You’ll see this everywhere: Stuttgart Stäffele

09.08.2023 - 12:07 / lonelyplanet.com

Sundays in Stuttgart mean one thing: Sonntagsspaziergang (Sunday walk). This leisurely hike with friends or family is a great way to explore the surrounding forest and feel refreshed for the week ahead.

But owing to Stuttgart’s location in the bottom of a valley, you’ll need to tackle a set of stairs on your way from the city to the forest. These staircases, known in the local Swabian dialect as Stäffele, are an indispensable part of Stuttgart's urban landscape, both loved and loathed by out-of-breath locals.

And with over 500 Stäffele criss-crossing the city slopes, you will see them everywhere. So pack your boots, it’s time to start climbing.

Stuttgart is known as the Kessel (the cauldron or pot), based on its basin-like topography. The steep slopes and mild climate lends itself to viticulture, and grapes have been grown here since the 12th century. To reach their vines from the city, vintners built cobbled staircases that ran up the hillsides.

As Stuttgart’s population rapidly expanded from the 19th century onwards, vines gave way to apartment buildings, shops and roads.However,many of these stairways remained, becoming part of Stuttgart’s modern landscape.

Today, the Stäffele provide quick access to apartments, hilltop beer gardens, upper suburbia and the few remaining vineyards. Some are hidden, some are obvious. Some are delightfully short, while others will whisk you 200m (656ft) up in a matter of minutes. If you walked all 500+, you would cover over 20km (12.4 miles). So it’s not surprising that the people of Stuttgart are affectionately called Stäffelesrutscher (Stairway sliders)! The city is said to invest around €300,000 per year in maintaining the staircases, ensuring they remain an icon of the city for decades to come.

The name Stäffele is a Swabian (the local dialect) diminutive of the word Staffel, meaning stairs in southern Germany. In the 20th century, local poet Friedrich E. Vogt wrote a poem titled “Die steile stuegekter stäffele” cementing their place in local folklore. In it, he rhymes:

“Wenn Staugert koine Staffele hätt, no wärs koi Staugert meh, no wäreh seine Mädla net so schlank ond nett so schnee.”

“If Stuttgart had no Stäffele, no if it weren't Stuttgart anymore, no, his girls wouldn't be so slim and not so beautiful.”

Controversial, perhaps, but he might be onto something. As well as being handy shortcuts, you’ll often see locals pounding up and down the steps, headphones on and calves burning as they get their daily workout in.

In fact, the Stäffele are so exhausting that Thomas Dold from nearby Baden used them as his training ground for the Empire State Building Run Up, a competition he won seven times.

With over 50 officially named Stäffele and hundreds more remnants, private