DARMSTADT

darmstadt, a city of germany, capital of the grand-duchy of hesse-darmstadt, on a plain gently sloping from the odenwald to the rhine, 21 m. by rail s.e. from mainz and 17 m. s. from frankfort-on-main. pop. (1905) 83,000. it is the residence of the grand-duke and the seat of government of the duchy. darmstadt consists of an old and a new town, the streets of the former being narrow and gloomy and presenting no attractive features. the new town, however, which includes the greater part of the city, contains broad streets and several fine squares. among the latter is the stately luisenplatz, on which are the house of parliament, the old palace and the post office, and in the centre of which is a column surmounted by the statue of the grand-duke louis i., the founder of the new town. the square is crossed by the rhein-strasse, the most important thoroughfare in the city, leading directly from the railway station to the ducal palace. this last, a complex of buildings, dating from various centuries, but possessing few points of special interest, is surrounded by grounds occupying the site of the old moat. opposite to it, on the north side, and adjoining the pretty palace gardens, are the court theatre and the armoury, and a little farther west the handsome buildings of the new museum, erected in 1905 and containing the valuable scientific and art collections of the state, which were formerly housed in the palace: a library of 600,000 volumes and 4000