Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.
The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century. However, the sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat of the Landgraves of Hessen-Darmstadt in the 16th century.
As the administrative centre of an increasingly prosperous duchy, the city gained in prominence during the following centuries. In the 20th century, industry (especially chemicals) as well as large science and electronics (later information technology) sectors became increasingly important, and are still a major part of the city's economy. Darmstadt also has a large tertiary education sector, with three major universities and numerous associated institutions.
Darmstadt is one of few cities (as opposed to smaller towns) in Germany which does not lie close to a river, lake or coast. It can also boast being the sunniest city in the state of Hesse. The chemical element Darmstadtium (atomic number 110) is named after it, having been synthetisized in the GSI Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt-Arheilgen.
Technology
The ESOC building.
Darmstadt is the site of the Darmstadt University of Technology, renowned for its engineering departments, and of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Related institutes are four Institutes of the Fraunhofer Society, and the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI, "Society for Heavy Ion Research"), which operates a particle accelerator at its Wixhausen site.
The GSI, amongst other elements, discovered the chemical element Darmstadtium (atomic number: 110), named after the city in 2003. This makes Darmstadt one of only eight cities with an element named after it (the other cities being Ytterby in Sweden (four elements); Stockholm in Sweden (Holmium); Strontian in Scotland; Copenhagen in Denmark (whose Latin name gives Hafnium); Paris (whose Latin name gives Lutetium); Berkeley, California; and Dubna in Russia). Various other elements, including Meitnerium (atomic number: 109) (1982), Hassium (atomic number: 108) (1984), Roentgenium (atomic number: 111) (1994) and Copernicium (atomic number: 112) (1996) were also synthesized in the Darmstadt facility.
The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency is located in Darmstadt. From here, various deep-space exploration spacecraft and Earth-orbiting satellites are operated for the purposes of scientific research, and tecnnology development and demonstration.
EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, operates the principal European meteorological satellites from its headquarters, including the first and second generations of Meteosat geostationary satellites, and the polar-orbiting Metop series.
Darmstadt is a centre for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, with Merck, Röhm and Schenck RoTec (part of The Dürr Group) having their main plants and centres here.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Price: $590
Minimum offer: $290
The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century. However, the sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat of the Landgraves of Hessen-Darmstadt in the 16th century.
As the administrative centre of an increasingly prosperous duchy, the city gained in prominence during the following centuries. In the 20th century, industry (especially chemicals) as well as large science and electronics (later information technology) sectors became increasingly important, and are still a major part of the city's economy. Darmstadt also has a large tertiary education sector, with three major universities and numerous associated institutions.
Darmstadt is one of few cities (as opposed to smaller towns) in Germany which does not lie close to a river, lake or coast. It can also boast being the sunniest city in the state of Hesse. The chemical element Darmstadtium (atomic number 110) is named after it, having been synthetisized in the GSI Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt-Arheilgen.
Technology
The ESOC building.
Darmstadt is the site of the Darmstadt University of Technology, renowned for its engineering departments, and of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Related institutes are four Institutes of the Fraunhofer Society, and the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI, "Society for Heavy Ion Research"), which operates a particle accelerator at its Wixhausen site.
The GSI, amongst other elements, discovered the chemical element Darmstadtium (atomic number: 110), named after the city in 2003. This makes Darmstadt one of only eight cities with an element named after it (the other cities being Ytterby in Sweden (four elements); Stockholm in Sweden (Holmium); Strontian in Scotland; Copenhagen in Denmark (whose Latin name gives Hafnium); Paris (whose Latin name gives Lutetium); Berkeley, California; and Dubna in Russia). Various other elements, including Meitnerium (atomic number: 109) (1982), Hassium (atomic number: 108) (1984), Roentgenium (atomic number: 111) (1994) and Copernicium (atomic number: 112) (1996) were also synthesized in the Darmstadt facility.
The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency is located in Darmstadt. From here, various deep-space exploration spacecraft and Earth-orbiting satellites are operated for the purposes of scientific research, and tecnnology development and demonstration.
EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, operates the principal European meteorological satellites from its headquarters, including the first and second generations of Meteosat geostationary satellites, and the polar-orbiting Metop series.
Darmstadt is a centre for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, with Merck, Röhm and Schenck RoTec (part of The Dürr Group) having their main plants and centres here.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Price: $590
Minimum offer: $290
