The University of Stuttgart (founded in 1829) is one of the top 9 technical universities in Germany (TU9) with highly-regarded engineering programs, and is ranked in the top 16 universities in Germany (QS 2019). The "birthplace of the automobile", Stuttgart has a strong reputation in high-tech innovation and research and is home to many of the world's largest automotive companies. It also maintains its standing as one of the top 2 safest cities in the country, and is conveniently located an hour from the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). Stuttgart is currently ranked as one of the top 36 institutions for mechanical engineering and within the top 120 universities worldwide for other fields of engineering (QS 2019).