Darmstadt (German: [ˈdaʁmʃtat] ⓘ) is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region).

Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse after Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, and Kassel.

Darmstadt holds the official title "City of Science" (German: Wissenschaftsstadt) as it is a major centre of scientific institutions, universities, and high-technology companies.

[3] The existence of the following elements was also confirmed at GSI Centre for Heavy Ion Research: nihonium (2012), flerovium (2009), moscovium (2012), livermorium (2010), and tennessine (2012).

In the 20th century, industry (especially chemicals), as well as large science and electronics (and later, information technology) sectors became increasingly important, and are still a major part of the city's economy.

[7] 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.

[8] The city, then called Darmstait, became a secondary residence for the counts, with a small castle established at the site of the current, much larger edifice.

[13] Also during this period, in 1912 the chemist Anton Kollisch, working for the pharmaceutical company Merck, first synthesised the chemical MDMA (ecstasy) in Darmstadt.

[14] Darmstadt's municipal area was extended in 1937 to include the neighbouring localities of Arheilgen[15] and Eberstadt,[16] and in 1938 the city was separated administratively from the surrounding district (Kreis).

[20] Several prominent members of the German resistance movement against the Nazis were citizens of Darmstadt, including Wilhelm Leuschner and Theodor Haubach, both executed for their opposition to Hitler's regime.

[25] 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 25 March 1945 by the American 4th Armored Division.

[31] 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.

Many of its major architectural landmarks were created by Georg Moller who was appointed the court master builder of the Grand Duchy of Hesse.

[39] Due to the fact that the last ruling Grand Duke of Hesse, Ernst Ludwig was a grandson of Queen Victoria and brother to Empress Alexandra of Russia, the architecture of Darmstadt has been influenced by British and Russian imperial architecture with many examples still existing, such as the Luisenplatz with its grand-ducal column, the old Hessian State Theatre (at Karolinenplatz) and the Russian Chapel by Leon Benois.

As 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.

Surviving examples of the Jugendstil period include the Rosenhöhe, a landscaped English-style rose garden from the 19th century, recently renovated and replanted,[41] the UNESCO World Heritage Site Mathildenhöhe,[42] with the Hochzeitsturm ('Wedding tower', also commonly known as the 'Five-Finger-Tower') by Joseph Maria Olbrich, the Russian Chapel in Darmstadt and large exhibition halls as well as many private villas built by Jugendstil architects who had settled in Darmstadt.

The Protestant Stadtkirche Darmstadt built in 1369, is in the pedestrian zone of the downtown city center, next to the historic Hotel Bockshaut.

It was built and used as a private chapel by the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, whose wife Alexandra was born in Darmstadt.

It is a traditional German festival with music acts, beer halls, amusement rides and booths selling trinkets and food.

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, Mauricio Kagel, and Helmut Lachenmann.

The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung provides writers and scholars with a place to research the German language.

Darmstadt's southeastern boroughs are located in the spurs of the Odenwald, a low mountain range in Southern Hesse between the Main and Neckar rivers.

It also offers courses in economics, law, history, politics, sociology, psychology, sport science and linguistics.

From here, various deep-space exploration spacecraft and Earth-orbiting satellites are operated for the purposes of scientific research, and technology development and demonstration.

[52][53] The research center is located in Darmstadt and deals with key issues of IT security in the digitization of government, business and society.

Over the years, the U.S. military community Darmstadt – under a variety of designations such as the 440th Signal Battalion, served as home for thousands of American soldiers and their families.

It included six principal installations in Darmstadt and nearby Babenhausen, Griesheim and Münster, plus several housing areas, an airfield and a large number of smaller facilities as far away as Bensheim and Aschaffenburg.

Even after the garrison inactivation, however, there is still one unit active in Darmstadt: The 66th Military Intelligence Group at the Dagger Complex on Eberstädter Weg.

The U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden's website mentions the unit still being active in Darmstadt, and a Marine Corps company being stationed there as well.

With the exception of Dagger Complex, all remaining US installations are now empty and closed to the public, pending property disposal by the German authorities.