UniChapter
Aerial view of Gießen on a clear day, with the Lahn and a road bridge in the foreground, the shopping centre and the town's roofs behind, and wooded hills on the horizon

Studying in Hesse, Germany

Gießen

A university town on the Lahn where students are a huge share of the street.

10

10 English-taught programmes open for applications in Gießen

Next deadline: 15 Jan 2027. Every entry links to its official source.

See the programmes ↓

Gießen is a town of about 92,000 people in central Hesse, and the city's own website says that nowhere in Germany do students make up such a large share of the population. Two universities, Justus Liebig University (founded 1607) and Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM), put close to 40,000 students here. For you that means a town built around student life: dorms and canteens run by one Studierendenwerk, a student-run English-language theatre, a maths museum that people travel to see, a river you can canoe on, and Frankfurt on a direct train line. It is not a big-city show; it is a place where you can get a dorm room, a lecture seat and a Saturday on the Lahn without a long commute, and where an international student is one of many.

Population
92,111 (June 2025)
State
Hesse (Hessen), central Germany, on the river Lahn
Students in the city
39,889 (winter semester 2024/25)
Justus Liebig University
about 25,000 students, about 3,800 of them international (winter 2025/26)
THM
15,148 students across three campuses, 8,705 of them at the Gießen campus (winter 2025/26)
To Frankfurt
40 minutes on a direct train line, according to the city
Semester contribution at JLU
421.43 EUR for winter 2026/27, of which 226.80 EUR is the Deutschland-Semesterticket
Dorm rent
most dorm houses list 250 to about 490 EUR a month; Unterhof goes up to 907 EUR for family flats

Part 1

Living in Gießen

A university town on the Lahn

Gießen sits in the valley of the Lahn, between the foothills of the Vogelsberg, the Taunus and the Westerwald. The university was founded in 1607 and took the name of the chemist Justus Liebig in 1957. Liebig taught and researched here for 28 years and is counted as a pioneer of organic chemistry, which is why his laboratories survive as a museum on Liebigstraße. Goethe wrote about the area in 1772, on a journey from Wetzlar to Gießen.

The city calls itself a university, culture and shopping town. The city's page on studying here says that nowhere in Germany do students have such a high share of the total population, and gives about 45,000 students among more than 90,000 residents, from more than 100 nations. Other city and university pages count slightly differently (the city's facts page lists 39,889 for winter 2024/25), so read it as close to 40,000 or a little more, roughly four or five people in ten. The same page says Gießen was the youngest city in Hesse by average age at the end of 2019.

Life sciences, metal and electrical industry and business services are the main employers named by the city. The centre has a pedestrian shopping street, the Seltersweg, a shopping centre at the Neustädter Tor and a traditional weekly market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The sandstone main building of Justus Liebig University seen between plane trees, with the Latin inscription Academia Ludoviciana and the year 1607 along the top
The main building of Justus Liebig University, carved with its founding year, 1607.

What to see and do

Most of these are within walking or cycling distance of each other, and several are free or cheaper with a student ID.

  • Mathematikum ↗

    A hands-on mathematics museum at Liebigstraße 8, run by the city since 2002 in a former provincial prison and later tax and customs building. You try experiments instead of reading plaques, and the museum's site lists it as open daily.

  • Liebig-Museum ↗

    Justus von Liebig's original workplaces, kept as they were: the old laboratory, the analytical lab, his lecture hall, his library and his former home, at Liebigstraße 12, next door to the Mathematikum.

  • Botanischer Garten ↗

    The university's botanical garden covers about 3 hectares and grows roughly 7,500 plant species for teaching and research, with a history of more than 400 years. A good place to read between lectures.

  • Stadttheater Gießen ↗

    The city's theatre at Südanlage 1 shows opera and musicals, drama, dance, youth theatre and concerts. The box office is the Haus der Karten at Kreuzplatz 6.

  • The Keller Theatre ↗

    Gießen's English-language theatre, run by a members' association, at Kleine Bühne, Bleichstraße 28. Students get a reduced rate on show nights with an ID card, and the audience can have a drink with the cast and helpers afterwards. You can also join as a member. The city describes it as founded in 1958 and says it is thought to be Germany's oldest English-language theatre.

  • KUNSTHALLE GIESSEN and Museum für Gießen ↗

    The Kunsthalle shows current contemporary art in the Kulturrathaus. The Museum für Gießen covers the town's history at three places in the centre.

  • Flimmerkiste ↗

    The university cinema (Unikino), listed by the city at Senckenbergstraße 3. Its site mentions semester film polls for the audience and is in German.

Museum and garden

The information plaque outside the Mathematikum on Liebigstraße, headed 'Vom Gefängnis zum Science Center' (from prison to science centre)
The plaque outside the Mathematikum: the building began as a provincial prison in 1834.
The glass-fronted palm house of the university botanical garden, with palms and shrubs in front of it
The palm house in the university's botanical garden.

Weekends, water and green space

The city describes the Lahn as one of Germany's most beautiful rivers for walking, and in Gießen you can canoe it, cycle along it, or sit on a small green spot on its bank. On the weir there is a standing wave where people surf in wetsuits, which the photo below shows.

Inside the town the Stadtpark Wieseckaue has a skate park, and the city lists the Theaterpark, a climbing and bouldering centre, a rope-course climbing forest, a pump track and the Trimm-Dich-Pfad in the Bergwerkswald as places to spend an afternoon. The city's swimming pools, including the Freibad Ringallee, are run by the Stadtwerke, and the AStA of both universities has a swimming-pool deal for students (see Student life).

A surfer riding the standing wave on the Lahn while others in wetsuits wait on the weir, with a brick tower and chimney behind
Surfers at the Lahnwelle, a standing wave on the river.

Getting around

Gießen is small enough to cross by bike. The city has a signposted cycling network, a bus network and car sharing. At THM the AStA offers free 30-minute rides on Nextbike city bikes in Gießen, and a free cargo bike called Flotter that you can borrow for up to five days.

Your semester contribution includes a regional transport ticket. At JLU it is the Deutschland-Semesterticket, 226.80 EUR of the 421.43 EUR fee for winter 2026/27. At THM the ticket gives free regional transport in the RMV and NVV areas and, from 1 October 2026, becomes digital with a wallet app and an RMV chip card as backup. The city says Frankfurt is 40 minutes away on a direct line, and Marburg, Friedberg and Wetzlar about a quarter of an hour.

What things cost

Semester contribution at JLU (winter 2026/27)
421.43 EUR per semester, including the 226.80 EUR Deutschland-Semesterticketsource
Dorm room, Eichendorffring (815 places)
299 to 489 EURsource
Dorm room, Ludwigstraße (20 places)
286 to 387 EURsource
Dorm, Unterhof (753 places)
319 to 907 EUR, the upper end for family flatssource
Canteen meal, Studierendenwerk
pasta with tomato and olive sauce 2.50 EUR, grilled chicken leg 4.00 EUR on one October day; evening schnitzel 2.70 to 4.15 EURsource
Blocked account for a student visa
11,904 EUR a year, paid out at 992 EUR a month (per the German embassy's blocked-account page; confirm the current figure)source

Prices checked on the official pages in October 2026. Rents are per month.

Work and what comes after

The city counts 54,768 people employed at workplaces in Gießen (December 2025) and 4,336 registered unemployed (September 2026). Its town portrait names life sciences, metal and electrical industry and business services as key sectors. JLU alone has about 5,825 employees, not counting about 5,000 staff at the Giessen and Marburg university hospital.

For student jobs, the Studierendenwerk runs a free job board that connects students with employers and households and advises on working during studies, and THM's international office runs a talk called 'How do I find a student job?' in German and English.

Part 2

Student life in Gießen

Where you can study

Research university

Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) ↗

Founded in 1607, with about 25,000 students (winter 2025/26), about 3,800 of them international, eleven departments and over 100 degree programmes. It is known for life sciences, including human and veterinary medicine, agriculture, environmental science and nutrition, and for its excellence clusters in perception, heart and lung, and battery research. English-taught master's degrees include Advanced Materials, Agrobioinformatics, Agrobiotechnology, Sustainable Chemistry, Economics of Global Risk, Global Change: Ecosystem Science and Policy, Human Movement Analytics, Insect Biotechnology and Bioresources, Mind, Brain and Behavior, Sustainable Transition, Transition Management, Anglophone Studies, Choreography and Performance, and an English track in Interdisciplinary Studies on Eastern Europe.

International office ↗
University of applied sciences

Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) ↗

Founded in 1971, with campuses in Gießen, Friedberg and Wetzlar and 15,148 students in winter 2025/26, of whom 8,705 study in Gießen. The city calls it the largest university of applied sciences in Hesse. It counts 39 bachelor's and 44 master's degrees. The courses in Gießen taught in English or in both languages include International Business and Leadership (bachelor's), an MBA, Insect Biotechnology and Bioresources (with JLU), Biomedical Engineering, Digital and International Marketing, and Medical Physics. It reports 2,732 international students from over 110 countries.

International office ↗
Church-run university

Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen (FTH) ↗

A small Christian theological university at Rathenaustraße 5-7 with about 220 students. It offers a state-recognised B.A. in Protestant Theology, a master's, doctoral studies and a guest-student option, in person only. Its main purpose is to train people for free churches, and it states that evangelical state churches do not currently recognise its degrees.

University of applied sciences

Hessische Hochschule für öffentliches Management und Sicherheit (HöMS) ↗

The state's training university for public administration and police, with a campus in Gießen next to Kassel, Mühlheim am Main and Wiesbaden. It has five undergraduate degrees and two master's programmes and 3,236 students in total. Its page does not state admission requirements, so ask the school before planning around it.

Student unions, services and groups

  • AStA of Justus Liebig University ↗

    The student committee of JLU. It holds a psychological counselling hour on Mondays, legal advice through a group insurance, hardship money from the Solifonds, bike rental, the cinema, swimming pool and theatre deals, and the semester ticket pages. It has an autonomous representation for international students, which is currently unstaffed; write to koordination@asta-giessen.de and your message is passed on.

  • AStA of THM ↗

    The student executive body of THM, with shops in Gießen (A10, next to the Mensa) and Friedberg, free health-insurance advice, legal insurance, an emergency fund, free Nextbike rides, ISIC cards and game nights. Its culture and international department runs the THM Buddy programme and a Buddy Café.

  • Studierendenwerk Gießen ↗

    Looks after dorms, canteens, social counselling, BAföG and funding advice for JLU and THM students (and Hochschule Fulda). It lists 3,475 dorm places across Gießen, Friedberg and Fulda.

  • Lokal International on tour and Die Welt zu Gast in Gießen ↗

    The Studierendenwerk's programmes for international students: networking evenings at the Mensa in Otto-Behaghel-Straße 27 (poker, burger and pizza evenings in October 2026), and a project that brings students together with people from the town for coffee gatherings, barbecues and excursions.

  • Allgemeiner Hochschulsport (ahs) of JLU ↗

    The university sports programme, with a course catalogue, health courses, competitive sport and a booking system. Sports named on its page include Pilates, rowing and karate. Pool courses for winter 2026/27 are delayed by renovation work at the Kugelberg sports campus.

  • ESN Gießen ↗

    The local Erasmus Student Network group. Its site has a buddy programme, events, trips and a contact page.

  • Evangelische Studierendengemeinde (ESG) Gießen ↗

    The Protestant student community at Henselstraße 7, with community events, music (a project choir and ESG Vocals), sport, shared housing, and advice and support for international students. The site has an English version.

  • Katholische Hochschulgemeinde (KHG) Gießen ↗

    The Catholic student community at Wilhelmstraße 28, with services, Thursday events, Taizé prayer, social counselling for international students, a Latin dance group (Grupo Latino) and a French-language Mass. Its semester highlights are available in English and French, and it offers shared student flats.

  • Fachschaftenkonferenz of JLU ↗

    The conference of the subject-level student councils, the place to go for questions about your own degree programme.

Campus and study culture

JLU has no single campus. The Studierendenwerk's canteen and café list shows where the clusters are: Otto-Behaghel-Straße (the Mensa OBS, Café Phil, cUBar), Heinrich-Buff-Ring (CaRé and the IFZ), Frankfurter Straße (veterinary medicine) and Licher Straße (JuWi). THM's Gießen campus is at Wiesenstraße 14, with its own Mensa.

Both universities run orientation before the semester. JLU's orientation week for international students (OWIS) took place on 5 to 9 October 2026, organised through its international office; the next one will be announced on the same page. THM's international office runs a welcome programme, an International Stammtisch, an International Career Center and a buddy programme. JLU also has a university orchestra, an events calendar with concerts and lectures, and the botanical garden.

About a third of JLU's students work towards a state examination, for example in teaching, law or medicine, according to the university.

The Lahn running straight between tree-lined banks under a dark evening sky, with small boats moored on the right bank
The Lahn at Gießen on a stormy evening.

Housing: dorms and the room search

Eichendorffring 97-117
815 places, 10 to 23 m², 299 to 489 EURsource
Unterhof 51-69
753 places, 8 to 58 m², 319 to 907 EURsource
Grünberger Straße 190-198
427 places, 12 to 54 m², 341 to 442 EURsource
Leihgesterner Weg 124-134
240 places, 13 to 24 m², 330 to 364 EURsource
Mildred-Harnack-Fish-Haus
57 places in shared flats and apartments, 9 to 29 m², 250 to 465 EURsource
Landgraf-Ludwig-Haus, Friedrichstraße 37
100 single rooms, 11 m², 344 EURsource

The Studierendenwerk lists 11 dorms in Gießen, with about 2,700 places in total (adding up the places on its page). Application is through its online form, and the housing office can be reached at wohnen@stwgi.de or 0641 40008-300, with open hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11:00 to 13:00. The city says rents and living costs in Gießen are relatively low, and the Studierendenwerk also runs a free Wohnbörse for private rooms.

Canteens and food

The Studierendenwerk runs the Mensa Otto-Behaghel-Straße (OBS) at Otto-Behaghel-Straße 27, the Mensa at THM, Wiesenstraße 14, and the Mensa in the Mildred-Harnack-Fish-Haus at Leihgesterner Weg 16, plus cafés and coffee bars across the campuses (Café Phil, Café am Kunstweg, CampusTor, cUBar, the IFZ, CaRé and others). Prices on one October day were 2.50 EUR for a pasta dish and 4.00 EUR for a grilled chicken leg, and the evening Mensa serves schnitzel for 2.70 to 4.15 EUR. Menus are posted on the Studierendenwerk site.

The city's weekly market runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays if you want to cook for yourself.

Sport, culture and nights out

Student deals are the cheapest way to try the town.

  • AStA flatrates at JLU ↗

    Student flatrates for the cinema and the swimming pool, discounted theatre tickets, bike rental, and student tickets for the GIESSEN 46ers.

  • AStA perks at THM ↗

    A free summer-semester entry to the outdoor pool (Freibad-Flat), free last-minute theatre tickets three days before a show, and regular game nights.

  • Kinopolis and Kino-Center ↗

    Gießen's cinemas: Kinopolis at Ostanlage 45 and the art-house Kino-Center at Bahnhofstraße 34.

  • Hochschulsport ↗

    Book university sports through its course programme and booking system.

Your first weeks

  1. 1

    Before you arrive

    Apply for a dorm room through the Studierendenwerk's online form and check the rooms exchange (Wohnbörse). Rooms in the 11 dorms are limited, so apply as early as you can, and have a plan for a first week elsewhere.

  2. 2

    First days

    Register your address at the Stadtbüro, Berliner Platz 1, ground floor (Monday to Thursday 7:30 to 18:00, Friday 7:30 to 13:00, Saturday 10:00 to 13:00). It houses the Einwohnermeldeamt; book an appointment online through the 'Termin online buchen' link, or register electronically via the city's Online-Services.

  3. 3

    First weeks

    Request a residence permit appointment from the Ausländerbehörde, which is part of the Ordnungsamt at Berliner Platz 1. Appointments are only by email to auslaenderbehoerde@giessen.de; the student permit team is at feg@giessen.de, and the city also has an online service for the permit for studies and study preparation.

  4. 4

    Orientation week

    Go to the orientation week for international students, then join the Studierendenwerk's Lokal International on tour evenings, a buddy programme and the AStA's counselling if you need it.

  5. 5

    Health insurance

    THM's AStA offers a free health-insurance consultation, even if you are not with the provider it names.

Part-time jobs and the work-hour rules

On a residence permit for studies you may work up to 140 working days a year. A day of up to four hours can count as half a day, and student assistant jobs at the university are not counted. During lectures you may work up to 20 hours a week under the weekly rule, and outside lecture time the law counts two and a half days a week. Check the current rules with the Ausländerbehörde before you sign a contract.

THM's AStA runs a job board and a housing board, the Studierendenwerk advises on working during studies, and the AStA at JLU can look at a contract for you through its legal-advice insurance.

Where you come from matters here

Pick your home country: food, faith, community groups and the consulate that serves you, checked 21 October 2026.

🇮🇳 Living in Gießen as an Indian student

Gießen has no Indian consulate; the Consulate General of India is in Frankfurt, the nearest large city. I found no Indian student association in Gießen, so the buddy programme at THM is the easiest way in.

English-taught programmes in Gießen

Soonest open deadline first. Every entry links to its official source.

Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen University of Applied SciencesJustus Liebig University Giessen

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