Gießen

Neues Schloss - Longbow4u https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.de

Gießen

Giessen is a city in central Hesse with approx. 90,000 inhabitants. Together with Wetzlar, 10 kilometers away, and over cities Gießen forms a metropolitan area with around 200,000 inhabitants.

The city is the seat of the Justus Liebig University, some areas of the Technical University of Central Hesse, the Free Theological University of Gießen and the Hessian University for Police and Administration.

The city beside the river Lahn was founded in 1152 as a moated castle. Gießen was mentioned in documents as Giezzen in 1248. Around 1300 the old castle was built. The town church was built around 1450, of which only the bell tower has survived. It is considered a symbol of the city. The New Palace was built in the 16th century. The oldest botanical garden in Germany was established in Giessen in the 17th century.

Georg Büchner studied in Gießen and wrote the Hessian Landbote at Badenburg Castle in 1843.

The Upper Hessian Museum is divided into three departments, namely the Old Castle, the Wallenfels House and the Leib’sche House.

There is art in the Kunsthalle Gießen in the town hall on Berliner Platz.

A popular excursion destination is the Schiffenberg Abbey, about five kilometers away. Today, an excursion restaurant is operating in the former monastery complex.