High-tech town in a picturesque setting
Marburg’s 80,000 inhabitants make it the biggest town in Central Hessen. It’s also a very young university town with lots of students. The Philipps University, founded in 1527, is the oldest Protestant university in Germany.
The first ever Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to Email von Behring, a professor at the University of Marburg. The Behringwerke he founded have since become multinational pharmaceutical companies like CSL Behring, Novartis, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics and Pharmaserv. The intensive collaboration between the University and pharmaceutical companies has allowed Marburg to become an important business location for international pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology manufacturers. The town has also become the home of major research centres like the Max Planck Institute and the BSL-4 high-security laboratory.
This high-tech infrastructure is set against the backdrop of a carefully redeveloped old town with historic streets, picturesque alleyways and the largest botanical garden in Europe. Since the 1970s, Marburg has received numerous honours for its preservation of historical monuments and careful urban planning. It’s always worth visiting Marburg Castle with its Knight’s Hall and the early-Gothic St. Elizabeth's Church. There’s a rich cultural scene with lots of music events and 3TM, the biggest town fair in Central Hessen that takes place on the second weekend in July.