The headquarters of the Merck Group, the Darmstadt chemical, pharmaceutical and life science company, are in the northerly Frankfurter Strasse. The roots of the company go back to 1668, making it one of the oldest companies of its type in the world. Today its biggest division, Merck Serono, is one of the largest biopharmaceutical companies in Europe. Liquid crystal is the most prominent of Merck's chemical products. Merck is the biggest employer in Darmstadt.