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'Darmstadt' is a city in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hesse in Germany. It is located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Metropolitan Area. It is also one the few cities (as opposed to smaller towns) in Germany which do not lie close to a river or coast.
It is historically dominated by administration (being the seat of the former Landgraves of Hessen-Darmstadt), with industry (especially chemicals) as well as large science and tertiary education sectors becoming important from the early 20th century onwards.

Contents

Boroughs

History

Origins

Early Modern Age

Nazi Germany

Post-World War II

Modern day

Buildings & Attractions

Institutions

Famous people

Twinning

References

External links

Notable institutions

Boroughs

Darmstadt has 9 official 'Stadtteile' (boroughs). These are, alphabetically:^[2]

★ Darmstadt-Arheilgen ★ Darmstadt-Bessungen ★ Darmstadt-Eberstadt

★ Darmstadt-Kranichstein ★ Darmstadt-Mitte ('Central') ★ Darmstadt-Nord ('North')

★ Darmstadt-Ost ('East') ★ Darmstadt-West ('West') ★ Darmstadt-Wixhausen

History

Origins

The name Darmstadt first appears towards the end of the 11th century, then ''Darmundestat''; Literally translated, the current German name ''Darmstadt'' means "Intestine City", though this is just a coincidence, as the name derives from the 'Darm'(bach), a small stream formerly running through the city. It was until recently mostly covered over, but is now being uncovered and partly renaturated, to add more character to the inner city.^[3]
Darmstadt was chartered as a city by the Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in 1330 to the counts of Katzenelnbogen.^[4] When the house of Katzenelnbogen became extinct in 1479, the city was passed to Hesse, and was seat of the ruling landgraves (1567-1806) and thereafter (to 1918) of the Grand Dukes of Hesse.

Early Modern Age

The city grew in population during the 19th century from little over 10,000 to 72,000 inhabitants. A polytechnical school, which later became a Technical University now known as TU Darmstadt, was established in 1877.
In the beginning of the 20th century Darmstadt was an important centre for the art movement of Jugendstil, the German variant of Art Nouveau. Annual architectural competitions led to the building of many architectural treasures of this period. Also during this period, in 1912 the chemist Anton Kollisch, working for the pharmaceutical company Merck, first synthesised the chemical MDMA (ecstasy) in Darmstadt. Darmstadt's municipal area was extended in 1937 to include the neighbouring localities of Arheilgen and Eberstadt, and in 1938 the city was separated administratively from the surrounding district (''Kreis'').

Nazi Germany

Darmstadt was the first city in Germany to force Jewish shops to close in early 1933, shortly after the Nazis took power in Germany (at that time, shops were only closed for a day, for "endanger[ing] communal order and tranquility")^[5] In 1942, over 3,000 Jews from Darmstadt were first gathered in a collection camp in the Liebigschule, and then deported to concentration camps^[6] where most were killed.
Darmstadt's old city centre was largely destroyed in a British bombing raid on Darmstadt on September 11 1944 (Darmstadt had first been raided on July 30 1940, one of 35 attacks to come). During this worst attack an estimated 11,000-12,500 inhabitants died, and 66,000-70,000 were rendered homeless. Over three quarters of Darmstadt's inner city area was destroyed in the raid,^[7] leading to a relatively architecturally plain style of post-war rebuilding.

Post-World War II

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Darmstadt became home to many technology companies and research institutes, and has been promoting itself as a "city of science" since 1997. It is well known as a high-tech centre in the vicinity of Frankfurt Airport, with important activities in spacecraft operations (the European Space Operations Centre), chemistry, pharmacy, information technology, biotechnology, telecommunications (substantial Deutsche Telekom presence) and mechatronics. In 2000, its region also scored Rank 3 amongst 97 German regions in the ''WirtschaftsWoche'' test ranking Germany's high-tech regions.
The TU Darmstadt is one of the important technical institutes in Germany and is well known for its research and teaching in the Electrical, Mechanical and Civil Engineering disciplines. Together with other tertiary institutions, the TU is responsible for the large student population of the city, which stood at 33,547 in 2004.

Modern day

Buildings & Attractions

The 'Luisenplatz', main square of Darmstadt.

The "Waldspirale" residence built by Hundertwasser.

The 'Wasserturm' (a former railway water tower), contains an art gallery and restaurant.

The ducal palace of Darmstadt is located in the city centre. It was the residence of the counts of Hesse-Darmstadt, later as Grand Dukes of Hesse by the grace of Napoleon. Its current look was established in the 18th century. The counts also owned a castle on the Langenberg above the city. This castle dates back to the 13th century, but it was acquired by the counts of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1662. The name of the castle is Frankenstein. Mary Shelley probably adopted the name for her novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818). Before writing the story, she had travelled through the region and visited Eberstadt near the castle (today a borough of Darmstadt), so the inspiration was likely from here.
The ''Luisenplatz'', the largest square of the city, forms the centre of the city. Today it is surrounded by modern buildings. In 1844 the ''Ludwigsäule'' (called ''Langer Lui'', meaning ''Long Ludwig''), a 33-meter column commemorating Ludwig I, first Grand Duke of Hesse, was placed in the middle. The other large city square is the ''Marktplatz'' (see image) near the city hall.
Surviving examples of the Jugendstil period include the Rosenhöhe, a landscaped English-style rose garden from the 19th century, recently renovated and replanted,^[8] the Mathildenhöhe,^[9] with the ''Hochzeitsturm'' ('Marriage tower', also commonly known as the 'Five-Finger-Tower') by Joseph Maria Olbrich and the ''Russian Chapel'' and large exhibition halls as well as many private villas built by Jugendstil architects who had settled in Darmstadt. The Russian Chapel was built as a private chapel by the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, whose wife Alexandra was born in Darmstadt.
The Waldspirale ('Forest Spiral'), a residential complex by Austrian Friedensreich Hundertwasser, was built 1998-2000. An almost surreal building, it is internationally famous for its almost absolute rejection of rectangular forms, down to every window having a different shape, the style being a trademark of Hundertwasser's work.
Darmstadt's central train station, Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof, built in 1912 is at the west end of the city. Both local and inter-city trains stop at the station. The station also serves as a stop for buses and streetcars.^[10]
Every year around early July the Heinerfest festival is held in the streets surrounding the old ducal palace. It is a traditional German festival with music acts, beer halls, amusement rides and booths selling trinkets and food. The similar 'Schloßgrabenfest', which is more live music-oriented, is held in the same location every year in May. These two festivals attract 700,000^[11] and 400,000^[12] visitors respectively.

Institutions

;Technology
Darmstadt is the site of the famous Darmstadt University of Technology, renowned for its engineering departments, and of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Related institutes are four Institutes of the Fraunhofer Society, and the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI, "Society for Heavy Ion Research"), which operates a particle accelerator at its Wixhausen site.

The ESOC building

The GSI has, amongst others, discovered the chemical element Darmstadtium (atomic number: 110), named after the city in 2003. This makes Darmstadt one of only seven cities with an element named after it (the other cities being Ytterby in Sweden (four elements); Strontian in Scotland; Copenhagen in Denmark (whose Latin name gives Hafnium); Paris (whose Latin name gives Lutetium); Berkeley, California; and Dubna in Russia). Various other elements, including Meitnerium (atomic number: 109) (1982), Hassium (atomic number: 108) (1984), Roentgenium (atomic number: 111) (1994) and Ununbium (atomic number: 112) (1996) were also synthesized in the Darmstadt facility.
The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency is located in Darmstadt, as is EUMETSAT, which operates meteorological satellites. Darmstadt is a centre for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, with Merck, Röhm and Schenck RoTec (part of The Dürr Group) having their main plants and centres here.
;Culture
The 'Jazz-Institut Darmstadt' is Germany's largest publicly accessible Jazz archive.^[13]
The 'Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt', harboring one of the world's largest collections of post-war sheet music,^[14] also hosts the biannual ''Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik'', a summer school in contemporary classical music founded by Wolfgang Steinecke. A large number of avant-garde composers have attended and given lectures there, including Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Milton Babbitt, Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono, John Cage, György Ligeti, Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel.
The 'Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung' (German Academy for Language and Poetry) provides writers and scholars with a place to research the German language.^[15] The Academy's annual ''Georg-Büchner-Preis'', named in memory of Georg Büchner, is considered the most prestigious literary award for writers of German language.
;Military
There are still U.S. Army personnel stationed in the Darmstadt area. Just outside the Darmstadt centre is the U.S. Army Garrison Darmstadt on Cambrai-Fritsch Kaserne. The barracks was originally built in the 1930s as two separate German Army barracks (Cambrai Kaserne and Freiherr von Fritsch Kaserne).^[16] In July 2007, the US Department of Defense announced that the facilty will be closed by March 2009 and returned to the control of the German government.^[17]

Famous people

★ Georg Büchner, famous poet, born nearby and grown up in Darmstadt

★ Alexandra Feodorovna, last Tsaritsa of Russia, born 'Prinzessin Alice von Hessen und bei Rhein'

★ Johann Wolfgang Goethe, famous poet who spent some of his early years working in Darmstadt

★ Christoph Graupner, Baroque composer who worked for over 50 years at the court in Darmstadt

★ Johannes Herber, current German international basketball player

★ Dr Walter Köbel, politician, born in Darmstadt

★ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and satirist, born nearby and grew up in Darmstadt

★ Justus von Liebig, chemist and scientist, born in Darmstadt

★ Björn Phau, tennis player, born in Darmstadt

★ Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz, organic chemist, born in Darmstadt

Twinning

Darmstadt is twinned with:

★ Alkmaar, Netherlands ★ Brescia, Italy ★ Bursa, Turkey ★ Chesterfield, UK ★ Graz, Austria

★ Liepaja, Latvia ★ Logroño, Spain ★ Płock, Poland ★ Szeged, Hungary ★ Trondheim, Norway

★ Troyes, France ★ Uzhhorod, Ukraine ★ Saanen, Switzerland

References

1. Area, population and population change Hessian Statistical Office
2. Statistischer Ueberblick ('Statistical overview', from the official city website, in German)
3. DarmStadtBach (renaturation project website of the city authorities, in German)
4. Essential Facts (brochure) (from the official city website)
5. ''Beginning of the End'' - Musman, Moshe; from ''Borne Aloft On The Wings Of A Dove'' (in-depth feature on Dei'ah veDibur website)
6. Darmstädter Stadtgeschichte 20. Jahrhundert (from the official city website, in German, less detailed also in English)
7. Darmstadt history (from the website of the Technical University of Darmstadt)
8. Rosenhöhe - planted with roses (from the official city website)
9. Mathildenhöhe (Artists' Colony) (from the official city website)
10. Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof (private photo gallery)
11. Information about the Heinerfest (in German)
12. Schloßgrabenfest 2006 (in German)
13. Jazz-Institut Darmstadt (official institute website)
14. Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (official institute website, in German)
15. Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (official academy website, in German)
16. Cambrai Fritsch Kaserne (CFK), Germany (from GlobalSecurity.org)
17. DoD announces more Germany closings (from the Army Times website)

External links

★ Official website of the city of Darmstadt (German, English)

★ on

★ Mathildenhoehe

★ Details of Trams and Buses used in Darmstadt

★ Public Transport in Darmstadt - Maps, Timetables, Fares

★ Memorials in Darmstadt (sites-of-memory.de)

★ Webpage of the U.S. army in Darmstadt

Notable institutions

★ Darmstadt University of Technology

★ University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt

★ Fraunhofer Society institutes

★
★ Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics

★
★ Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology

★
★ Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Publication and Information Systems

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★ Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability

★ Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung

★ Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung

★ European Space Operations Centre (ESOC)

★ European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)