Darmstädter Schloss

The Darmstädter Schloss stands in the north-east of Groß-Umstadt, a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district of Hesse. Built as a water fortress in the 12th century on behalf of Fulda Abbey, it became a residence for the counts of Katzenelnbogen and later the lords of Hanau. After passing to the landgraves of Hesse in the 16th century, it was transformed into a Baroque palace in the mid-18th century. The castle’s long history is marked by ownership disputes and architectural change. In 1458 the wedding of Anna von Lichtenberg and Philipp I the Elder took place here, and from 1727 to 1747 the entire complex was rebuilt as a three-wing Baroque palace. After 1952 only the north and south wings remained, joined under a mansard roof, while the rest of the site was cleared for a memorial to the town’s Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Visitors today see the restored north and south wings framing a small courtyard. The southern wing houses the Evangelical Deanery of Vorderer Odenwald, while the northern wing contains offices for local church and welfare groups. Beyond the courtyard, parts of the old town wall and the site of the Baroque garden survive, now occupied by a senior citizens’ home.