Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt

While we started the blog mainly to show some pictures of our travles, we've since realized that it's not only nice and beautiful abroad, but also at home. When we first moved here, we weren't too fond of the particular region we live in now, but we've started to find many places here that are actually really beautiful and/or special. And some of those places we are aware that we'd probably be visiting if they were located in a city somewhere in one of our trips.

One of the more obvious ones around our home is the "Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt", Darmstadt probably best known attraction. The "Mathildenhöhe" used to be an artists colony for Art Nouveau (in german: "Jugenstil") artists, and the buildings there are mostly from that era. That's why Darmstadt is sometimes supposedly is even referred to as Germany's capital of Art Nouveau.

The "Hochzeitsturm" on the Mathildenhöhe is also Darmstadts most iconic sight and used in many logos centered around the city – it seems almost like a symbol of the city itself.

The plantain grove predates the artists colony but was stocked with sculptures during the artists exhibitons. In the summer people meet up to play the game of boule on the hard packed dirt of the plantain grove. There also used to be all kinds of events and festivals in there, but a lot of the old trees didn't take that too well. Now most events have been banned from the grove.

Another special of the Mathildenhöhe is also a russian chapel that was built well before the founding of the artists colony, but has been included into the overall planning.

Right before it sits the "Lilienbecken", a pool with a mosaic depicting Lilies. They view from the "Lilienbecken" up to the russian chapel and the Hochzeitsturm is probably the most photographed motive in Darmstadt, but I haven't yet been able to capture a good picture of that.

Darmstadt is currently in the application process to make the Mathildenhöhe a UNESCO World Heritage Site – there's some information on that on their website.

You might have be able to notice that not all of those pictures were taking in one sitting.We've been to the Mathildenhöhe quite a few times, so the pictures are a bit mixed up. To be honest about that part of Darmstadt – at first I didn't really like the place too much, I'm not that big of a fan of art nouveau, but it really depends on the time of the year and day. I think the best time to visit is in the springtime or early summer, when everything is green, in the late afternoon. Around 5-ish or something. Then it can be really stunning.

Currently there's construction going on on the central Exhibition Building, and a big part of it is wrapped in framework and tarps, I think they won't be done until 2018. So if you plan on going there you probably won't be able to see it in its full glory until then.