GIESSEN, a town of Germany, capital of the province of Upper Hesse, in the grand-duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, is situated in a beautiful and fruitful valley at the confluence of the Wieseck with the Lahn, 33 miles N.N.W. of Frankfort. It is the seat of a bailiwick, a high court, and a district penal court. The old streets are narrow and irregular, but iu the suburbs outside the old walls there are many elegant houses. Besides the university, the principal buildings are the provincial Government offices, comprising a portion of the old castle dating from the 12th century, the arsenal, the town-hall, the new gymnasium, and the town church. The university, founded in 1G07 by the landgrave Louis V., has a large and valuable library, a botanic garden, an observatory, an anatomical theatre, an infirmary, a maternity hospital, a museum of natural history, and a chemical laboratory which was directed by Professor Liebig. The number of professors and teachers of the university in 1875 was 52, and of students 340. There is also a gymnasium and a real school. The industries include the manufacture of woollen and cotton cloth of various kinds, leather, candles, tobacco, and beer.

Giessen was formed in the 12th century out of the villages Selters, Aster, and Kroppach, for whose protection Count William of Gleiberg built the castle of Giessen. Through marriage the town came into the possession of the palgrave of Tübingen, who sold it in 1265 to the landgrave Henry of Hesse. It was surrounded with fortifications in 1530, which were demolished in 1547 by the emperor Charles V., but rebuilt in 1560. From 1807 they were gradually pulled down, and their site converted into promenades. The population of Giessen in 1875 was 13,980.