With a population of 6 million inhabitants, Hesse is the fifth biggest ’Bundesland’ (regional state) in Germany, covering an area of 21,000 sqkm. The state is the most important financial centre in the country and has one of the strongest economies of any region in Europe. Not only is Hesse a pivot of finance with over 400 banks, the stock exchange and the Bundesbank (Germany’s central bank, setting interest rates and controlling money supply) in Frankfurt am Main; it is also an important industrial and technological base, host to countless international trade fairs and the site of the Rhine-Main airport, largest freight carrier and second-largest passenger airport in Europe.

Situated in western-central Germany, Hesse borders on (from the north-west and clockwise) the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Thuringia, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. Its principal cities include Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Offenbach, Hanau, Gießen, Wetzlar and Limburg in the greater Rhine Main Area, Fulda in the east, as well as Kassel and Marburg in the north.

The main rivers in the northern part of Hesse are Fulda and Lahn. It is a hilly countryside, the main mountain chains being the Rhön, the Westerwald, the Taunus and the Spessart.

Most inhabitants live in the southernmost part of Hesse between the rivers Main and Rhine. The latter borders Hesse on the southwest without running through the state. The mountain chain between the Main and the Rhine is called the Odenwald. Natives of Hesse have a strong dialect of German, that can even be confusing to other Germans. They will understand and speak high ("standard") German as well. Since many also speak at least rudimentary English you shouldn't have any problems communicating with them. Local specialties include wine from grapes, especially white grapes, and from apples (a kind of cider). This apple wine may be enjoyed straight (pur) or mixed (gespritzt). The latter versions distinguish between "sweet" and "sour", i.e. mixed with either some soda (orange lemonade) or sparkling mineral water.

At the same time Hesse is a typical vacation region full of diversion: sailboarding, windsurfing and sailing at the Edersee, hang-gliding and gliding at the Wasserkuppe in the Rhön, skiing and toboggan at the Feldberg in the Taunus, horse-riding while making camping on a farm. Hesse offers lots of golf, wandering, cycling and tennis facilities.Wiesbaden is a famous international spa and also the capital of Hesse. Frankfurt am Main, or ’Mainhatten’is a commercial and industrial city and offers you a lot of really interesting museums. A cultural jewel is also the Schloss Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel. The old university town of Marburg with the early Gothic Elisabethkirche attracts visitors from all over the world. Worth to be seen are also the small town of Miltenberg and Worms with its cathedral.

Highlights:

- Frankfurt's skyline of highrises clustered in the downtown city is a rare sight in Europe.
- Not necessarily touristy Rüdesheim, but the valley of the river Rhine with its castles and vineyards
- Shopping, museums, opera, theater and ballet options abound in Frankfurt.
- Take a boat trip on the rivers Main and Rhine.
- Go canoeing on the Lahn river.
- Do some hiking up the Feldberg/Taunus or in the Spessart woods.