I have only been here about 6...
by Jester
I have only been here about 6 months, but I love it. It is centrally located and you can get anywhere quickly. Frankenstein's castle is a must though. There's not much left of it right now, but it's a great place to say that you have been too.
Travelling Aikidokas are warmly welcome
by Trekki
If you are Aikidoka, travelling and your way takes you to Darmstadt or nearby and you feel like practising - you are warmly welcome to join our training at Aikikai Darmstadt.
Training schedule:
Tuesday 18:30 - 20:30 (beginners and advanced students);
Wednesday 19:00 - 21:00 (beginners course);
Thursday 19:00 -21:00 (beginners and advanced students);
Friday 19:00 - 21:00 (beginners and advanced students);
Saturday 16:00 - 18:00 (beginners and advanced students).
Update January 2009:
new weblink added. There is no gear necessary. If you have your Gi with you, ok, but if you don't, just send me an email here in VT, and I'll bring one along (medium size).
Coffee and cake on Mathildenhöhe
by Trekki about Alacarte
If you are walking around the Art Nouveau centre of Mathildenhöhe and get hungry at a point in time, I can recommend the restaurant here, Alacarte. But note that it is a very elitist one (see photo 2), delicately decorated and many people are dressed accordingly (which means that I often feel out of place here – but the he**, the cakes are good and so are the coffees and who cares when I pay with the same money as everone else…).
They serve breakfast and this even at moderate prices (from 2,60 to 8,70 €), lunch with daily changes (for around 7,50 €) and of course coffee and cake.
In summer, the terrace is open, which is a very nice option too. And there they won’t give you this look when you are not “dressed accordingly”.
Opening hours: Tue-Sun: 10:00 – 18:00. Tip date: December 2007. Update 2009: website exchange
Mathildenhoehe - russian chapel
by tessy
The russian chapel is not at all Art Nouveau architecture. But it stands among all the buildings of that epoque. The reason for building such a chapel was, that Zar Nikolaus II married princess Alexandra from Darmstadt. He wanted to have a church when visting Darmstadt, so he gave the order to build this wonderful chapel. It was built in the end of the 19th century by the russian architect
Louis Benoi.
Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt
by Nemorino
This general purpose museum is closed for a total refurbishment of the building until 2011.
When it reopens, it will again have exhibits on natural history, regional history, art, culture, you name it.
There used to be (and I assume again will be, after 2011) an exhibit on the German composer Friedrich von Flotow (1812-1883), who spent the final years of his life in Darmstadt. Towards the end of his life he was nearly blind because of cataracts in both eyes, a condition that was untreatable at the time but today can be cured through routine ten-minute operation. The exhibit included the huge thick glasses he had to wear, and his last attempts at writing and composing even though he could hardly see anymore.
Flotow belonged to a generation of German composers who lived and worked in the shadow of their overpowering contemporary Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Wagner was a year younger than Flotow, and they died within three weeks of each other in 1883.
Of the twenty-nine operas that Flotow wrote, only one is still (occasionally) performed, namely the comic opera Martha, which was first performed in Vienna in 1847. I have seen Martha twice so far, once in Detmold and once here in Darmstadt.
Second photo: Looking towards the museum from Friedensplatz (Peace Square) in front of the palace.
Third and fourth photos: These are photos that I took inside the museum in 2005, before the building was closed for repairs.