Paris1972-Versailles2003

We were staying by Trier and all of a sudden I thought of places I have been and not the family. There is a town here i passed several days while in company time, and figure well why not show the family where I have been in Germany. So why not bring them to the trail over to visit Darmstadt! This was back in 2015 and I continue updating my posts and revising the old text, and new pictures! Hope you enjoy it as me relieving wonderful family time. Therefore, this is my take on curiosities of Darmstadt, part I !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

Darmstadt is the Land Hesse region of Germany not far from Frankfurt, which is where I landed on the airport and then moved by taxi to the city. This time we came by car all the way from Trier.  We left Trier on the B51 direction Saarburg,and then here took the 407 direction Hermeskell, where we change road number to 327 direction Morbach; here took 422 direction Idar Oberstein, and here took again 41 direction Gensingen.  At Gensingen, we took the expressway 61 to Grosheim and here took quick the 60 direction Mainz, connect with the 67 directioin Darmstadt where we came in on the 672, road 26 into the city at Rheinstrabe. Wonderful road warrior trip!

We park at the Luisencenter shopping center underground parking: https://www.darmstadt-citymarketing.de/anfahrt-parken/parken/

While in Darmstadt , we wall all over the city center, briefly visited the Schlossmuseum . The old theater look around as now houses the archives of the regional government. We saw the Orthodox Russian Church at Nikolaiweg 18. We stop by the Landesmuseum of natural history museum, and passed by the football stadium where I had attended games back in 2004!!

We took a ride to the new theater and the Church of Saint Louis just by it.  And course ,beautiful statues, columns and fountains in city center, as well as stopping by Bormuth bakery for a delicious German pastries, pretzels etc with softdrinks for a thirsty afternoon before heading back. My dear late wife Martine (she is last in line again! )really enjoy the pretzels, she ate and purchase for the rental house as well here! Nice memories of always.

Return we took the same 26 out into the 672 and took the 5 direction Frankfurt ,we took the 66 outside Frankfurt and cut across left or west to Wiesbaden on theh 66,and then just south of Wiesbaden took the 683 south to Gensingen to connect with the 41 to Bad Kreuznach and here continue until connect Nohfelden and the 62 and go north towards Hermeskell and the road 1,then 602 into Trier beltway on the B49 road.

The family was curious of these places I have been lol!!! Finally, ending our summer vacation back in Trier ,the next day was the trip back home to Bretagne, France. Another wonderful family vacation spent driving ,visiting many places in Germany.

A bit of history I like tell us that Darmstadt was chartered as a city by the Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in 1330, at which time it belonged to the counts of Katzenelnbogen. When the house of Katzenelnbogen became extinct in 1479, the city was passed to the Landgraviate of Hesse , and was seat of the ruling Landgraves from 1567 to 1806, and thereafter to 1918 of the grand dukes of Hesse. The city became the capital of the princes of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1567 while the creation of the landgravat of Hesse-Darmstadt created after the death of Philip the Magnanimous. Part of the possessions of Philip the Magnanimous were ceded to Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Marbourg, Hesse-Rheinfels, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Dietz. In 1668, Friedrich Jacob Merck purchase the pharmacy of Engel and put the basis of his empire of the future Merck KgaA pharmaceutical company of today.   In 1711 the Great Landgraves Caroline of Palatine-Deux-Ponts-Birkenfeld and Johann Heinrich Merck of the mentioned family were the initiators of forming a Circle of Romantic composers such as Goethe, Herder, and Klopstock.

In 1806 after the end of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire the landgravat of Hesse-Darmstadt became the Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine. This Grand Duke had the protection of the Tsar of Russia, nephew by alliance to the first Grand Duke.  The princes and lovers of arts made Darmstadt an intellectual and cultural capital and towards 1900, a center of the Art Nouveau movement; many institutes especially the German Academy of the Language and Poetry and the Aesthetics and Industrial Institute continues today this tradition. In 1844, the monument to Ludwig Langer was built in the square Louise (Luisenplatz) with the statue of the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig. From 1898 to 1908, the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig had name 7 artists to create the colony of artists of Mathildenhöhe. His mother was a child of the Queen Victoria and his sister Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt married the Russian tsar Nicolas II to come to a tragic ending. To note, all 3 tsars having married princesses of Hesse-Darmstadt were assassinated.

In 1918, the defeat of Germany made end to the monarchy. Two sisters of the Grand Duke, the tsarine of Russia and the Grand Duchesse Elisabeth were assassinated with their families by the Russian Bolsheviks. The son of the last Grand Duke, openly against the Nazis died with his wife, his mother and the children in 1937 in a suspect airplane accident. Darmstadt  was the first city in Germany to force Jewish shops to close in early 1933, shortly after the Nazis took power in Germany. Darmstadt was first bombed on in July 1940, and 34 other air raids would follow before the war’s end. Post-war rebuilding was done in a relatively plain architectural style, although a number of the historic buildings were rebuilt to their original appearance following the city’s capture on 20 March 1945 by the American 4th Armoured Division. At the end of WWII, Darmstadt was among the 112 communities where U.S. Forces were stationed. Early units stationed here included elements of the U.S. Constabulary, Air Force units and a Quartermaster School. As part of the U.S. Army’s ongoing transformation in Germany, the Darmstadt military community, by then designated as U.S. Army Garrison Darmstadt was inactivated on 30 September 2008. Even after the garrison inactivation, however, there is still one unit active in Darmstadt not showing in some official documents until much later, this is the 66th Military Intelligence Group at the Dagger Complex on Eberstädter Weg. They have created a community ,and the base is just a datacenter now. 

The Schlossmuseum palace museum: http://schlossmuseum-darmstadt.de/museum_engl.html

My memorable trip to the local football/soccer team Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V stadium: https://www.sv98.de/home/lilien/spielstaette/

The theater of Darmstadt: https://www.staatstheater-darmstadt.de/

The Church Saint Louis site in German: https://www.sankt-ludwig-darmstadt.de/index.php?id=aktuell

Hope you have enjoyed this souvenir trip as I have, always wonderful family memories that won’t go away. Thanks for reading my blog and my personal rants and travel. Again, hope you enjoy this post on curiosities of Darmstadt, part I !!! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!