Neu-Isenburg was laid out in 1699 for Huguenots fleeing France, on a grid of straight streets granted them by the Count of Isenburg-Offenbach, and the Protestant parish descends directly from that settlement. Its church still holds the centre of the old town. As in many German parishes, the nave is lent to music several times a year, and the acoustic — dry, upright, unforgiving of hurry — suits Bach and the string repertoire particularly well.