We are delighted to welcome you to the university town of Marburg with its historic old town nestled between the river Lahn and the castle and its attractive surrounding countryside. You will soon notice that Marburg and Philipps-Universität are closely linked with one another. The old town has made its mark on Marburg. It was here that the town's 750th anniversary was celebrated in 1972, although the castle and market town are much older. Indeed, in 1140 the town minted its own coin, the "Marburger Pfennig". Today, too, this venerable university town spans the bridge between past and present. A town, in which you still get a feel of the Middle Ages: whether you wander through the narrow alleys of Marburg's upper town, admire the crooked timbered houses below the "Landgrafenschloss" (Landgrave's Castle) or spend a while on the historic "Marktplatz" (town square), you feel as though you have been transported back to mediaeval times.
Places of Interest in Marburg :
Elisabethkirche
The Church of St. Elisabeth is Marburg's most famous building and a magnet for visitors, be they pilgrims, tourists or the people of Marburg themselves. The church was actually dedicated to Our Lady because it was originally built in the 13th century by the extremely powerful and affluent "Deutscher Orden" (Teutonic Order) which always consecrated its churches to its own patron saint, the Virgin Mary. However, in the minds of the population the central function of the church was never that of a monastery church but rather the burial place of St. Elisabeth (1207-1231, canonised 1235) and the pilgrimage church over the saint's grave. In time, the name Church of St. Elisabeth established itself.
Landgrafenschloss
The Landgrave's Castle, which now belongs to Philipps-Universität, is one of the main attractions amongst the places of interest in Marburg. The oldest parts of the building visible from the outside date back to the 13th century. The first Landgrave Heinrich I of Hessen, grandson of St. Elisabeth, built his residence here. The most recent building is the "Wilhelmsbau" (Wilhelm's Tract), the foundation stone of which was laid in 1493. Today, its five floors house the "Universitätsmuseum für Kulturgeschichte" (University Museum for Cultural History). In the basement of the west wing visitors can still find remains of the old castle foundations from the 9th and 10th centuries.
Rathaus
The Town Hall long ago got too small to accommodate all the nearly 1,000 employees working for the municipal administration. But the historic Town Hall (built between 1512 and 1527) and the town square are still the hub of urban life. Tradition has it that the town square in Marburg was the site of the founding of the State of Hessen in 1248. On the death of Heinrich Raspe IV, the last of his dynasty, Sophie of Brabant, the oldest daughter of St. Elisabeth, is supposed to have been standing at the fountain on the town square when she proclaimed her four year-old son Heinrich Landgrave. After tortuous struggles about inheritance, Heinrich actually did become the ruler of Hessen, taking the title of Landgrave in 1292. By so doing, Heinrich I, who was always known as "the Child", made Marburg into his residence.
Alte Universität
The foundations of the Dominican Monastery that was established in 1291 are certainly old, and it was on them that the edifice now known as the "Old University" was built in neo-Gothic style towards the end of the 19th century. But this had been a centre of learning since 1527 when Philipp the Magnanimous, Landgrave of Hessen, established the oldest newly-founded Protestant university to have survived to this day. He designated the Dominican Monastery to be its first building.
