Darmstadt

Darmstadt began as a settlement of the counts of Katzenelnbogen, its name first appearing near the end of the eleventh century. Emperor Louis the Bavarian granted it town rights in 1330. The counts established a small castle here and used the town as a secondary residence. When their line died out in 1479, Darmstadt passed to the landgraves of Hesse.

The division of Hesse in 1567 gave the town a new importance as the residence of the landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt. Their palace grew from the earlier castle, and the court remained at Darmstadt for centuries. In 1806 the landgraviate became the Grand Duchy of Hesse, with Darmstadt as its capital. The rulers also held the nearby hunting lodge of Kranichstein and acquired Frankenstein Castle in 1662.