Darmstadt-Dieburg is a Kreis (district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

) in the south of Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Neighboring districts are Offenbach

Offenbach (district)

Offenbach is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Neighbourhood districts are Main-Kinzig, Aschaffenburg, Darmstadt-Dieburg, Groß-Gerau and the cities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Offenbach.-History:The district Offenbach was first...

, Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg (district)

Aschaffenburg is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg, Offenbach, Main-Kinzig , the districts Main-Spessart and Miltenberg, and the town of Aschaffenburg....

, Miltenberg

Miltenberg (district)

Miltenberg is an administrative district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Aschaffenburg, the districts of Aschaffenburg and Main-Spessart, and the states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse .-History:During the Middle Ages there was continuous...

, Odenwaldkreis

Odenwaldkreis

The Odenwaldkreis is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Darmstadt-Dieburg, Miltenberg,Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis and Kreis Bergstraße. Odenwaldkreis belongs to the Rhine Neckar Area.-History:...

, Bergstraße, Groß-Gerau

Groß-Gerau (district)

Groß-Gerau is a Kreis in the south of Hesse , Germany. Neighboring districts are Main-Taunus, district-free Frankfurt, Darmstadt-Dieburg, Bergstraße, Alzey-Worms, Mainz-Bingen, and the district-free cities Mainz and Wiesbaden....

, and the district-free city of Darmstadt

Darmstadt

Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.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...

, which it surrounds.

History

The district was created in 1975 by merging the previous districts of Darmstadt and Dieburg. In 1964 the district was twinned with the district of North East Derbyshire

North East Derbyshire

North East Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It borders the districts of Chesterfield, Bolsover, Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, and Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire....

, England, in 1990 with the district Zwickauer Land

Zwickauer Land

Zwickauer Land is a former Kreis in the south-west of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Neighboring districts were Chemnitzer Land, Stollberg, Aue-Schwarzenberg, Vogtlandkreis, and the districts Greiz and Altenburger Land in Thuringia...

 in Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

, Germany, and in 1995 with the Mladá Boleslav

Mladá Boleslav

Mladá Boleslav is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, on the left bank of the Jizera river about 50 km northeast of Prague.Founded in the second half of the 10th century by King Boleslav II as a royal castle...

 region in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

.

Geography

The district is located in the Odenwald

Odenwald

The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...

 mountains. Most famous in the district is the Messel Pit

Messel pit

The Messel Pit is a disused quarry near the village of Messel, about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of fossils, it has significant geological and scientific importance...

, where many fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s in the oil shale

Shale

Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...

 of a Tertiary

Tertiary

The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

 lake were found. The site is listed in the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 world heritage list since 1995.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms show a lion in the top part, taken from the coat of arms of the counts of Katzenelnbogen. The lion holds a wheel, the symbol of state of Mainz Mainz Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire... . Both owned big parts of the districts area in the past. The 23 stars in the bottom represent the municipalities of the county.

Towns and municipalities

Towns	Municipalities
Babenhausen Babenhausen Babenhausen is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany.-Geography:It is situated on the river Gersprenz, 25 km southeast of Frankfurt, and 14 km west of Aschaffenburg. South of its general borders, the mountain range of the Odenwald is situated about 15 km away... Dieburg Dieburg Dieburg is a town in southern Hessen, Germany. It was formerly the seat of the district of Dieburg, but is now part of the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg.-History:... Griesheim Griesheim Griesheim is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hessen, Germany. It is situated approx. 7 km west of Darmstadt.-History:... Groß-Bieberau Groß-Bieberau Groß-Bieberau is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 15 km southeast of Darmstadt. It has several sister cities, one of which is Millstadt, Illinois.... Groß-Umstadt Groß-Umstadt Groß-Umstadt is a town in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany. It is near Darmstadt and Frankfurt on the northern border of the Odenwald and is on the edge of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region. The highest point of the town is the Heidelberg .The population is... Ober-Ramstadt Ober-Ramstadt Ober-Ramstadt is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 9 km southeast of Darmstadt. As of 2006, its population was 15,196.-Location:... Pfungstadt Pfungstadt Pfungstadt is a German town of 25,117 inhabitants, in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the state of Hesse.The town was first mentioned in 785 as property of the Monastery of Lorsch and got its town rights in 1886 due to its railway station... Reinheim Reinheim Reinheim is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 14 km southeast of Darmstadt.-Twin towns - Sister cities:... Weiterstadt Weiterstadt Weiterstadt is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated approx. 6 km northwest of Darmstadt.....	Alsbach-Hähnlein Alsbach-Hähnlein Alsbach-Hähnlein is a municipality in southern Hesse in the district Darmstadt-Dieburg. It resulted from a merger of the two separate municipalities Alsbach and Hähnlein.- External links :* *... Bickenbach Bickenbach, Hesse Bickenbach is a municipality in the Darmstadt-Dieburg county of Hesse, Germany.... Eppertshausen Eppertshausen Eppertshausen is a municipality in southern Hesse in the district Darmstadt-Dieburg. The municipality has a total population of 5,805 inhabitants. Currently, the mayor is Carsten Helfmann.-External links:*... Erzhausen Erzhausen Erzhausen is a village in southern Hesse, Germany. It is part of the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg. It has about 7.000 inhabitants.- History :... Fischbachtal Fischbachtal Fischbachtal is a municipality in southern Hesse in the district Darmstadt-Dieburg. The municipality has a total population of 2,686 inhabitants... Groß-Zimmern Groß-Zimmern Groß-Zimmern is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, in Hessen, Germany. It is situated 10 km east of Darmstadt and right next to Dieburg.... Messel Messel Messel is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in Hesse near Frankfurt am Main in Germany.The village is first mentioned, as Masilla, in the Lorsch codex.Messel was the property of the lords of Groschlag from ca. 1400 to 1799...	Modautal Modautal Modautal is a municipality in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. Around 5,050 inhabitants live in 11 districts on an area of 31 km2 . The first historical chronicles date back to the 13th century.-History:... Mühltal Mühltal Mühltal is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 6 km southeast of Darmstadt.-Notable people:*Karl Ferdinand Abt -Nazi politician*Johann Konrad Dippel -theologian and alchemist... Münster Münster, Hesse Münster is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hessen, Germany. It has a population of 14,000 . It is situated 3 km north of Dieburg, and 24 km southeast of Frankfurt. A highlight is its annual "Altstadtfest".... Otzberg Otzberg Otzberg is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, located in the Odenwald. It was founded in 1972 by the merger of six former independent municipalities.... Roßdorf Roßdorf Roßdorf is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of 12,169 . It is situated 8 km east of Darmstadt.- Neighbouring Towns and Municipalities :... Schaafheim Schaafheim Schaafheim is a municipality in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany.... Seeheim-Jugenheim Seeheim-Jugenheim Seeheim-Jugenheim is a municipality in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of approximately 17,000.Seeheim-Jugenheim consists of seven villages:*Balkhausen *Jugenheim...

External links