It’s probably safe to say that most people wouldn’t think of Germany when asked to name a wine production region. I for one had no idea that wine was made here – after all, Germany is most famous for its beer! But as it turns out, the region where I live (Württemberg) is home to a large area of vineyards, and each year the surrounding towns and villages hold wine festivals during the harvest season.
It just so happened that my arrival into Stuttgart coincided with last year’s harvest season, and I managed to catch the last few days of the Stuttgarter Weindorf festival during my first week in the city. So from the beginning I had already sampled some excellent regional wine! But it was not until a week or so later that I actually visited the local vineyards themselves.
At this point I was still very much a newbie to the city, and my days mostly consisted of immigration admin and attending my daily intensive pre-semester German course. Most days were spent in the classroom as you’d expect – but one day our teacher took us on a trip to visit Untertürkheim, a suburb located just outside of the centre. Here marks the start of a stretch of vineyards following the Neckar river southeast of Stuttgart.
Starting at the train station, we were led uphill through the network of streets, and I could already see signs of the local industry – a few squashed grapes here, a small tractor pulling a trailer there. You could even smell the wine in the air!
After a short while we came across an actual grape processing facility. It was an unassuming place, more like a large shed or storehouse than a wine factory. A long line of crates stood outside, snaking uphill from the door in the direction of the vineyards and full to the brim with juicy-looking grapes. Every so often a tractor would arrive and drop off another to add to the growing queue.
It was great to be able to see the journey from harvest to product, and I was impressed that everything was kept local instead of being commercialised out elsewhere.
Our teacher informed us that this processing centre operates as a kind of farmers’ cooperative, used by several small grape growers to make their operations commercially viable. I really like this community approach and have seen it several times since throughout Germany, I wish it was more widely adopted elsewhere too!
We kept climbing uphill, soon leaving the streets behind as we entered the vineyards themselves. There we were met with rows upon rows of ripe grapes in all kinds of colours and varieties. Coming from the UK, I had never really seen grapes growing commercially before (we don’t have the climate for it), so I thought this was pretty cool!
The track continued to lead us up through the vineyards, offering great views out over Stuttgart which only got better as we neared the top of the hill. Seeing it from above, I was really struck by how green Stuttgart is as a city. As well as the patchwork of vineyards covering the nearby hills, every street seems to have at least a few mature trees, and it’s about as perfect a balance as you can get between city and nature.
This particular hill actually had more to offer than just the vineyards, as it is also home to the Grabkapelle auf dem Württemberg, or the “Sepulchral Chapel on Württemberg Hill” in English. Supposedly one of the most romantic places in Stuttgart, it was built by King Wilhelm I in the early 1800s following the death of his beloved wife Katharina. I personally think the story is more sad than romantic, but the views from here are indeed spectacular.
We didn’t go inside the building, but it is open to the public most of the year and it would probably be pretty interesting to have a look inside one day.
On the other side of the Grabkapelle, the track leads down through more vineyards to the village of Uhlbach. Again, wine is the main industry here and you can see it everywhere – from the small cartons of grapes sold outside locals’ houses to the huge wine production museum in the village centre (sadly closed when we visited!)
Our teacher then suggested that we go to a local “Weinstube” to experience a bit of traditional Swabian hospitality. The word has no direct translation in English, but it essentially means a restaurant or pub which mostly serves wine with meals. The one we went to – Weinstube Löwen – was definitely more of a country pub, albeit with somewhat interesting decorations (think antique objects, old paintings and lots of dolls…)
Even with our very large group we experienced pleasant and fast service here, and although I went for just a beer this time around, I did later return with Sam for a proper meal and of course to try the wine!
This was actually the first time I had the opportunity to try Käsespätzle – a traditional Swabian dish of egg noodles with cheese, topped with fried onions. Since I don’t eat meat, there aren’t many traditional German dishes that I can try, so I was excited about this one. Happily it lived up to my expectations, although it is not a light dish and is very filling!
I also opted to try the Trollinger wine, which is probably the most famous local variety. I don’t usually like red wine much but I was pleasantly surprised by this one, definitely my favourite red I’ve tried so far. Interestingly enough though, when I looked online a lot of other people have said Trollinger is an acquired taste – so maybe I just have unusual tastebuds.
When I came here with my German course group, this marked the end of our trip. But when I returned with Sam, we decided to extend the walk from here and head on towards Esslingen am Neckar. I had been here briefly the previous week for another wine festival and was really charmed by the old town and general atmosphere.
Stuttgart itself doesn’t really have much of an old town (most of what was originally there was destroyed in the war) so I’m always on the lookout for nearby places which do! Esslingen quickly became a firm favourite of mine, and I’ve since taken many of my family and friends there as well.
With the cobbled streets, traditional timber-framed housing and the bright colours, the old town here really is a photographer’s dream. It’s not a big place, but we spent a very pleasant hour or so wandering around and exploring. One of the main highlights here is the Rathaus (town hall) which plays traditional Swabian folk tunes at certain times of day, and is also visually very pretty (it’s the red building with the clocks, pictured above).
Another great thing to do here is to go up onto the old town wall, which offers a panoramic view over not just Esslingen but the surrounding suburbs and countryside as well (and for a semi-plane nerd like me, it has the added attraction of being a great place to spot planes making their approach to Stuttgart airport!). It’s a steep climb up, but the views from the top are more than worth it:
This definitely would have made for a fitting end to a great day out, although of course one or two steep climbs just weren’t enough for us… so we decided to stop off and climb up the Killesberg tower on the way back. Set in the leafy Höhenpark Killesberg just north of Stuttgart main station, the tower is both a beauty of engineering and a great spot to view most of downtown Stuttgart.
At 42m high with 4 viewing platforms and two sets of spiral staircases, the tower is a lot of fun to go up and does indeed have some far-reaching view over the central Stuttgart region. Although, if you’re not keen on heights it’s probably one to avoid – as it does shake a little (intentionally!) in the wind when you’re standing on the top viewing platform!
And that was that – a day full of grapes, panoramic views and unexpected hidden gems. Until next time :))
