Gießen ~ Travel-gap

Gießen is a 89,802 inhabitants city by river Lahn in the western part of Hesse, Germany, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen and the 7th largest city in the federal state. Giessen is also home to the University of Gießen.

 

How do I arrive to Gießen?   Bad Hersfeld isn't bad connected with other cities in Hesse and other states.

Train: there are often trains to other destinations within Hesse like Bebra (aprox. 10 minutes), Fulda (aprox. 30 minutes), Melsungen (aprox. 35 minutes), Kassel (aprox. 1 hour), Alsfeld (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes), Hanau (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes) or Frankfurt am Main (aprox. 1 hour 40 minutes). There are also trains to destinations in other federal states such Eisenach (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes) in Thuringia. 

Bus: there are buses to many cities in Hesse and neighbouring states.

Car: having a car many destinations can be reached easily in Hesse such as Bebra (aprox. 20 minutes), Rottenburg an der Fulda (aprox. 25 minutes), Melsungen (aprox. 40 minutes), Alsfeld (aprox. 40 minutes), Fulda (aprox. 45 minutes), Kassel (aprox. 50 minutes), Gießen (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes), Marburg (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), Hanau (aprox. 1 hour 25 minutes) or Frankfurt am Main (aprox. 1 hour 40 minutes).

History The history of the community in the northeast, in today's suburb called Wieseck, that dates back to 775 but it came into being as a moated castle in 1152 built by Count Wilhelm von Gleiberg, receiving town privileges in 1442. The town became part of Hesse-Marburg in 1567, passing to Hesse-Darmstadt in 1604 with the University of Gießen (founded in 1607). Giessen was included within the Grand Duchy of Hesse when it was created in 1806 (being the capital of the new province of Upper Hesse), during the Napoleonic Wars, being later part of Prussia. After the First World War, Gießen was part of the People's State of Hesse. During the Second World War, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp was created here and the city of Gießen resulted to be very damaged (around 75% of the old town was destroyed) because of heavy bombing. After the Second World War a U.S. military base was placed in Gießen (later converted into a German Army Air Field). The city became part of the modern state of Hesse after the war and in 1977 it was merged with the neighbouring city Wetzlar to form the new city of Lahn (although it was later reversed).

What can I visit in Gießen?   Gießen doesn't have a beautiful Alstadt, unlike many other places in Hesse, but it has some things to do. These are Gießen's main attractions:

Upper Hessian Museum (10-16 Tue-Sun; free): museum that has its main collection placed in Gießen Old Palace (Schloss built around 1350 as an extension of the city fortifications, being the second seat of Landgrave Heinrich II of Hesse), and displays a collection of paintings and an exhibition on handcrafts (like wooden sculptures from the 14th to 16th centuries), old furniture and coins. The other two seats of the museum are Leib'schen Haus (four-storey half-timbered house built in 1350), with a collection on the history of Gießen, exhibitions on folklore, regional handicrafts and Gießen's industrial history; and Wallenfels'sche Haus, whose collection is more focused on regional prehistory and early history of the region (although it has ancient finds from Rome, Troy, Etruria, Greece and a collection on the culture and religion of Tibet).

Water Can Museum (17-19 Tue, 11-13 Wed, 15-18 Fri, 12-15 Sat, 15-17 from Apr to Oct; 11-13 Wed, 15-18 Fri, 12-15 Sat from Nov to Mar; free): museum with worldwide watering cans and other irrigation instruments, unique in its kind in Germany.

Botanical Garden of the University of Gießen (8-19 Mon-Fri, 8-18 Sat-Sun from Apr to Oct; 8-16 Mon-Fri, 8-15:30 Sat-Sun from Nov to Mar; free): small botanical garden, one of the oldest of its kind in Germany (founded in 1609), that belongs to the University of Gießen. It contains around 8,000 different plant species and today is used for research and teaching for students of biology, agricultural sciences, geography, medicine and veterinary medicine.

Gießen Church Tower: 50 m high tower that comes from the Romanesque period, originally installed in another church which was demolished in 1530, but was rebuilt in the 19th century. From its top there are nice views of the city

Elefantenklo: pedestrian overpass over a street crossing built in the 1960s, nicknamed as elephant toilet (it received this nickname because of its exaggerated size and the three large openings above the intersection, which are reminiscent of an oversized outhouse). Today it is regarded as a disruptive factor in the architectural proportionality in relation to the cityscape and as a symbol of a failed city and traffic planning.

Mathematikum Gießen (10-18; 9€/ 6€  adults/ reduced): interactive museum founded by the Giessen mathematics professor Albrecht Beutelspacher, being the the first museum of its kind in Germany and in the world. Its aim is opening mathematics for people of all ages, educational backgrounds and all genders through sensual experiences and by trying out and experimenting, complex mathematical relationships are made unconsciously and simply "understandable" for the visitors.

Liebig Museum (10-18 Tue-Sun; 7€/ 5€  adults/ reduced): natural science museum focused on the work of the chemist Justus von Liebig, who lived and worked in the University of Gießen (1824-1852), being one of the most important museums on chemistry in Germany. It shows the working conditions and tools used on von Liebig's times.

Old Cemetery of Gießen: interesting cemetery where some well-known people are buried, like Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (first Nobel laureate in physics). It has a nice chapel too.

ElefantenkloUpper Hessian Museum at Gießen Old PalaceWetzlar CathedralOnly 17 km west it can be found Wetzlar (52,955 inhabitants), a city that is an important railway junction that has a beautiful town hall and many Fachwerkhäus. Besides that the main landmarks in town are Auferstehungskirche (a Lutheran church built in the 17th century) and Bebra Water Tower (a Klönne type tower completed in 1910 used to supply the railways with service water). The following town is Rotenburg an der Fulda (14,555 inhabitants), with its pretty half-timbered old town, that is a very nice place to get lost and discover. Its main sightseeing points in town are Rotenburg Palace (Schloss first built by Landgrave Ludwig II of Niederhessen in 1470, rebuilt in Renaissance style in 1570 that today houses a training center for the Hessian financial administration), Jakobikirche (late-Gothic Lutheran church that has an organ from 1682) and Rotenburg Jewish Museum,a small museum that teaches about six centuries of Jewish life in Rotenburg and the surrounding area. Continuing the way to Kassel, in the town of Morschen (3,214 inhabitants), it can be visited Haydau Monastery, a former Cistercian convent built in the early 14th century that was converted in the 17th century into a stately home for a Landgrave. Today the building is used for meetings and conventions. From Morschen the visitor can to to Spangenberg (6,046 inhabitants), a town with a nice half-timbered Alstadt, the remains of its fortifications and its landmark, Spangenberg Palace. This Schloss was originally a Gothic building built by Lord Hermann of Treffurt in 1235 that has been used as a castle, fortress and hunting lodge by the Hessian landgraves, prison, forestry school and is now a hotel and restaurant. Another possibility is going to Melsungen (13,689 inhabitans), a spa town by river Fulda with an impressing Fachwerkstadt (compact area featuring half-timbered houses in the Old Town). Marktplatz and Melsungen Town HallThe highlights of this area are Melsungen Town Hall (half-timbered house built in the 1560s), Melsungen Palace (16th century Schloss built by Landgrave Philip I in late Weser Renaissance style that was used as a hunting lodge), Eulenturm and the bridges Bartenwetzerbrücke and Zweipfenningsbrücke. The main churches in town are Melsungen Lutheran Church (9-17; free), a Gothic church from 1420 that is one of the oldest buildings in the town, and St. Georg Hospital Chapel, chapel that was first mentioned in 1303. In case of wanting to know more context about the history of this cute town the visitor can go to Melsungen History Museum (15-17 Sat-Sun; 1€/ 0.50€  adults/ reduced) to get that information. Marktplatz, Weinhaus and Alsfeld Town HallDriving 33 km southwest there's Alsfeld (16,037 inhabitants), a town by Schwalm river in the center of Hesse. The town keeps many of its traditional houses (in fact, there are more than 400 half-timbered houses from seven centuries). In the square Markplatz there's the landmark of the town, Alsfeld Town Hall, a 16th century late-Gothic Rathaus that is one of the most important German half-timbered town halls, a combination of stone architecture and timber construction. Next to it is located the Weinhaus, a stone building from 1538 that used to store and serve wine (today is the seat of the town and the tourist center). Other of the most interesting houses in town are Stumpfhaus, Bücking-Haus and the Renaissance style Hochzeitshaus. Walpurgiskirche (13th century Lutheran church that has rich interior decoration and a cute bell tower) and Alsfeld Monastery (Augustinian monastery founded in the 13th century whose only remaining part is the Gothic church, the Lutheran church used in winter) are the main religious buildings in town. To learn more about the town and the surrounding district and area it can be visited Alsfeld Regional Museum (11-13 and 14-16 Thu-Sun) and to learn more about local fairy tale it can be visited Märchenhaus (10:30-12:30 and 14-17 Sat, 14-17 Sun; 3€/ 2€  adults/ reduced), having historical dolls' houses from the mid-19th century. Where can I eat in Gießen? The traditional dish in Bad Hersfeld is the Lumpen und Flöhe (dish with potatoes, white cabbage and bacon). The city has nice places to eat such as News Cafe (Linggplatz 17), the restaurant Zum Stern (Linggplatz 11) or the restaurant of Hotel am Kurpark (Am Kurpark 19-21). Posted in: Europe,Germany,Hesse