Evonik Industries is one of the world's leading specialty chemicals companies. Its historical roots reach back to the beginnings of the German industrial society. In 1909, Dr. Otto Röhm laid the foundation stone for the 16-hectare Evonik site in Darmstadt, where about 1,300 people are employed today - plus around 200 trainees and students (DHBW).

In Darmstadt, Evonik today produces, for example, a rigid foam that ensures greater lightness in aeroplanes, helicopter rotor blades, cars and sports articles.

The scientific foundation for testing and evaluation of safety-relevant components such as car wheels, truck axles and rail vehicle bodies was laid in Darmstadt in the 1930s. Today, 500 staff from different disciplines work together on the campus of the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability (LBF) in four buildings in Bartningstrasse. Industrial contracts and research projects are carried out. Test rigs are available for complete vehicles or ships' motors.

The department of adaptronics develops active components such as sensors for monitoring of aircraft, for vibration control of mechanical structures and for noise reduction. In the LOEWE centre AdRIA, funded by the State of Hessen, the research staff work closely with the Technical University of Darmstadt.

The newest department of the institute is the Centre for System Reliability with emphasis on electromobility. Under the motto "light and electric", concepts for the mobility of the future are under development.

Darmstadt’s jazz institute hosts Europe’s largest public jazz collection. Information on the history and current developments in jazz can be found in its archives. The vaulted cellar under the institute is the venue for jazz concerts. The jazz institute tries to build a bridge between science and practice, between services for the jazz scene and the documentation of musical developments from yesterday and today, between regional culture and international discourse.

The GSI was founded in 1969 and since then six new chemical elements have been discovered, including element 110, Darmstadtium. GSI operates a large-scale worldwide unique accelerator facility for heavy ions. Researchers from all over the world use the facility for experiments to gain new insights about the building blocks of matter and the evolution of the universe. In addition they develop new applications in medicine and technology. An example is a treatment for tumours which was developed here and has been successfully used since 1997. In the coming years the new international accelerator facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), one of the largest research projects worldwide, will be built at GSI. At FAIR an unprecedented variety of experiments will be possible. Scientists from all over the world will be able to gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present.

In 1969, six young staff from the Institute of Applied Information Processing founded the company Software AG. Today the company has its headquarters in Darmstadt-Eberstadt and is one of the global leaders in the area of business software technology. The Darmstadt company employs around five thousand three hundred staff based in over seventy locations worldwide.

Since 1967, space missions have been designed and controlled here in the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt. The worldwide network of ESA ground stations is also operated from here in order to maintain contact with the missions. In this control centre, more than 80 ESA missions were operationally supervised from the early start-up phase, including Giotto, Huygens, Envisat, Mars Express, Rosetta, BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter, but also missions from other organisations. ESA's activities in the area of space security to protect against dangers from space are also located here.

Virtual tour:

Through the ESOC in Darmstadt: discover.esa.int

Discover ESA: discover.esa.int

Information on guided tours at ESA Darmstadt: www.darmstadt-tourismus.de/esa

The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) has had its headquarters in Darmstadt since 1986. From here, a system of meteorological satellites is operated, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In addition to the data needed for our daily weather forecasts, they provide information used in measuring climate change and global warming.

A look into the past?

The image viewer of EUMETSAT enables the visualisation of more than 35 years of Meteosat Imagery. Starting from 17 Aug 1981, one image of the earth as seen from Meteosat per day can be selected.

pics.eumetsat.int/viewer/index.html

The House of Digital Transformation is a platform for promoting digital transformation in Hessen. As a central player in the innovation ecosystem in Hessen, it networks players from business, science and politics who work together towards one goal: to jointly shape the digital transformation in Hessen. To this end, it brings together companies from all sectors as well as universities and municipalities that seek, share and offer know-how, experience and good practices as well as solutions for the digital transformation.

The Öko-Institut is one of Europe's leading independent research and advisory institutes for a sustainable future. Since its foundation in 1977, the Institute has been developing principles and strategies on how the vision of sustainable development can be implemented globally, nationally and locally. The Institute has offices in Freiburg, Darmstadt and Berlin.

From Darmstadt to the world: our roots go back to 1907. At that time, Dr Otto Röhm founded Röhm & Haas OHG together with Otto Haas, a predecessor company of today's Röhm. In the meantime, Röhm has become a leading supplier of methacrylate chemistry. As a global company with around 3,500 employees, Röhm is represented on four continents. Its broad product portfolio includes the world-renowned PLEXIGLAS® brand.

Since 2002, various research institutions in Darmstadt have been pooling their diverse IT security activities. The result is the National Research Centre for Applied Cyber Security ATHENE, today the largest research centre for applied cyber security in Europe. The more than 550 scientists contribute to the security of the digital sovereignty of the economy, society and state with their practice-oriented cutting-edge research.

ATHENE is an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft with the participation of the Fraunhofer Institutes SIT and IGD and the universities TU Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.

Thanks to a hitherto unique organisational and funding structure, ATHENE is able to react quickly and agilely to new challenges and ensure a direct transfer of technology right up to start-ups.

DLR_School_Lab TU Darmstadt invites pupils on a fascinating "journey into the future". Experiments in weightlessness, a virtual spacewalk and earth observation by satellite - this and much more awaits the pupils, who slip into the role of young scientists here and thus become acquainted with current DLR and university projects.

The TURM Observatory is located on the downtown campus of TU Darmstadt on top of the so-called “Uhrturm” and was established in 2020.

With this observatory the TU Darmstadt provides an environment for students to get individual hands-on experience with astronomical observations, e.g., through advanced lab courses, practical demonstrations accompanying lectures, and voluntary student activities. Over the past years the department has developed a strong research programme in theoretical and nuclear astrophysics. However, it did not have research or teaching activities in observational astrophysics or astronomy – a topic which is very attractive for many physics students as well as the general public. The TURM Observatoryare is trying to fill this gap.

LAB³ e.V. stands as the responsible body for the Hessian LABspace infrastructure for the purpose of research, development and teaching. As a young research society, the organisation constitutes transdisciplinary experimental and teaching laboratories and facilitates non-university technology transfer, for example for inventors, founders and reallabs.

The Evangelische Hochschule Darmstadt, an officially recognised university sponsored since 1971 by the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, is located at the main station. Study programs provide qualifications for employment in the social services and health care systems and for service in the Church. The academic education that is provided is very closely connected to practical experience.

In 1908, the aviation pioneer August Euler established Germany's first officially recognised airfield on the "Griesheimer Sand". The US army used the airfield for their helicopters between 1945 and 1992.

A large part of the site has been a nature reserve since 1996. Together with the Technical University of Darmstadt, the Hessian Society for Ornithology and Nature Conservation has set up a permanent exhibition here.

The remainder of the site is used by the university. Lighting engineers, for example, test to what extent newly developed LED rear lights dazzle. Aerodynamic engineers test on two motor gliders how different factors impact the air flow around the aircraft under realistic conditions. Geodesists use the site to develop new applications for satellite navigation systems.

Next door to the airfield, the university owns with the wind tunnel, built in 1936 on the site of the German Research Centre for Glider Flight, a test centre for aerodynamic research for the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics.