Visiting the City Library in Stuttgart

Times are a-changing in the capital city of Baden-Württemberg. Architectural landmarks are springing up phoenix-like from the remains of industrial wasteland, and one such icon is the Stuttgart City Library (Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart) in Mailänder Platz – this modernist temple to knowledge is one of the coolest places to visit when you’re staying in Stuttgart. With more than 2 million artefacts in its collection, this building isn’t just a pretty face – it’s a vital digital resource and archive for city residents and visitors alike.

Cologne-and-Seoul-based Korean architect Eun Young Yi, head of Yi Architects, won the competition to design this monumental library in 1999. Sitting on land reclaimed from railway sidings in the fast-regenerating Europaviertel (European Quarter) district of central Stuttgart, it opened to great acclaim in 2011.

Yi’s geometrical design showcases the exterior of the library as a giant cube-shaped monolith measuring 44 metres on each side and studded with 9 x 9 rows of windows, making a grid-like pattern that clearly references Germany’s between-the-wars Bauhaus movement. It is constructed from pearl-grey concrete and the windows are clad in frosted glass bricks, allowing natural light to filter into the interior. It has eleven floors in total, with two underground and nine above, and has quickly become a stellar urban landmark.

Bathed in natural light and geometrical shapes, the library interior blends modern and classical aesthetics with contemporary function. The central foyer of the library perfectly mimics its resolutely cuboid exterior, rising four floors upwards to form a square, galleried hall painted in softest grey. This sleek and minimalist space is the very core of the building, with light pouring in from an oculus in the ceiling – a nod to the structure of the Parthenon in Rome.

Rising from the 5th to the 9th floors is an open-plan, five-storey reading room shaped like an inverted pyramid, with each step of the staircases sweeping between floors engraved with quotes from famous literary works. The walls themselves are covered by a colourful carapace of books, the only other colour in the entire space coming from banquette seating scattered around each level. Open-plan reading nooks and more private study rooms dot the periphery of this main room.

The external structure of the library has two shells that conserve thermal energy to save on heating costs. Other eco-friendly features include natural aeration through windows and vents that all open, reducing the need for mechanical ventilation. The building also utilises energy-efficient lighting systems, with the huge amounts of glass used in its construction minimising the need for artificial lighting, and on the roof there are photovoltaic panels to reduce its carbon footprint.

You can navigate the library on an internal system of lifts and stairs. Here’s what you can expect on each floor.

Ground floor: The Showroom for public events and cultural exhibitions.

1st floor: Music Library.

2nd floor: Children’s Library. 

3rd floor: Life Floor covering cultural issues like religion and history.

4th floor: Knowledge Floor with books on law, economics and so on.

5th floor: World Floor dedicated to foreign-language literature and language courses.

6th floor: Novels sorted alphabetically.

7th floor: Novels sorted alphabetically.

8th floor: Graphic Library, Online Animation Library and Café Lesbar.

9th floor: Rooftop terrace with views over the city.

The clever layout of the library caters to the requirements of contemporary readers, with open reading spaces, cosy private nooks, study and events rooms, free high-speed Wi-Fi and laptop access in multimedia areas. Its interactive tech elements are designed for ease of use, and include automatic self-check-out, online renewal and book return systems on every floor of the reading room, as well as secure storage and charging lockers for laptops and all other devices. One of the many benefits of this state-of-the-art technology is that it frees up library staff to attend to enquiries and requests from the visiting public. 

There are facilities throughout the library for visitors with mobility issues, and special computer screens on the 6th floor for people with visual impairment.

The children’s section is the Buchkinder Stuttgart – the whole 2nd floor is dedicated to kids, where low-level seating is scattered with cheery cushions. The reading matter is equally colourful: an enticing jumble of age-appropriate books (some English-language books are available too) mixed up with toys and games in boxes on the floor. The vibe is light and informal to encourage young visitors to read, and lots of fun events are held here, including story-telling and craft workshops.

As well as a permanent exhibition showcasing Stuttgart’s cultural scene, the library hosts a busy schedule of events from art exhibitions and concerts to book readings and workshops.

Digital nomad? Set up your laptop in one of the study rooms off the galleried central foyer. 

Plunder the vast multimedia music library on the 1st floor, with albums, CDs and DVDs to borrow and a sound studio with digitalisation and composition software. The 8th floor hosts the Online Animation Library, one of the largest repositories of contemporary animated film in the world.

Head to the 8th-floor Café Lesbar for breakfast, lunch or a cup of good coffee alongside views over the light-flooded reading room.

Curl up on a sun lounger with a glass of wine from the café and enjoy spectacular views over the city’s hilly topography from the 9th-floor panoramic terrace.

Yes – it’s a public library! The library is completely free to enter, explore, go to the café and check out the rooftop views. However, you’ll need a library card to borrow books or use any of the services. 

No; that honour goes to the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin in Berlin.

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 9am–9pm.

The library stands in Europaviertel, next to one of the city’s most popular shopping malls at Milaneo Stuttgart – handy if you’re staying at the contemporary Mercure Hotel Stuttgart City Center, as it’s less than 10 minutes’ stroll away – and close to convention centres, banks, the Museum of Illusions Stuttgart and many dining choices.

The easiest way to get there is by bus 44 or N2, both of which deposit you at the Stadtbibliothek stop, a 4-minute walk from the library. From the main railway station (Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof), it’s about 12 minutes’ walk to the library. Via the subway, U12 has a stop at Budapester Platz, which puts you right in front of its monolithic façade. 

Book a 75-minute tour of the library to delve deeper into its design and architectural inspirations. You can also borrow audio guides on the ground floor to follow two routes around the library that highlight either its architectural features or its high-tech wizardry.

There are other iconic monuments to modernism to be found in the city, which was the birthplace of the car industry in Germany. Today two of the biggest brands in the world have their museums here: the blocky, startlingly white and dynamically high-tech Porsche Museum and the Mercedes-Benz Museum, with its interwoven glass-and-steel exterior, are both as breathtaking on the outside as the automotive collections they display within. 

Stuttgart City Library is a stop to be included on everybody’s sightseeing itinerary – whether you are a book worm, an admirer of sublime modernist architecture, or just seeking a peaceful moment overlooking the city from its rooftop terrace.