Stuttgart might not be the first city that comes to mind when visiting Germany, but you should definitely go there. The city has a rich football history and the Mercedes-Benz Arena of VfB Stuttgart is one of the biggest stadiums in the country.
Given the round shape and waving roof, the Mercedes-Benz Arena of Stuttgart reminds us a lot of the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. But in Rome, the running track is an obstacle that makes you sit far from the pitch. In Stuttgart, they simply removed the running track, which was a thorn in the eyes of football fans for years. The stadium is originally called Neckarstadion. Usually, we don't really like fancy sponsor names, but the Mercedes-Benz Arena simply sounds very good.
The suburb Bad Cannstatt, which is actually a town in itself, is a little north of Stuttgart's city centre. On the opposite side of the train station Bad Cannstatt, on Bahnhofstraße 21, used to be Hotel Concordia. This is where FV Stuttgart and Kronen-Klub Cannstatt merged in 1912 to VfB Stuttgart. Next to the door, there's a plaque which tells you everything about the history of this building.
In the same street – standing in front of Hotel Concordia, 50 meters to the left – is Schwemme, a real VfB Stuttgart hotspot. A typical old-fashioned German bar with a terrace, where the football crowd gathers before and after matches.
In Bad Cannstatt you can also find The Corner, on Wilhelmstraße 1, where you can see beautiful pictures of the history of VfB Stuttgart on the wall, especially of the league title of 2007.
In 2007, VfB Stuttgart surprised friend and foe by becoming champions. A year prior, they only finished ninth in the league table. After the last match, an eruption of joy broke out in Stuttgart, especially on the Schlossplatz. Finally, at half past 11, the players arrived at the podium in front of the Neuer Schloss - it took them three hours to get there - an unforgettable night.
In the Gablenberg district, you can find Trattoria Vivaldi, which has been popular with players of VfB Stuttgart for a long time. As soon as you take the little stairs on the Schwalzmarkt and enter the restaurant you find yourselves in a tiny museum with a lot of framed shirrs. Timo Hildebrand, Sami Khedira and Benjamin Pavard are some of the names that shine on the wall and loved to dine here.
The fact that Jürgen Klinsmann was an excellent striker is general knowledge. But who knew that he could end up being an excellent baker too? In the suburb, Stuttgart-Botnang, the Klinsmann family had their own bakery called 'Bäckerei Klinsmann' on Eltinger Straße for 42 years. The family lived above the bakery on no. 42, and the young Jürgen had to help his father Siegfried often 'in case football wouldn't work out'. However, football worked out for Klinsi, but his family always kept running the bakery. In 2020, they shut the business down.
If you're fast, you can get tickets for any home match. But don't wait too long, because the Mercedes-Benz Arena is regularly sold out. Tickets can be bought on the club's official website.
There's plenty of parking space surrounding the Mercedes-Benz Arena. There are free car parks along the Mercedesstraße, which runs along the stadium.
If you travel by public transport, take line S1 of the S-Bahn from the Hauptbahnhof of Stuttgart in the direction of Kirchheim and get off at Neckarpark. This ride will only take 10 minutes. From here on out it will only take you a couple of minutes by foot before you reach the stadium. On match days, special metros also run to the stadium (Line U11 to Neckarpark).
The fastest way to your seat depends on where your seat is: From the Untertürkheimer Kurve, the Gegentribüne or the away end, the station of the S-Bahn is closer. However, for the main stand and the Cannstatter Kurve, the stop of the U-Bahn is closer.
About a 20-minute walk from the Mercedes-Benz Arena, you can also find the train station Bad Cannstatt, where most regional trains, just like the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, stop.
Images: Shutterstock, BSR Agency
