A library as an open, light-filled meeting place for all citizens, an architectural exclamation point and minimalist showpiece at the same time: built in 2011, Stuttgart City Library has long been a cultural landmark of the city.

By train to Stuttgart: Plan arrival

Where freight trains once shunted, culture now reigns - and on nine floors. Stuttgart's new municipal library on Mailänder Platz, which opened in October 2011, is more temple than book hall, more design palace than functional functional building. And that was precisely the intention of Korean architect Eun Young Yi. He planned the building, made of concrete and matte glass blocks, as a monolithic block that symbolizes solid hardness from the outside but acts as a transparent, light glass shell from the inside.

Stuttgart City Library - a temple of books in white

The result: many visitors come to this temple of books, whose white surfaces make the interior architecture of the building appear even more monumental than it already is, not to read, but to look. And visit the library like a museum, a gallery. Everything done right! And another tip: The roof terrace of the building is freely accessible and offers a wonderful view over Stuttgart. 

By the way, you can find tips on how to travel comfortably and inexpensively on long-distance and local trains with Deutsche Bahn here.

More articles from Baden-Württemberg

Cover image: ©Sasa Komlen / Shutterstock.com