Marburg
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2008-07-13T14:54:51Z
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::''This page is about the city in Germany. For other meanings, see [[Marburg (disambiguation)]].''
{{Infobox German Location
|Name = Marburg
|Art = Stadt
|image_photo = Marburg Schloss.jpg
|image_caption = Marburg: the castle, upper town, and St Elizabeth's church
|Wappen = Marburg-Wappen.jpg
|lat_deg = 50 | lat_min = 48 | lat_sec = 36
|lon_deg = 8 | lon_min = 46 | lon_sec = 15
|Lageplan = Marburg Biedenkopf Marburg.png
|Lageplanbeschreibung = <!-- Description of image "Lageplan" Default: "Location of XX" -->
|Bundesland = Hessen
|Landkreis = Marburg-Biedenkopf
|Höhe = 173-412
|Fläche = 124.5
|Einwohner = 79139
|Stand = 2005-12-31
|pop_source =
|PLZ = 35001-35043
|PLZ-alt = 3550
|Vorwahl = 06421
|Kfz = MR
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 06 5 34 014
|Gliederung =
|Website = [http://www.marburg.de/ Stadt Marburg]
|Bürgermeister = Egon Vaupel
|Bürgermeistertitel = Oberbürgermeister
|Partei = SPD
|year =
}}
'''Marburg''' is a city in [[Hesse]], [[Germany]], on the River [[Lahn]]. It is the main town of the [[Marburg-Biedenkopf]] district. Its population is 78,701, and its geographical position is {{coor dms|50|48|36|N|8|46|15|E|}}.<br>
==''Universitätsstadt Marburg''==
===History===
===Founding and early history===
[[Image:Marburgalt.jpg|thumb|208px|left|Old Marburg]]
Like many settlements, Marburg developed at the crossroads of two important early medieval highways: an east-west one ([[Cologne]] to [[Prague]]) and a north-south one (from the [[North Sea]] to the [[Alps]] and on to [[Italy]]), the former crossing the river [[Lahn]] here. The settlement was protected, and customs raised, by a small castle that was built in the 9th or 10th century by the dynasty of the Giso. Marburg has been a town since [[1140]], as proved by coins. From the Gisos, it fell around that time to the [[Graf|Landgraves]] of [[Thuringia]], residing on the [[Wartburg]] above [[Eisenach]].
====St Elizabeth====
In [[1228]] the widowed princess-langravine of Thuringia, Elizabeth, 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 eminent female saints, St [[Elisabeth of Hungary]]. She was canonized in [[1235]].
[[Image:Elisabethkirche_Marburg.jpg|thumb|St Elizabeth's church]]
====Capital of Hesse====
In [[1264]], St Elizabeth's daughter [[Sophie of Brabant]], succeeded in winning the [[Landgrave|Landgraviate]] of [[Landgraviate of Hesse|Hesse]], hitherto connected to [[Thuringia]], for her son [[Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse|Henry]]. Marburg (alongside [[Kassel]]) was one of the capitals of Hesse from that time until about [[1540]]. Following the first division of the landgraviate, it was the capital of [[Hesse-Marburg]] from [[1485]] to [[1500]] and again between [[1567]] and [[1605]]. Hesse was one of the more powerful second-tier principalities in Germany. Its "old enemy" was the [[Archbishop of Mainz]], one of the [[Prince-elector]]s, who competed with Hesse in many wars and conflicts, stretching over several centuries, for territory.
After 1605, Marburg became just another provincial town, known mostly for the [[university]]. It became a virtual backwater for two centuries after the [[Thirty Years' War]], [[1618]]-[[1648]], when it was fought over by [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt|Hesse-Darmstadt]] and [[Hesse-Kassel]]. The Hessian territory around Marburg lost more than two thirds of its population, more than in all later wars (including [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]) combined.
====Reformation====
Marburg is the seat of the oldest [[Protestant]] [[university]] in the world, the [[University of Marburg]], or ''Philipps-Universität'', founded in [[1527]]. It is one of the six classical "university villages" in Germany, the other five being [[Freiburg]], [[Göttingen]], [[Heidelberg]], and [[Tübingen]], as well as the city of [[Gießen]], which is located 30 km south of Marburg.
In 1529, [[Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse|Philipp I of Hesse]] arranged the [[Marburg Colloquy]], to propitiate [[Martin Luther]] and [[Huldrych Zwingli]].
====Romanticism====
Owing to its neglect during the entire 18th century Marburg – like [[Rye, East Sussex|Rye]] or [[Chartres]] – survived as a relatively intact [[Gothic art|Gothic]] town, simply because there was no money spent on any new [[architecture]] or expansion. When [[Romanticism]] 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]], [[philology]], [[folklore]], and [[law]]. The group included [[Friedrich Karl von Savigny]], the most important [[jurist]] of his day and father of the [[Roman Law]] adaptation in Germany; the poets, writers, and social activists [[Achim von Arnim]], [[Clemens Brentano]], and especially the latter's sister and former's later wife, [[Bettina von Arnim]]. Most famous internationally, however, were the [[Brothers Grimm]], who collected many of their [[fairy tales]] here – [[Rapunzel]]'s Tower stands in Marburg, and across the Lahn hills, in the area called Schwalm, little girls' costumes included a red hood.
It has to be said, however, that this circle had disappeared from Marburg by the 1820s, and for another 45 years, Marburg became a Hessian backwater again.
====Prussian town====
In the [[Austro-Prussian War]] of [[1866]], the reactionary [[Prince-elector]] of Hesse had backed [[Austria]]; Prussia won, and invaded (without any bloodshed) and annexed [[Hesse-Kassel]] (as well as [[Hanover]], the City of [[Frankfurt]], and other territories) north of the [[Main]] river, while likewise pro-Austrian [[Grand Duchy of Hesse|Hesse-Darmstadt]] remained independent. For Marburg, this turn of events was very positive, because Prussia decided to make Marburg its main administrative center in this part of the new province [[Hesse-Nassau]] and to turn the [[University of Marburg]] into the regional academic center. Thus, Marburg's rise as an administrative and university city began; since the Prussian university system would become the indubitably best in the world, Marburg would now attract very famous scholars. There was, on the other hand, hardly any industry to speak of, so that 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====
{{main|Marburg speech}}
[[Image:Marburg 30.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Wettergasse in the Marburg Upper Town]]
[[Franz von Papen]], vice-chancellor of Germany in 1934, delivered an anti-[[Nazi]] speech at the University of Marburg on 17 June. This contributed to several of von Papen's staff being murdered by the Nazis.
In 1945, Marburg became President and Field Marshal [[Paul von Hindenburg]]'s final resting place. His grave is in the [[Elisabeth Church (Marburg)|Elisabethkirche]]. He is an honorary citizen of the town.
Marburg is also now home to one of the most progressive schools for the blind in the world. Street crossings are equipped with "walk" and "don't walk" signs that also emit sounds enabling the blind to know what the signs are "saying."
===Architecture===
Marburg is famous for its medieval churches, especially the [[Elisabeth Church (Marburg)|Elisabethkirche]], one of the two or three first purely Gothic churches north of the Alps outside of France and thus an incunable of Gothic architecture in Germany, as well as for the castle.
More important, however, is Marburg's city as such, an unspoilt, spire-dominated, castle-crowned Gothic/Renaissance city on a hill, intact because Marburg was an extreme backwater between 1600 and 1850. Unlike, for example, [[Rothenburg ob der Tauber]], Marburg regained some of its importance in later centuries, so it is not a "museum village" but rather a student-dominated university town.
Much of the physical attractiveness of Marburg today is the legacy of the legendary Lord Mayor Dr. [[Hanno Drechsler]] (in office 1970-1992), who promoted urban renewal and the restoration, for the first time, by object and not by area, i.e. areas were not pulled down but rather buildings restored. Thus, at a time when other cities were still pulling down medieval quarters, Marburg already protected its unique heritage. Marburg also had one of the first pedestrian zones in Germany. Marburg's ''Altstadtsanierung'' (since 1972) received many awards and prizes.
== Politics ==
As a larger mid-sized city, Marburg, like six other such cities in Hesse, 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]] (''kreisfreie Stadt'').
The mayor (''Oberbürgermeister'') Egon Vaupel, directly elected in January [[2005]] and in office since [[1 July]] 2005, is from the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]]. His deputy, the head of the building and youth departments Dr. Franz Kahle is supplied by the [[Alliance '90/The Greens|Greens]]. The majority in the 59-seat city parliament is held by a coalition of SPD (20 seats) and Green (10 seats) members. Also represented are the factions of the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|CDU]] (17 seats), the [[Left Party|PDS]] (4 seats), the ''Freie Wähler'' (Free Voters) BfM (''Bürger für Marburg''- 3 seats), the [[Free Democratic Party|FDP]] (3 seats) and a CDU splinter group MBL (''Marburger Bürgerliste''- 2 seats).
Outside the parliament, there are in Marburg, like otherwise only in big cities, a full range of groupings. Among the leftwing groups are [[ATTAC]], the [[Worldshop]] movement, an [[Autonomism|autonomist]]-[[Anarchism|anarchist]] scene, but also groups engaged in ecological or human-rights concerns.
The city of Marburg, similar to the cities of Heidelberg, Tuebingen, Goettingen etc. has a rich history of student corporations or "Verbindungen" i.e. associations or faternities including Corps, Landsmannachaften, Burschenschaften, Turnerschaften etc.
== City partnerships ==
* {{Flagicon|France}} [[Poitiers]], [[France]] since 1961
* {{Flagicon|Slovenia}} [[Maribor]], [[Slovenia]] since 1969
* {{Flagicon|Tunisia}} [[Sfax]], [[Tunisia]] since 1971
* {{Flagicon|United States}} [[Gig Harbor]], [[United States]] since 1982
* {{Flagicon|Germany}} [[Eisenach]], [[Thuringia]] since 1988
* {{Flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Northampton]], [[United Kingdom]] since 1992
* {{Flagicon|Romania}} [[Sibiu]], [[Romania]] since 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 Hesse'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 colours. This is three horizontal stripes coloured, from top to bottom, red (from the background), white (from the horse) and blue (from the shield).
The arms, which were designed in the late [[nineteenth century]], are based on a landgrave's seal on a municipal document, which 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. Under municipal codes in force in Germany today, the use of city or municipal arms in service seals is often mandatory.
==Marburg virus==
{{main|Marburg virus}}
The city's name is also connected to a filovirus, the [[Marburg virus]], which was first noticed and described during an outbreak in the city due to workers being accidentally exposed to infected [[grivet]] monkey tissue at the city's main industrial plant ([[1967]]), the Behring-Werke, then part of Hoechst and today of CSL Behring, founded by Marburg citizen and first [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prize in Medicine]] winner, [[Emil von Behring]]. During the outbreak, 31 people became infected and seven of them died. While this may seem a small number of people, during a [[cholera]] epidemic in the modern world only 1 in 20 people die. The Marburg virus is named after the town as it is customary to name viruses of such ferocity after the town or area in which they originate.
==Green city==
Many homes have solar panels and in the near future it will even become compulsory to install solar systems in new buildings or as part of renovation projects. 20 percent of heating system requirements will have to be covered by solar energy in new buildings. Anyone who fails to install solar panels could be fined €1,000. The new law, approved on 20 June 2008, will take effect in October 2008. <ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/21/europe/EU-GEN-Germany-Solar.php German college town Marburg becomes first in nation to require solar panels on new buildings, International Herald Tribune]</ref>
There are also three wind turbines and several buses run on natural gas or bio diesel.
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
{{Commons|Marburg}}
* [http://www.marburg.de Marburg], official website of Marburg city
* [http://sites-of-memory.de/main/location.html#marburg War and Holocaust memorials in Marburg], "Sites of Memory" webpage
* {{Wikitravel}}
{{Towns and municipalities in the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf}}
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[[Category:University towns]]
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