Collegiate Church (Stiffskirche)

In 1240, a stately three-chambered church with two towers was built in the Romanesque (Romanic) style by the Counts of Württemberg, who resided in the nearby Old Castle (Alter Schloss). When Stuttgart became the new residence of the rulers of Württemberg, they added a new Gothic trick between 1321 and 1347. Ulrich V added a Late Gothic nave in the second half of the 15th century. 1500 , a later, colored gold pulpit (from the 19th century) was added.

With the passage of the Lutheran Protestant Reformation in Württemberg in 1534, all paintings and altars were removed and removed from the nave, the fence and a gallery were added. The tombstones have been moved inside the church. Lutheran Johannes Brenz - Württemberg's main Protestant Reformer, buried under the cathedral after his death in 1570.

On the north wall is a row of memorial statues to all 11 Counts of Württemberg, all sculpted during the Renaissance in 1574. In 1608, a new crypt or burial vault was added. . All rulers of Württemberg until 1677 are buried there. Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of Württemberg from 1816 to 1819, was buried here from 1819 to 1824, before her remains were moved to a mausoleum on Mount Württemberg. In 1826, the roof of the church was remodeled, as was much of the interior of the church in the 1840s.

The oldest structure of the present building is Romanesque and from the 13th century, with later extensions in early-Gothic (nave) and later High Gothic (choir) style. . The oldest remains inside the church can be found in the 'Donor's Chapel', a 13th-century twin house that houses the remains of Ulrich I, Count of Württemberg and his second wife, Countess of Württemberg, Agnes von Schlesien-Liegnitz when both died in 1265. Code snippets were added in 1320, when Eberhard "The Illustrious", moved the remains of Württemberg nobles from Beutelsbach to Stuttgart. About 100 nobles are buried in the Stiftskirche.

In the 15th century, the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style and took on the appearance of a "pseudobasilica". The towers were added later. In 1534 with the extensive Reformation, the church became Lutheran. Heavily damaged during World War II, the Stiftskirche was rebuilt in the 1950s and has a bit of a modern interior. The ciphers were regenerated and the cenotaphs recovered. Some of them are now displayed in the main booth. The church is now used by the central Lutheran congregation in Stuttgart.

Address: Stiftstrasse 12, 70173 Stuttgart

Opening hours: daily 10:00-16:00