Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is a federal state (Land) of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden; the largest city is Frankfurt am Main....

Hesse is a central German state known for forests and Wiesbaden, a Roman spa town and now the state's capital city. Amid the skyscrapers of Frankfurt am Main, the state's largest city and Germany's financial center, lie the Städel art museum and the Goethe House— the author's childhood home. Across the Rhine River, in the wider cultural region of Rhine-Hesse, is the city of Mainz with its 1,000-year-old cathedral. The contours of the Land of Hesse, as we know them today, were drawn only in 1946. In ancient times, the south of Hesse was marked by the Limes of Upper Germania and Rhetia, an archaeological monument of great importance. This legacy is still visible at some sites, such as the reconstruction of the Saalburg Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hessen offers many opportunities for active holidays: hiking, cycling, swimming and water sports on natural or artificial lakes in unspoiled landscapes such as the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park.