In 1908, the aviation pioneer August Euler established Germany's first officially recognised airfield on the "Griesheimer Sand". The US army used the airfield for their helicopters between 1945 and 1992.

A large part of the site has been a nature reserve since 1996. Together with the Technical University of Darmstadt, the Hessian Society for Ornithology and Nature Conservation has set up a permanent exhibition here.

The remainder of the site is used by the university. Lighting engineers, for example, test to what extent newly developed LED rear lights dazzle. Aerodynamic engineers test on two motor gliders how different factors impact the air flow around the aircraft under realistic conditions. Geodesists use the site to develop new applications for satellite navigation systems.

Next door to the airfield, the university owns with the wind tunnel, built in 1936 on the site of the German Research Centre for Glider Flight, a test centre for aerodynamic research for the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics.

The Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest in Germany. Applied research and development at the university enriches the courses offered with practical project work and strengthens the internationally oriented commercial companies in the Rhine-Main area through technology and knowledge transfer.

The FTZ - the “Fernmeldetechnisches Zentralamt der Bundespost” (central telecommunications office of the Federal Post Office) was located in Darmstadt from 1949. Until the end of the 1980s, its purpose was the development and control of new communications equipment and systems. In 1989 the FTZ became part of the newly formed Telekom. Part of the FTZ, the technology centre, worked on topics such as multimedia and fibreglass communications. From 2002 to 2005, on the site of the former FTZ, "Telekom-City" was built with several Telekom facilities, among them the internet subsidiary T-Online.

By 2014, the Technology Centre (TZ) Rhein Main had become an open, modern fifty acre office park with 25 highly modern building projects. With many green areas and a comprehensive service offer for tenants, ranging from a medical centre and kindergartens to recreation areas, it promises to support a healthy work-life balance.

Since 2002, various research institutions in Darmstadt have combined their diverse IT security activities. The result is the Center for Research in Security and Privacy, CRISP, in which the TU Darmstadt with its profile area for IT security research CYSEC, the University of Darmstadt and the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT and the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD Europe's largest alliance of cybersecurity research organizations. The approximately 450 scientists deal with core questions of cybersecurity in society, economy and administration. They regularly advise business and public administration, provide assistance to company founders and provide expert opinions for politics and business.

The Bauverein AG was founded in 1864 under the leadership of the chief steward Paul von Westerweller by a committee of Darmstadt citizens, with the aim of making affordable accomodation available to the working class. Today, the Bauverein sees itself as an organisation whose purpose is to ensure that broad sections of the population have access to reasonably-priced living quarters.

Darmstadt has been home to the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency (ESA) Since 1967, making the city Europe's "gateway to Space". All ESA’s spacecrafts as well as five ground stations are monitored and controlled from here. Among the more than 60 spacecraft controlled to date by ESOC are Mars Express and Rosetta.

Virtual tour:

Through the ESOC in Darmstadt: discover.esa.int

Discover ESA: discover.esa.int

Information on guided tours at ESA Darmstadt: www.darmstadt-tourismus.de/esa

Fraunhofer IGD is the world's leading institute for applied research in Visual Computing. Visual Computing is image- and model-based information technology and includes computer graphics, computer vision, as well as virtual and augmented reality.

We develop prototypes and complete solutions based on customer-specific requirements. Our research and development projects are directly applicable to current problems in the economy.

In 1995, the Messel pit was the first German natural monument in the list of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. It provides a unique insight into the early evolution of mammals and documents the development of the Earth 48 million years ago when, after the end of the dinosaur age, explosive changes determined the animal and plant world.

Several 10,000 fossils from the Eocene period have been excavated in the Maarvulkan Lake which was created 48 million years ago, and about 3,000 new finds are added annually. In addition to the high number and diversity of animal and plant fossils, their unique preservation of whole body skeletons, skin and coat shadows, feathers and stomach contents is particularly in the Messel pit.

Guided tours are held every day and invite visitors to discover this unique place. Anyone who visits this place will be amazed by the diversity of topics, which is also reflected in the permanent exhibition "Zeit und Messel Welten" (visitor centre). Here, industrial history, landscape, volcanism, rainforest and evolution are explained. The treasure chamber with several original finds also exerts a great fascination.

The Evangelische Hochschule Darmstadt, an officially recognised university sponsored since 1971 by the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, is located at the main station. Study programs provide qualifications for employment in the social services and health care systems and for service in the Church. The academic education that is provided is very closely connected to practical experience.

The GSI was founded in 1969 and since then six new chemical elements have been discovered, including element 110, Darmstadtium. GSI operates a large-scale worldwide unique accelerator facility for heavy ions. Researchers from all over the world use the facility for experiments to gain new insights about the building blocks of matter and the evolution of the universe. In addition they develop new applications in medicine and technology. An example is a treatment for tumours which was developed here and has been successfully used since 1997. In the coming years the new international accelerator facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), one of the largest research projects worldwide, will be built at GSI. At FAIR an unprecedented variety of experiments will be possible. Scientists from all over the world will be able to gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present.

The IT security specialists of the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT) in Darmstadt and Sankt Augustin develop ready-to-use solutions fully tailored to the needs of their customers.

The researchers address questions of data protection, digital identification and protection of equipment and buildings, an example being secure communication between the cars of the future.

In order to preserve their historic electric trams, HEAG mobilo built this depot on the occasion of their 100th anniversary in 2012. The collection of HEAG trams numbers about a dozen vehicles and can be visited on prior registration.