Even though Offenbach has been dominated by its direct neighbour Frankfurt am Main, it is the fifth biggest town in Hessen, boasting about 120,000 inhabitants. Offenbach is an industrial city and was famous for its leather products in the 19th century.

Founded in the early Frankish period, Offenbach´s history reaches back until the 6th century, but Offenbach is first mentioned officially in a document in 770. The first document speaking of Offenbach as a town stems from 977. When Offenbach was owned by the Archbishop of Trier, in 1400, a first palace was built within its borders.

Offenbach changed hands very frequently between different noble families. Thus its history and character was not moulded by those but rather by Huguenot refugees from France at the end of the 17th century, who started new and innovative branches of industry and commerce like for example tobacco manufactures. The edifices build by the Huguenots still leave their mark on parts of the older quarters of the town, as it is the case with the “French-Reformed Church” in the centre of the city.

Offenbach’s best known building is the Isenburg Palace (Isenburger Schloß), which was built in 1576 and is one of the most important Renaissance palaces erected north of the Alps. People visiting Offenbach should also try to visit the Büsing Palais, which received its contemporary form in 1907, the Lili Temple in the Lili Park, which was named after Goethe´s fiancée Lili Schönemann. The most important museum in Offenbach is the “German Leather Museum” (Deutsches Ledermuseum), which does not only display leather products, but also ethnological exhibits and also examples for artistic uses of leather.

For further information: http://www.offenbach.de/offenbach/themen/unterwegs-in-offenbach/tourismus-und-freizeit/article/welcome-to-offenbach.html

Photo: Büsing Palais, Offenbach am Main, Außenansicht, via Wikipedia, user: diba, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en