How does Stuttgart prefer to bring in a New Year? By blowing up an assortment of fireworks in the city square of Schloßplatz. While many cities admire and enjoy fireworks over the holidays, it is required they are done by professionals to avoid risk of injury. Those in Germany feel no such pressure for an orchestrated, well managed show.
After arriving home from Trier and doing some festive drinking at our apartment, we hopped on the U-Bahn downtown. As we approached Schloßplatz, the crowd went from nonexistent to throngs of people clumped together for warmth, and possibly safety. The four of us set up base under a tree, we figured if something went flying and sparked overhead we would have decent coverage!
The age of the attendees were mostly college through those in their thirties, although to one side of us there was a family of elementary aged children setting off Roman candles as quickly as they could manage! Many of the fireworks were small, items that twirled on the ground, or emitted sparks ten or so feet into the air. However, a number of participants took their firework celebration much more seriously! We had the perfect view of high arcing fireworks exploding over the crowd and lighting up the night. Truth be told, there was one point of concern where a rouge firework shot directly at us and exploded so closely we could feel the warmth on our faces.
As midnight approached things began going off like crazy. The sky went from clear to overwhelmed with smoke and lights. The crowds were cheering, drinking, and having the best of times as they set their own stash aflame and into the air.
While the exact stroke of midnight was lost in luminous chaos, the ten minutes preceding and after the start of 2015 were filled with intense celebration by everyone in the square. 2015 easily goes down as the most memorable New Year's Eve of all time.
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