One of the most interesting places I have lived is Stuttgart, Germany. Stuttgart was one of the cities that was severely damaged during WWII. Some sources say 45% destroyed. I am not sure how you measure that but the pictures of the downtown area show the Rathaus (City Hall) with only two walls standing. The buildings around the town square are piles of rubble, single walls surrounded by bricks and furniture and blocks and blocks of buildings are hollowed shells. Some buildings have one wall gone and sinks and tubs and schranks and beds are hanging out in the open air. Many streets are completely blocked by fallen buildings. Stuttgart was targeted by the Allies 53 times. There wasn't a whole lot of city left. In the rebuilding of the city after the war, the decision was made to rebuild and preserve as much of the historic nature of the city as possible. So parts of the downtown area are very modern, and parts are very old looking. The Baden-Wurtemburg State Museum is housed in the "Old Castle" which was very heavily damaged, but rebuilt stone for stone in its original form. When I say "stone for stone", I mean that literally. Parts of the wall and tower of the Old Castle have an almost checkerboard appearance from the cutting of new stones to replace ones too damaged to be put back in their original places. The New Castle sits north of the Old Castle, modelled after the Versaille Palace, with a huge open area used for fests and markets. The Old Castle sits on the Schillerplatz, a town square where the annual Christmas Market is held. Schillerplatz wraps around in front of the StiftsKirche, a huge church, and faces the Town Hall, a very modern building. Right near there is the International Marketplace, Markthalle, where you can find produce and other foodstuffs and goods from all over the world. The very best quacamole is made from the massive avocados that come in there from Israel.
The rebuilding of Stuttgart took years. The result was worth it, in my opinion. But in concession to the needs of modern transportation and traffic requirements, some of the old things couldn't be rebuilt. The Crown Prince's palace, for example, was almost totally flattened. Rebuilding it would have not only be difficult, it would have been smack in the middle of some important intersections and tram routes. So they salvaged one window cornice from the original palace and placed it roughly where it would have been, in the middle of the pedestrian zone, and called it good. In a few upgrades that have taken place since, the cornice has been removed, then brought back after the construction was completed.
One of the more sobering aspects of all the reconstruction was the creation of Birkenkopf. Stuttgart sits in a valley near the Neckar River. It is actually sitting in the valley of another river (name escapes me) that they covered up centuries ago. Birkenkopf is one of the tallest hills rimming the valley; it was once a thirty-some meter tall hill that is now an over-fifty-meters (1677 feet) tall mountain. It is made out of the rubble and debris that was hauled out of the valley after the war. It is a monument; there are cornices and walls and door frames and all manner of remnants of the bombed-out city visible all around the hilltop. From Birkenkopf, you can see almost all of Stuttgart, the river, and almost to Switzerland. Seeing the city today and comparing it to pictures of the city at the end of the war is amazing.
We used to love the Christmas Market. In the Schillerplatz and town square, vendors would set up booths where you could buy ornaments for your tree, gifts, food, drinks, snacks, stuffed animals, toys, and almost anything else you can think of. The cold air was full of wonderful smells: gluwein (a hot, spicy wine); roasted, candy-coated almonds; grilling wursts; and all kinds of unknown stuff. There were the competing strains of different bands and juke boxes playing everything from traditional "Oompah" music to modern rock. The crowds were happy and smiling and shoulder-to-shoulder.
Stuttgart has a great zoo, Neckar River tours on party boats, the factories and museums for Mercedes and Porsche, and miles and miles of trails through forests and hills. I spent almost fourteen years in Germany over a thirty-year period; most of that time was spent in Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg (just ten miles north of Stuttgart). I miss it.