The bus(es) for both excursions departed at 13:30 on Monday, September 5th, from the congress venue.
Giessen: Boat Tour on the River Lahn and Guided Tour of the City
Lahnlust Gießen
A short bus drive brought the participants to the starting point of the boat tour on the river Lahn. The Lahn is an important tributory of the Rhine and is flowing for the most part through Hesse connecting the two university cities Marburg and Giessen on its way. On the boat beverages were served, and a tour guide provided more details on the river. Back at the landing stage, which is close to the city center, the participants embarked on a short walk (approx. 1,5 km) through the history of Giessen where Justus von Liebig founded the world's first major school of chemistry and became patron of the university, and where Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, physics nobel prize winner in 1901 “in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him”, is buried on the old cemetry. At the end of the city tour the participants were picked up by the bus(es) returning from Marburg at around 17:30.
Marburg: Guided Tour „Emil von Behring - Savior of Children“
Marburg
A 30 minutes bus drive brought the participants to the St. Elisabeth´s Church in Marburg, the oldest pure gothic cathedral in Germany. On the other side of the road passing the church the bust of the winner of the first "Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine“ Emil von Behring is found. He obtained the prize “for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of medical science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths”. During a discovery tour up the hill to Marburg Castle the participants learnt almost everything about the life of this world famous scientist, how he could save the life of thousands of children and why a bronce horse is greeting the visitors on their way to the main building of the former „Behringwerke“. Having reached the castle the participants were free to stroll down through medieval Marburg to the St. Elisabeth´s Church where the bus(es) departed at 17:00 to bring the participants back to Giessen.
