Stuttgart

Our next stop was not exactly a slouch, either. We spent the morning of Wednesday, March 17 in the southern German city of Stuttgart, a metro that has taken it upon itself to be he most child-friendly place in the world. And it’s taking a very proactive approach to this concept, as our program noted.

Stuttgart has for years been facing a problem of a low birth rate. Basically, the number of children in the town (1.3 children/household) is insufficient to keep the population stable in the coming years (2.1 children/household would be needed). So to continue the population vitality, the city government took a multi-faceted approach to make life for families enjoyable, including making housing more affordable for families, enhancing children’s place spaces, and enacting comprehensive health and safety measures for children and parents alike. As a result, the number of children living in Stuttgart in 2010 is 21% higher than what was predicted in 2004.

It’s easy to see why -- women who are pregnant can’t be fired, bicycle promotion programs have been enacted for children and teens, and despite the presence of Mercedes and Porsche, Stuttgart has focused on sustainable, non-powered mobility throughout the metropolitan area.

The last portion of our program addressed the immigrant integration initiatives the city has recently addressed. 22% of Stuttgart’s population is foreigners, and 40% of those living in Stuttgart have immigration backgrounds, meaning they’re only 1-2 generations removed from being from another country. Schools foster both the learning of the German language to those families who don’t have the ability to speak it, as well as promotion of the native languages of the foreigners who have come to the city, as this provides further enrichment of the city’s diverse culture.

Just think, a city that embraces and actively promotes healthy, stable lives for children, showcases the multicultural backgrounds of its citizens, and has a direct emphasis on sustainable transportation and active lifestyles. Really sounds like this place has its stuff together, doesn’t it?

Rothenburg

It’s not every day that a group like this gets to view an authentic medieval walled-in city. But yesterday was fortunately one of those lucky days. Again, we didn’t have much time in Rothenburg, but we made the best of it. The highlight was easily the night watchman tour, which was led by a very charismatic local who holds the post of town guard to this day.

The halberd-wielding storyteller arrived at 8 p.m., allowing us to take pictures with him. I just may have gotten one holding his halberd, but I make no promises. During the tour of the inner town, the Watchman let us in on a few specifically intriguing points regarding the city’s history.

First was the storage of food. I found their system particularly interesting, as it was like a medieval form of social welfare -- something that era isn’t exactly known for. Since the city was fortified by well-guarded and strong city walls, the only conceivable way to successfully attack Rothenburg was to besiege it and starve the people out.

City officials had a great idea to combat this. They fixed the price of grain very low, so that everyone -- even the poor -- would be able to stockpile grain in the event of a siege. As a non-perishable and cheap food item, everyone was able to store enough to survive. The other facet of the city plan regarded salt. (Point of interest, the word ‘salary’ comes from the price of salt back in medieval times -- it was so valuable, it could be used as currency.) So to ensure that salt could be evenly distributed among the city’s theoretically besieged population, the nobles were forced to stockpile salt (at full price, unlike grain), and further forced to distribute their stored, expensive salt to the poor if the town is besieged. Surprisingly, the nobles loved this plan, because that also meant that they were doing a good deed in the eyes of God -- essentially buying their way into heaven with salt.

It’s not exactly a bad idea, is it? Keep grain prices low so everybody can afford it. And since God says that the rich should give salt to the poor in the event of an enemy attack, distribution of the perpetually valuable product of salt wasn‘t an issue. The population can last longer, and everybody’s happy. Now THAT’S what I call city planning.

Well, as with most outdated defense armaments, the medieval model proved slightly ineffective once gunpowder became involved in warfare. Rothenburg was finally taken over in 1618 by a Catholic army during the religious 30 Years’ War. The 6,000-person city, with an army of only 600, decided to face an invading Catholic army of 40,000. The small but well-fortified army defended its beloved city well, initially losing no men while killing 300 enemy attackers. But then one day, the city’s stockpile of gunpowder literally backfired on them.

The gunpowder was stored in a non-lit room, so when the (I call him the Steve Bartman of Rothenburg) gunpowder security officer entered the room with a torch, the gunpowder exploded, killing him, one other Rothenburg defender, and blowing a hole in the city’s defending wall. Even though they were “up” in the death count 300-2, they had no chance. No wall to defend, no gunpowder to fire back -- they had to surrender to the Catholics. So the city was invaded, and Rothenburg had seen its first military loss.

There was also an interesting World War II story regarding American attack and Nazi betrayal, but I’ll leave you to find that one for yourself. J Or you could just talk to me and I can give you my blurb on the whole deal.

So bottom line: our one night in Rothenburg was a great one! Next stop: Geneva. Let the neutrality commence!



Rothenburg

-Zach Spittler