university town
A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several smal ...
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
, capital of the
Marburg-Biedenkopf
Marburg-Biedenkopf is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Waldeck-Frankenberg, Schwalm-Eder, Vogelsbergkreis, Gießen, Lahn-Dill, Siegen-Wittgenstein.
History
The district was created in 1974 when th ...
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
(''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river
Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
and has a population of approximately 76,000.
Having been awarded
town privileges
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
in 1222, Marburg served as capital of the
landgraviate
Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...
of
Hessen-Marburg
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Marburg) was a German landgrave, landgraviate, and independent principality, within the Holy Roman Empire, that existed between 1458 and 1500, and between 1567 and 1604/1650.
It c ...
during periods of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. The
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
was founded in 1527 and dominates the public life in the town to this day.
Marburg is a historic centre of the pharmaceutical industry in Germany, and there is a plant in the town (by
BioNTech
BioNTech SE ( ; or short for Biopharmaceutical New Technologies) is a German biotechnology company based in Mainz that develops and manufactures active immunotherapies for patient-specific approaches to the treatment of diseases. It develops ...
) to produce vaccines to tackle
Covid-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
History
Founding and early history
Like many settlements, Marburg developed at the crossroads of two important early medieval highways: the trade route linking
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
and
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
and the trade route from the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
to the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
and on to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, the former crossing the river
Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
here. A first mention of the settlement dates from 822 in the Reinhardsbrunner Chronik '. The settlement was protected and customs were raised by a small castle built during the ninth or tenth century by the Giso. Marburg has been a town since 1140, as proven by coins. From the Gisos, it fell around that time to the Landgraves of
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
, residing on the
Wartburg
The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the p ...
above
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
In 1228, the widowed princess-landgravine of Thuringia,
Elizabeth of Hungary
Elizabeth of Hungary (german: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, hu, Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, sk, Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, ...
, chose Marburg as her dowager seat, as she did not get along well with her brother-in-law, the new landgrave. The countess dedicated her life to the sick and would become after her early death in 1231, aged 24, one of the most prominent female saints of the era. She was canonized in 1235.
Capital of Hessen
In 1264, St Elizabeth's daughter
Sophie of Brabant
Sophie of Thuringia (20 March 1224 – 29 May 1275) was the second wife and only Duchess consort of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Lothier. She was the heiress of Hesse which she passed on to her son, Henry upon her retention of the territory fol ...
, succeeded in winning the
Landgraviate of Hessen
The Landgraviate of Hesse (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.
History
In the early Midd ...
, hitherto connected to
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
, for her son
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
. Marburg (alongside
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
) was one of the capitals of Hessen from that time until about 1540. Following the first division of the landgraviate, it was the capital of
Hessen-Marburg
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Marburg) was a German landgrave, landgraviate, and independent principality, within the Holy Roman Empire, that existed between 1458 and 1500, and between 1567 and 1604/1650.
It c ...
from 1485 to 1500 and again between 1567 and 1605. Hessen was one of the more powerful second-tier principalities in Germany. Its "old enemy" was the
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...
, one of the
prince-elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...
s, who competed with Hessen in many wars and conflicts for coveted territory, stretching over several centuries.
After 1605, Marburg became just another provincial town, known mostly for the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
. It became a virtual backwater for two centuries after the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
(1618–48), when it was fought over by
Hessen-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a Imperial State, State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate ...
and
Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...
. The Hessian territory around Marburg lost more than two-thirds of its population, which was more than in any later wars (including
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
) combined.
Reformation
Marburg is the seat of the oldest
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
-founded
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
in the world, the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
(Philipps-Universität-Marburg), founded in 1527. It is one of the smaller "university towns" in Germany:
Greifswald
Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostoc ...
,
Erlangen
Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...
,
Jena
Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
, and
Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
, as well as the city of
Gießen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
, which is located 30 km south of Marburg.
In 1529,
Philipp I of Hesse
Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (in English: "the Magnanimous"), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protesta ...
arranged the
Marburg Colloquy
The Marburg Colloquy was a meeting at Marburg Castle, Marburg, Hesse, Germany, which attempted to solve a disputation between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli over the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It took place between 1 October and 4 ...
, to propitiate
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
and
Huldrych Zwingli
Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Unive ...
.
Romanticism
Owing to its neglect during the entire eighteenth century, Marburg – like
Rye
Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...
or
Chartres
Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...
– survived as a relatively intact
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
town, simply because there was no money spent on any new
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
or expansion. When
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
became the dominant cultural and artistic paradigm in Germany, Marburg became interesting once again, and many of the leaders of the movement lived, taught, or studied in Marburg. They formed a circle of friends that was of great importance, especially in
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
,
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
,
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
, and
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
.
The group included
Friedrich Carl von Savigny
Friedrich Carl von Savigny (21 February 1779 – 25 October 1861) was a German jurist and historian.
Early life and education
Savigny was born at Frankfurt am Main, of a family recorded in the history of Lorraine, deriving its name from the cast ...
, the most important
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
of his day and father of the
Roman Law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
adaptation in Germany; the poets, writers, and social activists
Achim von Arnim
Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim (26 January 1781 – 21 January 1831), better known as Achim von Arnim, was a German poet, novelist, and together with Clemens Brentano and Joseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure of German Romanticism.
...
,
Clemens Brentano
Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...
, and especially the latter's sister and the former's later wife,
Bettina von Arnim
Bettina von Arnim (the Countess of Arnim) (4 April 178520 January 1859), born Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano, was a German writer and novelist.
Bettina (or Bettine) Brentano was a writer, publisher, composer, singer, visual art ...
. Most famous internationally, however, were the
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
, who collected many of their
fairy tales
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...
here. The original building inspiring his drawing ''
Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of ''Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of ''Persinette ...
's Tower'' stands in Amönau near Marburg. Across the Lahn hills, in the area called Schwalm, the costumes of little girls included a red hood.
Prussian town
In the
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
of 1866, the
Prince-elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...
of Hessen had backed
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. Prussia won and took the opportunity to invade and annex the
Electorate of Hessen
The Electorate of Hesse (german: Kurfürstentum Hessen), also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen, was a landgraviate whose prince was given the right to elect the Emperor by Napoleon. When the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, its prin ...
(as well as
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, the city of
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, and other territories) north of the
Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
River. However, the pro-Austrian
Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...
remained independent. For Marburg, this turn of events was very positive, because Prussia decided to make Marburg its main administrative centre in this part of the new province
Hessen-Nassau
The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944.
Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the ...
and to turn the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
into the regional academic centre. Thus, Marburg's rise as an administrative and university city began. As the Prussian university system was one of the best in the world at the time, Marburg attracted many respected scholars. However, there was hardly any industry to speak of, so students, professors, and civil servants – who generally had enough but not much money and paid very little in taxes – dominated the town, which tended to be very conservative.
20th century
Franz von Papen
Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German conservative politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as the chancellor of Germany i ...
, vice-chancellor of Germany in 1934, delivered an anti-Nazi speech at the University of Marburg on 17 June.
From 1942 to 1945, the whole city of Marburg was turned into a hospital with schools and government buildings turned into wards to augment the existing hospitals. By the spring of 1945, there were over 20,000 patients – mostly wounded German soldiers. As a result of its being designated a hospital city, and because of a lack of important industrial sites, there was not much damage from bombings except along the railroad tracks.
In May 1945, the
Monuments men
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
officer
Walker Hancock
Walker Kirtland Hancock (June 28, 1901 – December 30, 1998) was an American sculptor and teacher. He created notable monumental sculptures, including the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial (1950–52) at 30th Street Station in Philadel ...
set up the first so-called Central Collecting Point in the Marburg State Archives. But since the capacity of the archive building was not sufficient to store the many objects and since other collecting points, for example in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, had been set up in the
American occupation zone
Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France ...
in the meantime, the Marburg facility was closed after more than a year in favor of the Wiesbaden Collecting Point. With the relocation of the
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
of Field Marshal and President
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...
(1847-1934) to the Elisabethkirche in August 1946 the project ended.
21st century
Geography
Marburg lies on the river
Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
, 25 km north of
Gießen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
. The federal road
Bundesstraße 3
The Bundesstraße 3 (abbr. B3) is one of the longest federal highways in Germany. It begins in Buxtehude and continues through Bergen, Celle, Hanover, Alfeld, Einbeck, Göttingen, Kassel, Marburg, Frankfurt am Main, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, ...
connects it with Gießen and
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
. It is served by
Marburg (Lahn) station
Marburg (Lahn) station is a through station at the 104.3 km mark of the Main-Weser Railway in the north-east of the city of Marburg in the German state of Hesse and is used daily by about 12,000 people. The station is classified by Deutsche ...
(long-distance and local trains) and Marburg Süd station (local trains).
The city is divided into the following 25 boroughs (''
Ortsbezirk
A ''Stadtbezirk'' (also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It is translated as "borough". In Germany, ''Stadtbezirke'' usually only exist in a metropo ...
e''):
* Altstadt
*
Bauerbach
Bauerbach is a village and a former municipality in the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen, in Thuringia, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous ...
Gisselberg
Gisselberg is a borough (''Ortsbezirk'') of Marburg in Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest ur ...
Hermershausen
Hermershausen is a borough (''Ortsbezirk'') of Marburg in Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest ...
Ronhausen
Ronhausen is a borough (''Ortsbezirk'') of Marburg in Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urba ...
Wehrda
Wehrda is a borough (''Ortsbezirk'') of Marburg in Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban ...
As a larger mid-sized city, Marburg, like six other such cities in Hessen, has a special status as compared to the other municipalities in the district. This means that the city takes on tasks more usually performed by the district so that in many ways it is comparable to an
urban district
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
(''kreisfreie Stadt'').
The
mayor of Marburg
This is a list of all the mayors of Marburg in Germany since 1835.
{{Mayors of Marburg
*
Marburg
Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district ('' ...
, Thomas Spies, in office since December 2015, and his predecessor
Egon Vaupel
Egon Vaupel (born 15 November 1950 in Bad Endbach) is a German politician, member of the SPD, and the mayor of Marburg
This is a list of all the mayors of Marburg in Germany since 1835.
{{Mayors of Marburg
*
Marburg
Marburg ( or ) ...
(directly elected in January 2005), are from the
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
. His deputy, the head of the building and youth departments, Nadine Bernshausen, is from
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
. The majority in the 59-seat city parliament is held by a coalition of SPD (22 seats) and Green (13 seats) members. Also represented are the factions of the Christian Democratic Union (14 seats), The Left (4 seats), the Free Democratic Party (2 seats), a CDU splinter group MBL (''Marburger Bürgerliste'' – 2 seats), the BfM (''Bürger für Marburg'' – 1 seat) and the
Pirate Party
Pirate Party is a label adopted by Political party, political parties around the world. Pirate parties support Civil and political rights, civil rights, direct democracy (including e-democracy) or alternatively Participatory democracy, partici ...
(1 seat).
Among the left wing groups are
ATTAC
The Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières et pour l'Action Citoyenne (''Association for the Taxation of financial Transactions and Citizen's Action'', ATTAC) is an activist organisation originally created to promote the e ...
, the
Worldshop Worldshops, world shops or Fair Trade Shops are specialized retail outlets offering and promoting Fair Trade products. Worldshops also typically organize various educational Fair Trade activities and play an active role in trade justice and other ...
movement, an
autonomist
Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tendenci ...
-
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
scene, and a few groups engaged in ecological or human-rights concerns.
The city of Marburg, similar to the cities of
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
,
Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
and
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
, has a rich history of student fraternities or '' Verbindungen'' of various sorts, including Corps, Landsmannschaften, Burschenschaften, Turnierschaften, etc.
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
, France (1961)
*
Maribor
Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...
, Slovenia (1969)
*
Sfax
Sfax (; ar, صفاقس, Ṣafāqis ) is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Berber Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean ...
, Tunisia (1971)
*
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
, Germany (1988)
*
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
, England, UK (1992)
*
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...
, Romania (2005)
Coat of arms
Marburg's coat of arms shows a Hessian landgrave riding a white horse with a flag and a shield on a red background. The shield shows the red-and-white-striped Hessian lion, also to be seen on Hessen's state arms, and the flag shows a stylized M, blue on gold (or yellow). The arms are also the source of the city flag's colors. The flag has three horizontal stripes colored, from top to bottom, red (from the background), white (from the horse) and blue (from the shield).
The coat of arms, which was designed in the late nineteenth century, is based on a landgrave seal on a municipal document. It is an example of a very prevalent practice of replacing forgotten coats of arms, or ones deemed not to be representative enough, with motifs taken from seals.
Marburg virus
The city's name is connected to a
filovirus
''Filoviridae'' () is a family of single-stranded negative-sense RNA viruses in the order ''Mononegavirales''. Two members of the family that are commonly known are Ebola virus and Marburg virus. Both viruses, and some of their lesser known rel ...
, the
Marburg virus
Marburg virus (MARV) is a hemorrhagic fever virus of the ''Filoviridae'' family of viruses and a member of the species '' Marburg marburgvirus'', genus ''Marburgvirus''. It causes Marburg virus disease in primates, a form of viral hemorrhagic f ...
, because this
disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
, a
viral hemorrhagic fever
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of animal and human illnesses in which fever and hemorrhage are caused by a viral infection. VHFs may be caused by five distinct families of RNA viruses: the families ''Filoviridae'', ''Flavi ...
resembling
ebola
Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...
, was first recognized and described during an outbreak in the city. In 1967, workers were accidentally exposed to infected
green monkey
The green monkey (''Chlorocebus sabaeus''), also known as the sabaeus monkey, is an Old World monkey with golden-green fur and pale hands and feet. The tip of the tail is golden yellow as are the backs of the thighs and cheek whiskers. It does n ...
tissue at the city's former industrial plant, the Behring-Werke, then part of Hoechst and today of
CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a biopharmaceutical company, manufacturing plasma-derived, and recombination therapeutic products. Its line of therapies includes products for the treatment of bleeding disorders such as hemophilia and von Willebrand Disease; prima ...
, founded by Marburg citizen and first
Nobel Prize in Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...
winner,
Emil Adolf von Behring
Emil von Behring (; Emil Adolf von Behring), born Emil Adolf Behring (15 March 1854 – 31 March 1917), was a German physiologist who received the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the first one awarded in that field, for his discovery ...
. During the outbreak, 31 people became infected and seven of them died. The virus is named after the city following the custom of naming viruses after the location of their first recorded outbreak.
Green city
Many homes have solar panels and in 2008 a law was passed to make the installation of solar systems on new buildings or as part of renovation projects mandatory. 20 percent of heating system requirements ought to have been covered by solar energy in new buildings. Anyone who fails to install solar panels would have been fined €1,000. The new law, approved on 20 June 2008, should have taken effect in October 2008, however, this law was stopped by the Regierungspräsidium Giessen in September 2008.
Climate
Landmarks
Marburg remains a relatively unspoilt, spire-dominated, castle-crowned Gothic or Renaissance city on a hill partly because it was isolated between 1600 and 1850. Architecturally, it is famous both for its castle
Marburger Schloss
The Marburger Schloss (or ''Marburg castle''), also known as Landgrafenschloss Marburg, is a castle in Marburg, Hesse, Germany, located on top of Schlossberg (287 m NAP). Built in the 11th century as a fort, it became the first residence of ...
and its medieval churches. The Elisabethkirche, as one of the two or three first purely Gothic churches north of the Alps outside France, is an archetype of Gothic architecture in Germany.
Much of the physical attractiveness of Marburg is due to
Hanno Drechsler
Hanno Drechsler (24 March 1931 – 4 January 2003) was the Lord Mayor of the City of Marburg, Germany between 1970 and 1992, and the instigator of its restoration after urban renewal; he was also an important Social Democratic politician and p ...
who was Lord Mayor between 1970 and 1992. He promoted urban renewal, the restoration of the Oberstadt (uptown), and he established one of the first pedestrian zones in Germany. Marburg's ''Altstadtsanierung'' (since 1972) has received many awards and prizes.
Parks in the town include the Old Botanical Garden, as well as the new Botanical Garden outside the town proper.
The Marktplatz is the heart of Marburg's old town. In the center is a fountain dedicated to St Georg, a popular meeting place for the youths. To the south is the old town hall and the path running north leads to the palace overlooking the town.
The
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
, founded in 1527, is one of Germany's oldest universities. It is spread over two campuses: Firmanei at the centre of Marburg, and Lahnberge to the east of the town at the Botanischer Garten (Botanical Garden).
Notable people
*Ernst Wachler (1803–1888), lawyer and politician
*
Karl Theodor Bayrhoffer
Karl Theodor Otto Christian August Bayrhoffer (14 October 1812, in Marburg – 3 February 1888) was a German American philosopher, free-thinker, and publicist.
In 1834 he received his PhD from the University of Marburg, where he later became a pr ...
(1812–1888), professor of philosophy at the University of Marburg and freethinker
* Karl Gustav Adolf Knies (1821–1898), economist
*
Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick
Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick (22 February 1852 – 11 February 1937) was a German ophthalmologist who invented the contact lens. He was the nephew of the German physiologist Adolf Eugen Fick, and the son of the German anatomy professor Franz Ludwig ...
(1852–1937), ophthalmologist and inventor of the contact lens
*
Walter von Boetticher
__NOTOC__
Walter von Boetticher (11 December 1853 – 3 July 1945) was a German historian, genealogist and physician.
Walter von Boetticher was born at Riga, the son to the art historian Friedrich von Boetticher (1826–1902) and his wife Euge ...
(1853–1945), historian and physician studied medicine at Marburg
*
Ernst von Harnack
Ernst Wolf Alexander Oskar Harnack (15 July 1888 – 5 March 1945), granted the title von Harnack in 1914, was an official of the Prussian provincial government, a German politician, and a German Resistance fighter. He was arrested, tried and ...
(1888–1945), politician and resistance fighter against Nazism
*
Ernst-Günther Schenck
Ernst-Günther Schenck (3 October 1904 – 21 December 1998) was a German medical doctor and member of the SS in Nazi Germany. Because of a chance encounter with Adolf Hitler during the closing days of World War II, his memoirs proved historicall ...
(1904–1998), doctor
*
Otto John
Otto John (19 March 1909 – 26 March 1997) was a German lawyer and intelligence official. During World War Two, he was a conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Following the war, he became the first head of West Germ ...
(1909–1997), President of the Federal Office for Constitutional Protection
*
Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen (5 November 1930 – 5 November 2015) was a German historian, known for his studies in German social history, and for his functionalist interpretation of the Third Reich, especially for arguing that Adolf Hitler was a weak dictator. ...
(1930–2015), historian
*
Wolfgang Mommsen
Wolfgang Justin Mommsen (; 5 November 1930 – 11 August 2004) was a German historian. He was the twin brother of historian Hans Mommsen.
Biography
Wolfgang Mommsen was born in Marburg, the son of the historian Wilhelm Mommsen and great-grands ...
(1930–2004), historian
*
Reinhard Hauff
Reinhard Hauff (born 23 May 1939) is a German film director. His works, which were mostly carried out in the late 1960s to early 1990s, are known for their social and political commentary. '' Stammheim'', which is based on the activities of the Re ...
(born 1939), film director and screenwriter
*
Richard Wiese
Richard Wiese (born July 13, 1959) is an American explorer, the longest serving President of The Explorers Club, and Executive Producer and Host of the multiple Emmy Award-winning ABC and PBS program, Born to Explore.
Early life and education
...
(born 1953, professor of linguistics)
*
Stefan Gradmann
Stefan Gradmann (born 22 September 1958 in Marburg) is a professor at KU Leuven and former manager of the University Library.
After studying Philosophy and Literature in Paris and Freiburg and his PhD in 1986 and a post-graduate studies in Cologn ...
(born 1958), university professor
*
Margot Käßmann
Margot Käßmann (; born 3 June 1958) is a Lutheran theologian, who was '' Landesbischöfin'' (bishop) of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover in Germany. On 28 October 2009, she was elected to lead the ''Evangelical Church in Germany'', a ...
(born 1958), Lutheran theologian and pastor
*
Hank Levine
Hans-Werner Maria Levy (born 29 June 1965), better known as Hank Levine, is a German director, documentary filmmaker and writer based in Berlin, Germany. He is known for producing Academy Awards nominated films such as '' City of God'' and ''Waste ...
(born 1965), film director and producer
*
Dirk Kaftan
Dirk Kaftan (born 1971) is a German opera and concert conductor.
Career
Born in Marburg, West Germany, Kaftan grew up in Wittlich and Canada. At the age of 18 he began employment as a repetiteur at the Theater Trier. Kaftan then studied sou ...
(born 1971), conductor
*
Lars Weißenfeldt
Lars Weißenfeldt (born February 15, 1980, in Marburg) is a retired German footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, ...
(born 1980), footballer
*
Lena Gercke
Lena Johanna Gercke (born 29 February 1988) is a German fashion model and television host. She won the first season of ''Germany's Next Topmodel'' and was the host of ''Austria's Next Topmodel'' (seasons 1–4).
Early life
Gercke was born in Ma ...
(born 1988), photo model and TV host
*
Lukas Wenig
Lukas Wenig (born 18 September 1994) is a professional Germany, German darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.
Wenig qualified for his first PDC European Tour tournament in 2019, when he qualified for the 2019 German Da ...
(born 1994), dart player
References
Further reading
;In English
*
*
;In German
* Schönholz, Christian, Braun, Karl (Hrsg.): ''Marburg. Streifzüge durch die jüngere Stadtgeschichte. Ein Lesebuch 1960–2010.'' Jonas Verlag, Marburg 2010, .
* Stößer, Anke: ''Marburg im ausgehenden Mittelalter. Stadt und Schloss, Hauptort und Residenz.'' (=Schriften des Hessischen Landesamtes für geschichtliche Landeskunde 41). Selbstverlag des Hessischen Landesamtes für geschichtliche Landeskunde, Marburg 2011, .
* ''Marbuch.'' 7. Auflage. Marbuch, Marburg 2003, (umfassend, mit Stadtplan).
* Dettmering, Erhart: ''Kleine Marburger Stadtgeschichte.'' Pustet, Regensburg 2007, .
* IG Marburg (Hrsg.): ''Marburg. Abbruch und Wandel. Städtebauliche Planungen in einer mittelalterlichen Stadt.'' Jonas Verlag, Marburg 2009, .
* Graepler, Catharina, Stumm, Richard: ''Marburg für Kinder.'' Jonas, Marburg 2008, .
* Gimbel, Karl-Heinz: ''Das Michelchen, St. Michaelskapelle in Marburg an der Lahn.'' Marburg 2010, (= ''Kleine Reihe von Marburg'', Band 1).
* Rosa-Luxemburg-Club Marburg (Hrsg.): ''Marburg rauf und runter – Stadtspaziergänge durch Geschichte und Gegenwart''. Marburg 2013, .
* Großmann, Georg Ulrich: ''Marburg: Stadtführer''. 3. Auflage, Imhof, Petersberg 2015, .