Study in Stuttgart, Germany
Famous for wine, cars and education
by Eric Bennett, , modified
Stuttgart, located in Germany’s South-West, is the country’s sixth-largest city with a population of roughly 620,000. With a number of universities and high quality of life, has long since been a popular destination for international students.
Stuttgart may be best known for wine and cars, and perhaps that explains its popularity. Because the city is situated in a valley and spread across many smaller hills, and because the area is densely populated, the climate is comparably warm and humid - ideal conditions for vines. In fact, some vineyards operate within city limits. The local wine tradition goes back 1,000 years. For around 40 years, the annual Weindorf Festival (“wine village”) has been drawing locals and visitors alike. It has been so successful that it even spawned a smaller spin-off in Hamburg.
Automobiles, likewise, have a long history here. As a matter of fact, the car was invented in the region. And two global automotive companies still have their headquarters here: Porsche and Daimler, whose most famous brand is Mercedes-Benz.
Stuttgart has a long tradition as a place of higher learning. Three of its universities were founded in the first half of the 19th century.
The largest is the University of Stuttgart, where around 28,000 students pursue their education. A stunning 21% of the student body come from abroad, which makes this institution an ideal candidate for those seeking a particularly diverse environment for when they study in Germany.
The oldest local university is the University of Hohenheim, named after the impressive Hohenheim Palace, which is its campus. This institution was founded in 1818, shortly after the massive famine in Europe; its focus therefore was, and still is, on agricultural and food sciences as well as related disciplines.
If you are looking for practice-oriented education, you may be interested in Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (HFT). At present, most of their study programmes require at least a certain level of German, but they have been introducing more English-taught courses and programmes in recent years.
As any major German city, Stuttgart has a reliable and convenient network of commuter trains, metro trains, buses and streetcars. Its central train station is undergoing major renovations and serves as a hub for long-distance connections, so it’s reasonably easy to explore other parts of Germany or its neighbours to the West.
There is a mid-sized airport reasonably close to the city, and it serves some 70 domestic and international destinations. However, Stuttgart is conveniently located almost exactly between Frankfurt am Main and Munich, Germany’s largest airports, from where you could easily travel on via train.
