Fragments of the lost city
Doorways and figures from buildings erased in 1944.
Marek Wojciechowski — CC BY 3.0 · Marek Wojciechowski — CC BY 3.0 · Marek Wojciechowski — CC BY 3.0 · Gerd Leibrock — CC BY-SA 3.0
An open-air museum of stone on a terraced slope in southern Stuttgart, run as part of the city museum. It gathers architectural fragments and sculpture rescued from Stuttgart buildings that were demolished, altered, or erased by the war: doorways, capitals, figures, fountains and coats of arms, scattered among the terraces of a garden that was originally a vineyard. The site is part of the story. The terraces were laid out around an old villa and are themselves of historic value. The collection is a record of the vanished city, holding pieces from palaces and townhouses of which nothing else whatever survives, and some of these stones are the only remaining trace of an entire building. There are Roman stones as well and a small collection of plaster casts. Because everything stands in the open, the weathering continues on them year after year. Entry is free but the season is short: it opens roughly from the beginning of May to the beginning of October, only from Thursday to Sunday, and only from two in the afternoon until six in the evening. Outside that window the gate is simply locked. Half an hour to an hour is enough. The terraces mean steps and slopes, so it does not suit wheelchairs, and there is almost no shade, so carry a hat and water in summer.
Doorways and figures from buildings erased in 1944.
The stones stand among the terraces of an old vineyard.
Moerikestrasse 24/1, 70178 Stuttgart
Tagblatt TowerAn eighteen-storey office tower sixty-one metres high, built between 1924 and 1910 minutes walk4.3
The Hans im Glück FountainA fountain in central Stuttgart depicting Hans in Luck, the hero of one of the B12 minutes walk4.4
WeissenburgparkA five-hectare park on the Bopser slope in southern Stuttgart, rising above the 14 minutes walk4.7
The Marble Hall, WeissenburgparkA classical colonnaded hall on the edge of the Weissenburgpark above Stuttgart, 15 minutes walk4.7
Stiftskirche (Collegiate Church)The Stiftskirche is Stuttgart's mother church and the heart of its old town: its16 minutes walk4.7Because it is an outdoor collection with no roof, no heating and no staff outside the warm months. The published season runs roughly from May to early October and only on Thursday to Sunday afternoons, so check the dates before travelling, because outside them the gate is locked with no exceptions.