in 1864, and finally 91,000 residents in 1871. By 1874, Stuttgart once again exceeded the 100,000 inhabitant mark. This number doubled, due to the incorporation of local towns, to approximately 185,000 in 1901 and then 200,000 in 1904. In 1871, Württemberg joined the German Empire created by Otto von Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia, during the Unification of Germany, as an autonomous kingdom. Stuttgart is purported to be the location of the automobile's invention by Karl Benz and then industrialized by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in a small workshop in Bad Cannstatt that would become Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1887. As a result, it is considered to be the starting point of the worldwide automotive industry and is sometimes referred to as the 'cradle of the automobile', and today Mercedes-Benz and Porsche both have their headquarters in Stuttgart, as well as automotive parts giants Bosch and Mahle. The year prior, Robert Bosch opened his first "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering" in Stuttgart. In 1907, the International Socialist Congress was held in Stuttgart was attended by about 60,000 people. In 1912, VfB Stuttgart was founded. Two years later, the current iteration of the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof was completed according to plan by Paul Bonatz from 1914 to 1927. During World War I, the city was a target of air raids. In 1915, 29 bombs struck the city and the nearby Rotebühlkaserne, killing four soldiers and injuring another 43, and likewise killing four civilians. The next major air raid on Stuttgart occurred 15 September 1918, when structural damage caused house collapses that killed eleven people. Weimar Republic At the end of the First World War, November revolutionaries stormed the Wilhelmpalais on 30 November 1918 to force King Wilhelm II to abdicate, but failed halfway. Under pressure from the revolutionaries, Wilhelm II refused the crown, but also refused to abdicate the throne. When he did eventually abdicate, the Free State of Württemberg was established as a part of the Weimar Republic, and Stuttgart was declared its capital. On 26 April 1919, a new constitution was devised, and the final draft was approved and ratified on 25 September 1919 by the Constituent Assembly. In 1920, Stuttgart temporarily became the seat of the German National Government when the administration fled from Berlin from the Kapp Putsch. Also in 1920, Erwin Rommel became the company commander of the 13th Infantry Regiment based in Stuttgart and would