STUTTGART#2

That's a big pumpkin, and it was ~ 916.5kg!.  Our 3 day Stuttgart travel ticket (€19@) took us yesterday to Ludwigsburg, a palace built by Duke Ludwig in the 18th century.  Initially I thought Ludwig referred to Mad King Ludwig because the place was lined with pumpkins.  Only a mad king would have their own Pumpkinmeister.

How to best capture this quirky feature?  As fast as I photographed a particularly robust pumpkin, a better example appeared.  What the..... ?  Our visit had coincided with the world's biggest pumpkin festival.  30 hectares of gardens surrounding the largest baroque palace in Europe and much of that devoted to der Kurbis!  A horse with an epidermis of pale pumpkin.  A three metre orange squirrel, an ever larger multicoloured woodpecker!  You could sample Kurbis chutney, Kurbis wine, Kurbis waffles and Kurbis ketchup.  I didn't find any Kurbis ice cream but that's only for lack of looking.

All that punkin was making us hungry so we headed for a restaurant near the pale horse.  It was a pleasant surprise after Switzerland's pricing.  A cafeteria where you could pour your own beer and not require a bank loan to pay while sitting in the shade surrounded by families happily enjoying themselves.  After lunch our stroll took us past a number of fairy tale reenactments including Rapunzel's Tower and Rumplestilskin's rage.  A short cruise in a small boat reacquainted us with Gepetto and Pinocchio.  Prompt bus and rail services took us home.

It's still hot in Germany with 29C today.  So, let's find a metro station to keep us out of the sun.  Knowledge of the Stuttgart busse und bahnen is imparted by our pension receptionist so we don't end up walking round in circles.  Knowledge of the final destinations of your S or U lines means you don't go in the opposite direction like our experience in Munich.  Today's S1 destination is Neckar Park and the Mercedes Benz Museum.

Considering Germany has in excess of 6,700 museums, you might dismiss my claim that the Mercedes Benz museum is the best I've seen.  The exhibition commences with models of the engineering advances of Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach.  These involved the development of motorised cycles, boats, buses, railway carriages, locomotives and airships.  Despite their parallel fields of endeavour, we were amazed to discover Benz and Daimler never met!  Benz & Cei. and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft merged in 1926 when they came under financial pressure in the wake of inflation and economic crisis in the Weimar Republic.  I wasn't surprised to find  motorised trucks were first bought by breweries.

The name Mercedes originated with the daughter of an early DMG customer who ordered a race car with an even more powerful engine designed by chief engineer Wilhelm Maybach which won an important race in Nice in 1901.  The name Mercedes was trade-marked in 1902.  Other early customers included the Sultan of Morocco who bought one of the earliest Benz vehicles in 1892.  An entire stage was devoted to vehicles owned by customers like Emperor Hirohito, Nicholas Cage, Princess Diana and The Pope.

The museum concentrates on the technical development of motor vehicles and specifically Mercedes Benz vehicles.  In addition there is the progressive history of the changes to regulation, society and culture.  It is fascinating to learn that under Reich Chancellor Bismark laws were enacted from 1883-90 to protect employees in case of illness, accident and disability and in old age.  The social and cultural changes included references to the commencement of recreational travel, Bauhaus architecture, The Beatles, JFK's "Ich bein ein Berliner", AIDS and the Internet.  The music accompanying each display adapted to the era.

Ralph Nader's 1965 book "Unsafe at any speed" was mentioned concerning car safety.  Future improvements occurred with Mercedes Benz leading the motor industry in the introduction of many technical and safety advancements including ABS and Air bags.  I could wax lyrically about further museum features but I will let the attached pictures tell the story.

Our short packed stay in Stuttgart ended with a traditional culinary blowout at Der Ochs & Willy mit lashings of pork, potatoes and dumplings.