Partnership with Graz
Darmstadt became a Graz partner city in 1968. However, the beginnings of the friendship with Darmstadt go back to 1964 and are closely linked to Dr. Ludwig Engel, Lord Mayor of Darmstadt, and Gustav Scherbaum, Mayor of Graz, who had first met at a conference of the Association of Cities and Municipalities in Strasbourg. After mutual visits, the city partnership agreement between the cities of Darmstadt, Graz and Trondheim was signed in October 1968.

Darmstadt today
After Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden and Kassel, Darmstadt is the fourth-largest city of the German land Hessen.
Darmstadt holds the title of "City of Science", which it owes to its University of Technology, founded in 1877, two other universities and 30 research institutions. Darmstadt's reputation as a centre of Art Deco goes back to the artists' colony in Mathildenhöhe, founded by Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig in 1899.

On September 23rd, 2008, Darmstadt received the title "City of Diversity" by the German federal government.