Darmstadt

The ducal palace of Darmstadt is located in the city centre. It was the residence of the counts of Hesse-Darmstadt, later as Grand Dukes of Hesse by the grace of Napoleon. This castle dates back to the 13th century, but it was acquired by the counts of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1662. The name of the castle is Frankenstein.

This was my second time in Darmstadt. Previously in May 2007, I was at the Technical University of Darmstadt(TUD) for a Language Immersion Programme, Summer school. It is amazing to see how the city has changed slightly after only a year-a new hotel beside the university was built, different celebration and festivals, part of TUD was demolished and there was some major construction going on.

The Schlossplatz, a market square in front of the Ducal Palace around 1900. One of the few areas to survive in similar style after WWII.

Luisenplatz, the largest main square of the city, forms the centre of the city and is the main public transport hub. The 33-meter column commemorating Ludwig I(as seen from the picture above), first Grand Duke of Hesse, was placed in the middle of the suqare. While the comlumn still stands, the square is today surrounded by mostly modern buildings. The other large city square is the Marktplatz near the old city hall, only several hundred meters away.

There was some Holland Festival at the city centre. It was like a mini funfair with food, beer and cheese stalls.

That orange objects on the green table were CHEESE! Huge eh...

We were also lucky to be at Darmstadt at the right time. TUD was having a beer treat for their students to reward them for their achievement in sth... *cant remember* They had free flow beer-which explains the number of students present. Beer and Germans are like honey and bees=). Can never really understand why=) I am a COFFEE person! Nic, I am still waiting for my coffee machine someday=)! haha!


We were quite lost amongst the Germans, deciding what we should do next as they looked at us Asians like some zoo animal! At this point, Joy ( a Philippino born German) approached us and gave us a brief orientation! It was really nice and sweet of her. She even helped us got beers! haha.. I met up with her for coffee the next day and she invited me to her place for dinner! She made pizza(with pear in it..yummy!) and I met her Romanian housemate! It was indeed a nice evening! *forgot to bring camera to her place=(*

Nice lighting at the "disco" at TUD. It was quite dead...

A night shot at the empty platz.

Currywurst is a German dish consisting of hot pork sausages(Wurst) cut into slices and seasoned with curry sauce(regularly consisting of ketchup blended with curry) and generous amounts of curry powder or a ready-made ketchup-based sauce seasoned with curry and other spices. Currywurst is often sold as a take-away food, usually served with French fries or bread rolls. A simple snack like this usually costs 2.50-3.50 Euros. For decades, currywurst has been by far Germany's most popular fast food.


The Waldspirale (Forest Spiral), a residential complex by Austrian Friedensreich Hundertwasser, was built 1998–2000. An almost surreal building, it is internationally famous for its almost absolute rejection of rectangular forms, down to every window having a different shape, the style being a trademark of Hundertwasser's work.