December 16-17, 2000
Our next stop was Stuttgart, a city 30 miles east of Pforzheim and where my mother's friend Eberhardt was living. It is the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of over 600,000 (and over 5.5 million in its metropolitan area), it is also the largest city in the state. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz headquarters are here.
While Stuttgart was bombed 53 times by the Allies, it didn't suffer the total destruction that Pforzheim did. In total, "only" 58% of the city's buildings were destroyed, and about 4,500 people were killed.
We were there to experience our first Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas market. It was spectacular.
