Darmstadt Off The Beaten Path

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In the general section I already mentioned that Darmstadt was heavily bombed and most of what had been a beautiful old town was destroyed. Only some city districts we have half timbered-houses.
BUT: as Darmstadt is close to one of the official scenic or vacation roads, the German Half-Timbered House (Framework) scenic road, it is only a hop in car or bus or on the bike to go to Dieburg or Groß Umstadt, which are located on the southern Hesse part of this road.

Groß Umstadt is located east of Darmstadt, at the slopes of Odenwald hills and called “Weininsel”, which means wine island. I was a bit amazed about this, as the region is not at all known for wine, but local colleagues told me that the wine is not that bad. I will give it a try in summer. The village is quite old, already Romans settled here in 2nd century AC. During Medieval times, it was reigned by dukes, who built several noble courts, some of which are still intact today. The beautiful Renaissance City Hall (main photo and details in photo 5) was built in 1596 and has been restored very beautiful. Around the market square, some lovely half timbered houses are grouped, among them one which hosts a local bank. I found the sign (photo 4) so cute, as it has a memory to our good old Deutsche Mark days – a Pfenning is hanging over the bank icon (the S).
Groß Umstadt’s website shows where all of the half timbered houses are located, and I can tell you that they are all beautiful and worth a walk around in town. It must be quirky and fun in summer, when all the restaurants (there are many) have their tables and chairs outside.

Location of Gross-Umstadt on Google Maps.

© Ingrid D., tip date: February 2008 (update March 2011: location on Google Maps added).

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Als already mentioned in the to-do section, Darmstadt was famous for Art Nouveau development end of 19th century. Mathildenhöhe is the most famous part of town for this architecture. However, also in Bessungen, the old district south of the city centre, some superb buildings can be found. It simply needs some walk away from the main streets and a strong will to "get lost in Bessungen" :-) I did it on a beautiful crisp and cold sunny winter day some time ago.
Oh my, I was really surprised to find some real gems of our town..... :-)

This specific building, for those who want to see it in reality and not only on the photos, is in Moosbergstrasse No. 60, which is a left turn from Heidelberger Landstrasse, when heading south (see Google Map screenshot).
It is said to be the only fully preserved Art Nouveau façade in Darmstadt, built in 1905. Look at this exquisite artwork details ! The roses at the lintel for example (main photo), or the peacocks.

Well, and a special thanks to my digicam for being able to zoom in so nicely (and me for standing still when pressing the button, haha).

Location of Art Nouveau House, Moosbergstrasse, on Google Maps.

© Ingrid D., tip date: January 2006 (update March 2011: location on Google Maps added).

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Langen is an "innovative, open-minded and tolerant city" (according to their mayor) with more than 36,000 inhabitants, located halfway between Frankfurt am Main and Darmstadt, with good train connections to both.

I know two couples who live in Langen, and both for the same reason. Either he works in Frankfurt and she works in Darmstadt, or visa-versa, so they live in the middle.

The first photo shows a sign in Darmstadt pointing the way to Langen via the bicycle routes 17 and R8.

Route 17 zig-zags through the woods and is currently my favorite route from Frankfurt to Darmstadt.

The R8 is one of the nine regional cycling routes in Land Hessen. It starts near Heppenheim and goes north through Darmstadt, Frankfurt-Höchst, Limburg and Dillenburg, ending in Frankenberg (Eder) in the northern part of Hessen.

I have also mentioned the R1 and the R3 on some of my other VirtualTourist pages.

Second photo: Roofed-over bicycle stands at the station in Langen.

49°59'36.84" North; 8°39'24.68" East

This corner of the Castle Gardens, next to the Technical University, is called Prinz-Georgs-Garten. It is a rococo garden which was laid out on a geometrical ground-plan in 1764.

The small palace at the far end of the garden houses a Porcelain Museum that was founded in 1907 by the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig (1868-1937) when he decided to put his private porcelain collection on display.

49°52'44.21" North; 8°39'19.56" East

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lies Burg Frankenstein. Click on the photos to read the history. This place is about a 20 minute drive from downtown Darmstadt. besides being historical it is ideal for nature hikes. On Sundays the restaurant has a great buffet. The $20.00 price tag which includes a most marvellous view is well worth it.

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I love a lot walking over old cimetaries. There is a wonderful atmosphere. This is even better in the early evening of a cold day in winter: the calme, the snow, the cold, the stones, the smell int he air .... We nearly had to run here, because it was almost 5pm, when the cimetary closes in winter time. And we were looking for the grave of Flotow, a german componist, who died 1883 in Darmstadt. We had no idea where to go, but we found it!!!!! Vt girls and their guides don't need a plan, they just know where to go.....

Frankenstein's Castle. Oh yes, the original where people called Frankenstein really lived! It's a bit ruiness now but hte views over Darmstadt, Eberstadt and towards Frankfurt are very good.
The resurant up there is very good, but they take ages to serve and service isn't good anyway. Food is good though :)

you have to go up here on Haloween week! Great fun!

Lorsch
It is a small town, but it is really worth a little stop, if you are interested in history. There is a building, called 'hall of the kings' (Koenigshalle). It was built in 774 and belongs since 1992 to the World Heritage List of the Unesco. The hall had two purposes: The first was to have a big room for the audiences of Karl der Große, a german emperor, the other was to have a representative entrance for the church, but the monastery doesn't exist any more. Just on the other site of the street, in the museum, there is a model of it.