Having been awardedtown privileges in 1222, Marburg served as capital of thelandgraviate ofHessen-Marburg during periods of the 15th to 17th centuries. TheUniversity of Marburg 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 (byBioNTech) to produce vaccines to tackleCOVID-19.[5]
Like many settlements, Marburg developed at the crossroads of two important early medieval highways: the trade route linkingCologne andPrague and the trade route from theNorth Sea to theAlps and on toItaly, the former crossing the riverLahn here. A first mention of the settlement dates from 822 in theReinhardsbrunner Chronik. The settlement was protected and customs were raised by a small castle built during the ninth or tenth century by theGiso. Marburg has been a town since 1140, as proven by coins. From the Gisos, it fell around that time to theLandgraves ofThuringia, residing on theWartburg aboveEisenach.
In 1228, the widowed princess-landgravine of Thuringia,Elizabeth of Hungary, 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.[6]
In 1264, St Elizabeth's daughterSophie of Brabant, succeeded in winning theLandgraviate of Hessen, hitherto connected toThuringia, for her sonHenry. Marburg (alongsideKassel) was one of the capitals of Hessen from that time until about 1540. Following the first division of the landgraviate, it was the capital ofHessen-Marburg 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 theArchbishopric of Mainz, the seat of one of theprince-electors, who competed with Hessen in many wars and conflicts for coveted territory, stretching over several centuries.[7]
After 1605, Marburg became just another provincial town, known mostly for theUniversity of Marburg. It became a virtual backwater for two centuries after theThirty Years' War (1618–48), when it was fought over byHessen-Darmstadt andHesse-Kassel. The Hessian territory around Marburg lost more than two-thirds of its population, which was more than in any later wars (includingWorld War I andWorld War II) combined.
Marburg is the seat of the oldest existingProtestant-foundeduniversity in the world, theUniversity of Marburg (Philipps-Universität-Marburg), founded in 1527. It is one of the smaller "university towns" in Germany. These includeGreifswald,Erlangen,Jena, andTübingen, as well as the city ofGießen, which is located 30 km south of Marburg.
Owing to its neglect during the entire 18th century, Marburg – likeRye orChartres – survived as a relatively intactGothic town, simply because there was no money spent on any newarchitecture or expansion. WhenRomanticism became the dominant cultural and artistic paradigm in Germany, Marburg became a centre of activities 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 inliterature,philology,folklore, andlaw.
The group includedFriedrich Carl von Savigny, the most importantjurist of his day and father of theRoman Law adaptation in Germany, as well as the poets, writers, and social activistsAchim von Arnim,Clemens Brentano, and especiallyBettina von Arnim, Clemens Brentano's sister, who became Achim von Arnim's wife. Most famous internationally, however, were theBrothers Grimm, who collected many of theirfairy tales here. The best-known illustrations for the fairy tale editions are by the painterOtto Ubbelohde, who also lived in and near Marburg. The original building inspiring his drawingRapunzel'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.
In theAustro-Prussian War of 1866, thePrince-elector of Hessen had backedAustria. Prussia won and took the opportunity to invade and annex theElectorate of Hessen (as well asHanover, the city ofFrankfurt, and other territories) north of theMain River. However, the pro-AustrianHesse-Darmstadt 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 provinceHessen-Nassau and to turn theUniversity of Marburg 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.
During World War II, Marburg suffered much less compared to its neighboursGiessen,Siegen andFrankfurt. The city was not seen as a target of opportunity by the Allies and lacked any important industrial sites. Nonetheless, it was still bombed 13 times by theUnited States Army Air Forces during thebombing of Marburg. From 1942 to 1945, the entire 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. The most significant damage happened at the north side of the city and along the marshalling yards, but the inner city was largely spared, meaning that it survived the war largely intact.
In May 1945, theMonuments men officerWalker Hancock set up the first so-called Central Collecting Point in the Marburg State Archives.[9] But since the capacity of the archive building was not sufficient to store the many objects and since other collecting points, for example inMunich, had been set up in theAmerican occupation zone in the meantime, the Marburg facility was closed after more than a year in favor of the Wiesbaden Collecting Point. With the relocation of thesarcophagus of Field Marshal and PresidentPaul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) to theElisabethkirche in August 1946 the project ended.[citation needed]Milton Mayer's 1955 bookThey Thought They Were Free, which attempted to gage how ordinary German citizens felt about Nazi Germany, used interviews of ten men from Marburg (which it called "Kronenberg") as its case study.[10]
Post-war developments included population growth at first due to war refugees, then to increasing significance of the pharmaceutical industry based in Marburg, and an increase in staff and students for the university. The historic town was in danger of thorough decay, but was renovated from 1972. The university now has about 21,000 students (2023).[11]
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 anurban district (kreisfreie Stadt). Before 1974, the city was a district-free city.
Themayor of Marburg, Thomas Spies, in office since December 2015, and his predecessorEgon Vaupel (directly elected in January 2005), are members of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany. His deputy, the head of the building and youth departments, Nadine Bernshausen, is fromAlliance '90/The Greens. Following the city parliament elections of March 2021, the majority in the 59-seat city parliament is held by a coalition of Green party (15 seats), SPD (14 seats) and Klimaliste (4 seats) members. Also represented are the factions of theChristian Democratic Union (13 seats),The Left (7 seats), theFree Democratic Party (2 seats), a CDU splinter group MBL (Marburger Bürgerliste – 2 seats), the BfM (Bürger für Marburg – 2 seats),Alternative für Deutschland (1 seat), and thePirate Party (1 seat).[1]
Among the left wing groups areATTAC, theWorldshop movement, anautonomist-anarchist scene, and a few groups engaged in ecological or human-rights concerns.
The city of Marburg, similar to the cities ofHeidelberg,Tübingen andGöttingen, has a rich history of studentfraternities orVerbindungen of various sorts, including Corps, Landsmannschaften, Burschenschaften, Turnierschaften, etc.
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.
The city's name is connected to afilovirus, theMarburg virus, because thisdisease, aviral hemorrhagic fever resemblingebola, was first recognized and described during an outbreak in the city. In 1967, workers were accidentally exposed to infectedgreen monkey tissue at the city's former industrial plant, the Behring-Werke, then part of Hoechst and today ofCSL Behring, founded by Marburg citizen and firstNobel Prize in Medicine winner,Emil Adolf von Behring. 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.
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,[15] however, this law was stopped by the Regierungspräsidium Giessen in September 2008.[16]
Town hall and market place with fountain (January 2016)
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 castleMarburger Schloss and its medieval churches. TheElisabethkirche, 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 toHanno Drechsler who was Lord Mayor between 1970 and 1992. He promoted urban renewal and the restoration of the Oberstadt (upper town) and established one of the first pedestrian zones in Germany. Marburg'sAltstadtsanierung (since 1972) has received many awards and prizes.[17]
The Marktplatz is the heart of Marburg's old town. In the center is a fountain dedicated to St George, a popular meeting place for young people. To the south is the old town hall and the path running north leads to the palace overlooking the town.
TheUniversity of Marburg, founded in 1527, is one of Germany's oldest. It is spread over two campuses: Firmanei in the centre of Marburg and Lahnberge to the east of the town near theBotanischer Garten (Botanical Garden).
Schönholz, Christian, Braun, Karl (Hrsg.):Marburg. Streifzüge durch die jüngere Stadtgeschichte. Ein Lesebuch 1960–2010. Jonas Verlag, Marburg 2010,ISBN978-3-89445-437-1.
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,ISBN978-3-921254-80-6.
Marbuch. 7. Auflage. Marbuch, Marburg 2003,ISBN3-9806487-1-0 (umfassend, mit Stadtplan).
IG Marburg (Hrsg.):Marburg. Abbruch und Wandel. Städtebauliche Planungen in einer mittelalterlichen Stadt. Jonas Verlag, Marburg 2009,ISBN978-3-89445-393-0.
Graepler, Catharina, Stumm, Richard:Marburg für Kinder. Jonas, Marburg 2008,ISBN978-3-89445-408-1.
Gimbel, Karl-Heinz:Das Michelchen, St. Michaelskapelle in Marburg an der Lahn. Marburg 2010,ISBN978-3-89703-748-9 (=Kleine Reihe von Marburg, Band 1).
Rosa-Luxemburg-Club Marburg (Hrsg.):Marburg rauf und runter – Stadtspaziergänge durch Geschichte und Gegenwart. Marburg 2013,ISBN978-3-939864-15-8.
Großmann, Georg Ulrich:Marburg: Stadtführer. 3. Auflage, Imhof, Petersberg 2015,ISBN978-3-86568-091-4.
In Italian
Leone Rossella, Ragione Roberto, Santopuoli Nicola:The Garden of Remembrance on the ruins of the Marburg synagogue in Germany: memory, identity and reuse, in Varum Humberto, Furtado André, Melo José (eds.),Documentation, Restoration and Reuse of Heritage, Atti del X Convegno Internazionale “ReUso – Porto 2022” (Porto, 2-4 novembre 2022), Ebook, 2022, pp. 91–101.ISBN978-972-752-296-5.[2]
