About Darmstadt
Located in the heart of Europe, in the state of Hessen in Germany and approximately 20 minutes by car from Frankfurt airport, Darmstadt holds (since 1997) the official title "City of Science" (German: Wissenschaftsstadt). An important centre of research and innovation in science and technology, it is home to several major scientific institutions, universities and high technology companies; Among them are the Technical University of Darmstadt which was, in 1882, the first university in the world to set up a chair in electrical engineering, the GSI Centre for Heavy Ion Research, where the chemical element Darmstadtium was discovered, The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) and the Fraunhofer Society.
Darmstadt has an important tradition in modern architecture, and has, moreover, been a significant centre of "Jugendstil", the german variant of Art Nouveau. The city is rich in green spaces – in particular, it has a great number of parks and gardens in a variety of styles. A well-connected network of pedestrian streets in the city centre, marked by the squares "Luisenplatz" and "Marktplatz", offers a number of small restaurants and open-air cafés.
