Darmstadt is a city in Hesse, Germany, located a little south of Frankfurt. The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century. However, the sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat of the Landgraves of Hessen-Darmstadt in the 16th century. Darmstadt is one the few cities (as opposed to smaller towns) in Germany which does not lie close to a river, lake or coast. It can also boast being the sunniest city in the state of Hesse. The chemical element Darmstadtium (atomic number 110) is named after it, having been synthetisized in a research facility nearby. http://wikitravel.org/en/Darmstadt