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Maritim Hotel Darmstadt

Phone: national 0800 338 6151, international +49 6151 878-0, info.dar@maritim.de

Visitor's Guide

Darmstadt, the City ofArt Nouveau, offers a unique cultural experience. Palaces, parks and numerous museums present the city from its best side.Darmstadtis located at the foot of the Odenwald. Eight theatres, 18 museums and exhibition houses as well as a large number of libraries, cinemas and galleries present an extensive offer of culture in this major city.

ESOC - European Space Operations Centre for the European Space Agency (ESA)

Individual visitors and groups have opportunity to tour the Operations Centre grounds. The 90-minute tour includes the main operations centre and various satellite models as well as a short film on the ESOC's responsibilities and objectives.
For registration, maps and prices, please call +49 (0) 6151 13 45 11.

Herrngarten Park

First designed in the 16th century, the Herrngarten Park is the largest and oldest park in the town centre. It all started with the three largest and several smaller gardens created in the Baroque gardening style as cuisine and herb gardens.

The park owes its fame to Landgravine Caroline, also known as the Great Landgravine, who had the garden expanded in 1766 and converted it into the English landscape style by incorporating elements of naturalistic landscape gardening. From 1801 to 1822, the garden was converted into a classic-sentimental landscape garden. New modifications toward a public park were made in 1918 in conjunction with the park's nationalisation, including the construction of playgrounds and conversion of a garden house into the Herrngarten Café. The Herrngarten, known as the "gud Stubb" to the residents of Darmstadt, is still immensely popular today, serving as the "green lung" for the city and the populated Martinsviertel and Johannesviertel neighbourhoods. In the north-east, the Herrngarten Park connects to the rococo-style Prinz-Georgs-Garten.

Residenzschloss Palace

Darmstadt Castle is located in the centre of today's town centre, at the upper end of the Rheinstrasse. That was not always the case, though: back in the time of George I, the palace secured Darmstadt's west side with the palace moat as defence. The new gate was located at the south-western end of the castle, which was mostly used by the farmers from the areas around Darmstadt.

The Residenzschloss was built over a total of six centuries. The most recent structural modifications were made under Landgrave Ernst Ludwig in the 18th century. His master builder, Rémy de la Fosse, planned a Baroque palace, but only two wings of the structure were carried out on the side toward the Rheinstrasse and toward the market square. In 1944, the palace burned down to the outer walls. However, reconstruction efforts were able to nearly completely restore the exterior to that of the pre-war age. The palace museum, founded in 1924, is located in the older section of the palace. Its 22 rooms provide an excellent overview of 250 years of court life in a small palace and the history of the unique landgravate and, later, Grand Duchy of Hesse.

Opening hours:
Friday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Jagdschloss Kranichstein (hunting lodge)

The castle, built in 1578 for George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt as a hunting lodge, contains a considerable number of hunting weapons and devices until the prohibition of subsistence hunting in 1769. Numerous paintings provide information as to just how much the Baroque ruler's life was influenced by hunting.

Opening hours:
Wednesday to Friday 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sunday and holidays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hessian Landesmuseum

The collections in Darmstadt's Hessian Landesmuseum date back to the Grand Dukes from Hessen-Darmstadt, particularly auf Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse (1790 to 1830).

The building is one of the few museums that bring together several interdisciplinary subjects under one roof. The Hessian Landesmuseum features prehistoric and protohistoric archaeology, Greek and Roman archaeology, mediaeval ivory work and altarpieces, glass painting from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, paintings, sculptures, applied arts from the Renaissance to the present, works, Joseph Beuys' Physikalisches Kabinett and historic musical instruments, graphical collection, zoological collections, geological-mineralological collections and paleontological collections (fossils from the Messel Pit fossil site).

Opening hours:
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday, Holidays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Waldspirale (wooded spiral)

Darmstadt's Waldspirale, built to designs by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, is the highlight of the Bürgerparkviertel neighbourhood near the city's outskirts. This is a structure that serves as a role model. It was built by Darmstadt's Bauverein AG with the idea that living space shouldn't be built at the expense of nature and individuals, but rather as a joint experience between the city and nature.

For the first time ever in Germany, recycled concrete was used for construction. Hundertwasser's definition of individual living was one in no way defined by everyday norms. He designed a façade that follows no scheme and where no two windows are the same. This structure is an expression of Hundertwasser's conviction that the renunciation of straight-line norms and a move towards experiencable naturalness causes a return of the joy of living. The Waldspirale's exterior grounds are open to all.

Mathildenhöhe - World Cultural Heritage

With the famous Mathildenhöhe, Hesse has a unique ensemble of Art Nouveau buildings and art history and, since 2021, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its birth in Darmstadt was the founding of an artists' colony by Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig at the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century. The fine arts and the applied arts were given a central role in the cultural policy of this lordly patron for the citizens of his small country.

State theatre

Designed by Rolf Prange, the State theatre was built in 1972, housing "the big house" (Opera), "the Small house" (theatre) and a Studio workshop.

Events in Darmstadt

Midnight Sauna in the Jugendstil Bath & Spa

On the last Saturday of every month (October to April)

Enjoy an extra special sauna and swimming experience from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on the last Saturday of the month. Treat yourself to a night in a relaxed atmosphere and enjoy the 'Aufguss': every half hour water with a creative blend of essential oils is sprinkled on the rocks in the sauna. Your culinary well-being is also provided for: a light midnight buffet in the cosy sauna restaurant or in torchlight on the sauna terrace leaves nothing to be desired. At the Midnight Sauna at the Jugendstil Bath & Spa, the sauna, swimming complex and spa are all open for your delectation.

Schlossgrabenfest Music Festival

16th to 19th May 2024

The Schlossgrabenfest is the largest music festival in the Hessen region and one of the biggest free open-air events in Germany. It has taken place in the environs of the Residenzschloss in Darmstadt every year since 1999. The musical spectrum extends from rock, pop, electro, reggae and hip-hop to soul and jazz.

74. Darmstadt Heinerfest Fair

4th to 8th of July 2024

With around 250 rides and stalls, the Heinerfest Fair in Darmstadt is one of Germany's largest inner city fairs. It has been around since 1951 and today welcomes some 700,000 visitors. As well as fairground rides all around Darmstadt Castle and the Big Wheel on Market Square, people can enjoy more than 100 free events: live performances, theatre, exhibitions, concerts, walks, films and sports tournaments.

Darmstadt Wine Festival

29th August to 1st September 2024

For four days, in the Wilhelminenstraße, you can sample various wines from numerous different regions. A large selection of sweet and savoury delicacies are at hand to accompany the wines.

Darmstadt Christmas Market

25th November to 23rd December 2024

Every year, it's time to light up "Long Ludwig", the monument to Grand Duke Ludwig I. Nearly 30,000 LED fairy lights illuminate this column, a landmark of Darmstadt, City of Science and centre of the Jugendstil art movement, heralding the start of the Christmas season. And once again this year, the traditional Darmstadt Christmas Market will fill the city centre with a feast for the eyes, tempting aromas and international flair. The Christmas Market between the Residenzschloss and the historic Town Hall has been a fixture in the annual event calendar ever since 1947.

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