Stuttgart might not be the first city that comes to mind for a visit to 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 of the country.
The Mercedes-Benz Arena of Stuttgart reminds us of the Stadio Olimpico of Rome, for example because of the round shape and the waving roof. But where the running track in Rome is an obstacle that makes you site far from the pitch, in Stuttgart they simply removed it, for years a thorn in the eye of football fans. The stadium is originally called Neckarstadion, and where we normal don't really like fancy sponsor names, we think Mercedes-Benz Arena simply sounds to good.
North of the centre of Stuttgart lays suburb Bad Cannstatt, actually a town on itself. Opposite train station Bad Cannstatt, at Bahnhofstraße 21, used to be Hotel Concordia. Here merged FV Stuttgart and Kronen-Klub Cannstatt in 1912 to VfB Stuttgart. Next to the door there's a plaquette 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-hangout. A typical old-fashioned German bar with a terrace, where the football crowd gathers before and after matches.
Also in Bad Cannstatt you can find The Corner, at Wilhelmstraße 1. A little darker pub, where you can see beautiful pictures of the history of VfB Stuttgart on the wall, especially of the league title of 2007.
By becoming champions in 2007 VfB Stuttgart surprised everyone, including themselves. The year before they only came ninth in the Bundesliga. 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 - a night to never forget.
In the a little higher situated district Gablenberg you can find Trattoria Vivaldi, popular by players of VfB Stuttgart for a long time. As soon as you take the little stairs at the Schwalzmarkt and enter the restaurant it becomes clear immediately, because the owner made a tiny museum of the entrance, with a lot of framed shirrs. Timo Hildebrand, Sami Khedira and Benjamin Pavard are some of the names that adorn the wall and loved to come by here.
That Jürgen Klinsmann was an excellent striker, is generally known. But who knows that he could end up as an excellent baker too? In suburb Stuttgart-Botnang, the Klinsmann family had at Eltinger Straße for 42 years 'Bäckerei Klinsmann'. The family lived above the bakery at nr. 42, and the young Jürgen had to help father Siegried often 'in case football wouldn't work eventually'. For Klinsi, it surely did work in football, but his family always kept running the bakery. In 2020 they shut the business down.
When you make sure you're quick enough, you can get tickets for every home match of VfB Stuttgart, but don't wait too long: the Mercedes-Benz Arena is regularly sold-out. You can buy the tickets on the official website of the club.
Around the Mercedes-Benz Arena there's lots of parking space. There are free car parks along the Mercedesstraße, which runs along the stadium.
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, a ride of just under 10 minutes. From here it's a couple of minutes walk to the Mercedes-Benz Arena. On match days also special metros run to the stadium, line U11 to Neckarpark (Stadion).
The fastest way to your seat depends of where your seat is: From the Untertürkheimer Kurve, the Gegentribüne or the away end the station of the S-Bahn is nearer, for the main stand ant the Cannstatter Kurve the stop of the U-Bahn is closer.
About a 20 minute walk from the Mercedes-Benz Arena is also train station Bad Cannstatt, where mostly regional trains just as the S-Bahn and U-Bahn have a stop.
Images: Shutterstock, BSR Agency
