GIESSEN

city, Hesse Land (state), west-central Germany, on the Lahn River between Westerwald and Vogelsberg (mountains). First mentioned in 1197, it was chartered in 1248 and sold to the landgraves of Hesse in 1267. It was part of independent Hesse-Marburg from 1567 until 1604, when it passed to Hesse-Darmstadt. Historic landmarks include the new castle (153337), the ruins of the old castle (14th century), and the Schiffenberg Monastery. In Giessen University (Justus-Liebig-Universitt), founded in 1607, the laboratory of the famous chemist Justus von Liebig may still be seen. The Socialist Wilhelm Liebknecht, born in Giessen, attended the university. There are schools of agriculture and veterinary medicine and a university experimental farm. The Upper Hessian Museum and the botanical gardens are also noteworthy. Giessen is a busy traffic centre; its industries include the manufacture of machinery, textiles, pottery, and rubber, and tobacco products. Pop. (1989 est.) 71,751. Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), central Hesse Land (state), west-central Germany. Giessen is bordered by the Lnder of Rhineland-Palatinate to the southwest and North Rhine-Westphalia to the northwest and by the Regierungsbezirke of Kassel to the north and east and Darmstadt to the south. The district occupies an area of 2,077 square miles (5,380 square km) and comprises part of the larger historic region of Hessen (q.v.). Giessen was created by an administrative reorganization in 1980, largely from the northern territory of Darmstadt and from a small portion of southwestern Kassel. The Regierungsbezirk takes its name from that of the second largest city and administrative seat of the district. Giessen is dissected by the West Hessen Depression, a northern continuation of the fertile Wetterau lowland region of Darmstadt. The depression extends from Darmstadt into the Giessen Basin, passes northward through the narrow upper Lahn river valley to Marburg, the largest city of the district, and finally turns eastward toward the Schwalm Basin of Kassel. Potatoes, sugar beets, cereals, and hogs are raised in the depression, one of the district's few intensively farmed regions. West of the depression the eastern plateaus of the Middle Rhine Highlands, including from north to south the Rothaargebirge, Westerwald, and Taunus, rise to about 1,900 feet (600 m) in elevation along the district's fringes. The abundantly forested hills of the Burgwald and Gladenbacher Bergland lie between the Rothaargebirge and the depression. The slopes of the western uplands are covered by beech and spruce forests, pastureland used for cattle rearing, and scattered arable fields. The middle Lahn River drains westward toward the Rhine River, separating the Westerwald and Taunus plateaus. Near the western border the Lahn valley widens at the fertile loess-covered Limburg Basin, which is largely cultivated in wheat. East of the West Hessen Depression are the volcanic areas of the Hessen Central Uplands, including the conical mass of the Honer Vogelsberg (Honer Mountains), covering some 950 square miles, the largest continuous basalt area in Europe. The Vogelsberg is characterized by a drainage pattern that radiates from the Taufstein (2,539 feet ), the district's highest peak. The region's economy has been plagued by the abandonment of marginal farmland. The federal government has invested money to improve regional conditions and to help develop forestry, tourism, and a productive grass-based livestock industry. The valleys of the Lahn River and its northern tributary the Dill are the most densely populated areas of Giessen, averaging between 500 and 1,300 persons per square mile (200 and 500 per square km). Industrial development is heaviest along the Dill, where local iron ore deposits are smelted and used in numerous metal-processing industries. Important optical industries are located in Wetzlar, Giessen, and Weilburg. The majority of the population of Giessen Regierungsbezirk are of Hessian Frankish descent and speak the Rhenish Franconian dialect. About two-thirds are Protestant and one-third Roman Catholic. The rural settlement pattern of the West Hessen Depression and its fringes is one of irregular, compact villages with small, fragmented arable fields. Isolated farms and small hamlets are more common in the upland regions. Higher education in the district is centred at Philipps-Universitt in Marburg and Justus-Liebig-Universitt in Giessen. Pop. (1989 est.) 963,538.