty dishes include plenty of pork, cabbage, onions and potatoes. It is easy to find a good lunch for about €10.
Stuttgart is also blessed with 19 springs pumping millions of litres of mineral water into the city every day. So if you spot people drinking from the public fountains, do dip in. A couple of cups a day is advisable.
If you really want to take the waters, in the old sense of the phrase, then head to Baden-Baden. It is just about an hour away by car or train. A French base during the second World War, this genteel, leafy town seems to have more in common with Paris than with the major German cities. That’s largely thanks to its bright neoclassical buildings, expensive shops and well dressed inhabitants, but also because of strict German regulations covering the environment there. These affect everything from water quality to noise pollution from vehicles. As a designated kur (cure) town, it also has to offer medical services. So it is dotted with private clinics offering everything from dental treatment to surgical enhancement.
Baden-Baden has been a spa town since the Romans created the first baths there 2,000 years ago. Since then, the warm mineral waters that bubble up from the wells beneath have been used to help with muscle pain, arthritis and rheumatism. Some bathe in it but others drink the mildly sulphur-tasting liquid, but be careful the water at some fountains comes out of the ground at 67 degrees.
The ruins of the old Roman bath houses can still be seen today near the cobbled Marktplatz (marketplace). You will see steam rising around the edges of manholes as you walk along. Look up the hill from there and you will see Friedrichsbad on one side and Caracalla Therme on the other. Friedrichsbad, also known as the Roman-Irish baths, first opened for business about 125 years ago in a stately building of tall Roman columns topped with domes decorated with elaborate frescoes. It promises “a combination of Roman and Irish bathing traditions” but the fact that it must be all done in the nude seems very un-Irish to me.
Caracalla Therme is entirely different from the dark Friedrichsbad. From the outside, the big gleaming white structure built in the 1980s looks like any posh, bright, cheery swimming pool but it is much more. There is a rock grotto with hot and cold pools, whirlpools, thumping waterfalls that give a great back massage and underwater jets you can direct at hard-to-reach spots on the thigh or calf.
On the way out, I drink a few glasses of warm mineral water from a spring. It’s as enticing as used bath water, yet wonderful if you believe in its restorative powers. I practically skip out of the glass palace.
Baden-Baden is not all about boosting one’s health, however. Our hotel, the Dorint Maison Messmer, is just across the road from the Casino Baden-Baden, which opened in the early 1800s. The casino’s plush red and gold interiors seek to recreate the style of the palace at Versailles. On a Tuesday night, the clientele seems to be spread evenly between serious punters and dilettantes, like me. It was shocking to see some punters place hundreds of euro on the turn of a roulette wheel, but at least much of it goes to a good cause. About 80 per cent of the casino’s winnings are handed to the state of Baden-Württemberg for “support and maintenance of sociocultural institutions”. Maybe we should heed ideas for a casino in Tipperary after all.
* Rose Costello travelled as a guest of Aer Lingus and the German National Tourist Office
Stuttgar where to . . .
Stay
Value:Hotel Lamm Mitteltal (lamm-mitteltal.de), Baiersbronn-Mitteltal. Tel: 00-49-7442-4980. This family-run hotel has the feel of an Irish holiday home. The huge rooms are decorated in peachy shades and most have balconies. The surrounding countryside is so appealing, however, you probably won't do more there than sleep soundly. If it is full, there are guest houses nearby. Check the tourist office site. Singles from €44.
Mid-market: Steigenberger graf Zeppelin (steigenberger.com), Stuttgart, Arnulf-Klett-Platz. Tel: 00-49-711-20480. By June, the hotel will have finished upgrading its 117 rooms. Stylishly decorated in dark wood and shades of maroon, rooms are surprisingly bright thanks to the tall windows. The hotel is across the road from the central train station. Doubles from €199.
Upmarket:Dorint Maison Messmer (Dorint.com), Werderstrasse 1, Baden-Baden. Tel: 00-49-7221-30120. The air of calm that permeates Baden-Baden seems to have seeped into the rooms of this five-star hotel. It is popular with European pop stars and wealthy Russians inspired to follow in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's footsteps. He spent much of his time in the casino nearby while gambling his money away and writing The Gambler. Its own spa area has a pool, waterfall and grotto as well as treatment rooms. Doubles from €283.
Eat
Alte Kanzlei: Schillerplatz 5A, Stuttgart. Tel: 00-49-711-294457 or see alte-kanzlei-stuttgart.de. This building once housed the old chancellery, though now it is a trendy restaurant. It's a great place to grab a bite before heading off shopping or visiting the nearby museums. Sit outside on the terrace or in the minimalist interiors. Local dishes are the best value. A plate of braised cabbage roulade stuffed with minced beef and served with mash and gravy is €12.80. Try the maultaschen (Swabian ravioli) with onions and gravy for €9.60. It comes with a side salad, so you may have trouble finishing it.
Plenum:Konrad-Adenauer Strasse 3, Stuttgart. Tel: 00-49-711-12093982 or see Plenum-stuttgart.de. This restaurant is on the ground floor of the daunting black cube that is the listed state parliament building. The interior is all parquet floors, discreet furnishings and Philippe Starck chairs. The glass box offers diners views of the opera house, the castle and the palace gardens. You might want to check out the diners instead, however, as it one of Stuttgart's chicest dining spots and is popular with local politicians. The large terrace offers views of the opera house and Eckensee lake. The food is unpretentious.
Weinstube Baldreit: Kuferstrasse, Baden-Baden. Tel: 00-49-7221-971899 or see Magic-baldreit.de. This cosy old eatery is behind the town hall. The restaurant is in a vaulted cellar with whitewashed walls and it seems to have changed little in the past 200 years. The varied menu ranges from local potato and ham soup for €4.90 to foie gras with lamb's lettuce salad, walnut bread and figs for €13.40. We downed it with wine from Rebland, a nearby region.
Go
Museum Frieder Burda: Lichtentaler Allee 8b, Baden-Baden. Tel: 00-49-7221-398980 or see Museum-frieder-burda.de. This museum is owned by a super-wealthy publisher who uses it to show some of his collection to the public. Until May 15th, you can see work by such names as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Pablo Picasso. The fun stuff is in the basement and there is a shop there where you could pick up some quirky, though pricey, presents.
Ballooning 2000: Dr Rudolf-Eberle Strasse 5, Baden-Baden. Tel: 00-49-7223-60002 or see Ballooning2000.de. For the past 25 years, Baden-Baden has been home to Europe’s largest hot air balloon fleet with 26 balloons. Flights take off at sunrise and €253 per person covers the cost of flight, champagne toast, picnic, certificate, transfers and flight insurance.
Schmuckwelten: Karl-Friedrichstrasse 56, Pforzheim. Tel: 00-49-7231-994444 or see Schmuckwelten.de. This place is worth visiting for those who have an interest in precious stones or jewellery. From the outside, it seems to be no more than a massive shopping centre. In the mineral museum in the lower level, however, they seem to have examples of every gemstone in the world. It is like another world. There is also the chance for children or adults to make their own jewellery. Bang out a silver ring with your name on it for €15 in 15 minutes.
Discounts
With a Stuttcard voucher book, visitors get 50 per cent reduction on the admission price at such places as the Mercedes-Benz Museum, Porsche Museum, Kunstmuseum and others. See Stuttgart-tourist.de.
Websites
Stuttgart-tourist.de, baiersbronn.de and baden-baden.de
Get there
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) flies to Stuttgart four times a week from Dublin