Discover Gießen: Nature, Museums and Culture

For a hotel stay in Gießen, you can shape your days around your interests: nature and exercise, interactive activities, or museums and the performing arts. The city combines green urban spaces with themes from the history of science and culture. The places below offer practical ideas to help you plan.

Green Spaces and Exercise

Gießen’s green spaces include the Botanical Garden of Justus Liebig University, Philosopher’s Forest and the Lahn, which winds through a gentle valley. The Botanical Garden is Germany’s oldest university botanical garden; historic sections remain part of the present-day grounds. Its fragrance and tactile garden, established in 2006, is designed to be accessible to blind visitors.

Schwanenteich is a tranquil lake in a green floodplain area, just a few hundred metres from Gießen city centre. The Bergwerkswald nature reserve, between Gießen and Linden, is also nearby. It has been protected since 1955 and was included in the European protected-area network as a Special Area of Conservation under the Habitats Directive in 2001.

If you would like to include a multi-day hike in your travel plans, the Lahn-Kinzig Trail offers a clear itinerary: its third stage starts in Gießen. The main hiking trail between the Lahn and Kinzig is just under 130 kilometres long and is designed to be covered in seven day hikes. For getting around the city, cycling is another option. Gießen is relatively flat; in the city centre, cycling is considered especially fast, quiet, emission-free, inexpensive and flexible. You can get around without your own car using a rental bike, the bus or car-sharing.

Stangenpark, located in Wieseckaue City Park, is a freely accessible calisthenics facility with a total training area of 330 square metres. The facility was recently expanded; check the latest operating notices before visiting. At Lahnfenster Hessen, you can watch fish migrating through large viewing windows. The observation station is located at a fish ladder in Gießen.

Museums, Exhibitions and the Performing Arts

The Notaufnahmelager Gießen learning and remembrance centre is Hesse’s only state-owned memorial site. The exhibition there opened in June 2025 and tells stories of escape, arrival and new beginnings. Check the current exhibition programme before visiting.

At Mathematikum, the world’s first hands-on mathematics museum, visitors can handle and try out more than 170 exhibits. This is a playful way to experience mathematical phenomena. Mini-Mathematikum is aimed at children aged four to eight, with a focus on numbers, shapes and patterns. The Museumslabor at the Museum für Gießen also offers innovative, digital activities to try, discover and experience.

The Liebig Museum opens up the original workplaces of Justus Liebig to visitors. They include the Old Laboratory, the Analytical Laboratory, the lecture hall, the library and his home. The Upper Hessian Museum occupies three buildings in central Gießen. The Old Castle houses an art gallery as well as exhibition rooms for porcelain, sculptures and film.

The Gießkannenmuseum takes a distinctive approach to exhibitions: it has artistic roots, takes a participatory approach and focuses uniquely on watering cans. Public tours offer insights into the collection, with a focus on temporary exhibitions and the stories behind the donated watering cans. Check the dates and booking arrangements in advance.

There are also different kinds of performing arts to enjoy. Gießen City Theatre presents opera, operetta and musicals as part of its music theatre programme; contemporary and classical plays; modern dance theatre; year-round theatre for children and young people; and a range of concert series across two stages. On the Justus Liebig University campus, the Gießen Art Trail connects the Philosophikum I and II building complexes.

From March to December, the Gießen Tourist Information Office offers a varied programme of city tours. These include historical walking tours, food tours at the Gießen weekly market, experimental lectures in the style of Liebig’s time, and tours exploring the history of women in Gießen. Check the current dates for the relevant year.

Discover more destinations: Lich, Heuchelheim, Reiskirchen, Rabenau, Staufenberg, Biebertal, Grünberg, Pohlheim.

Go to the main travel overview: Gießen.