Marburg University


Marburg University is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the world. It is now a public university of the state of Hesse, without religious affiliation.
Marburg University has 21,162 students and is located in Marburg. It offers an International summer university programme and offers student exchanges through the Erasmus programme.

History

Founding years

On 1 July 1527, the landgravial chancellor Johann Feige formally inaugurated the university, which had been founded by Landgrave Philip I by decree on 30 May. At that time, it had eleven professors and 88 students. The first rector was Johannes Eisermann, known as Ferrarius Montanus, a professor of law and assessor at the landgravial court in Amöneburg. The same year, he granted the university the necessary academic freedoms. On 4 October 1541, the university gained financial independence through the deed of endowment. The following year, the Landgrave received the university privilege from Emperor Charles V during the Imperial Diet in Regensburg.
The university initially used the former monastic buildings of the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Brethren of the Common Life. Landgrave Philip granted it privileges such as the right to send a representative to the regional assembly and exemptions from tolls and levies for university members.
In 1529, the landgrave hosted the Marburg Colloquy, a religious debate between Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and Philip Melanchthon. The reputation of its theological faculty attracted international students, especially from Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Scotland. Among them were Patrick Hamilton, who studied briefly at Marburg. Outbreaks of disease repeatedly forced the university to relocate temporarily to nearby towns during its first century.

16th and 17th century

Until his death in 1560, Johann Friedrich Dryander held the chair of medicine at Marburg University. On 15 November 1565, Landgrave William IV of Hesse-Kassel appointed Georg Marius as professor, without the university’s formal consent. A second medical chair was added in 1566, filled by Victorinus Schönfeldt, who was already serving as professor of mathematics.
Between 1580 and 1628, Rudolph Goclenius was professor of philosophy, logic, and ethics at Marburg University.
When Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Kassel, who had inherited the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg in 1604, converted to Calvinism the following year, the university was compelled to adopt the reformed confession as well. This shift drove many Lutheran professors to the newly founded University of Giessen in 1607. In 1625, when Marburg temporarily came under Lutheran Hesse-Darmstadt, the University of Giessen returned to Marburg University and was later closed. On 24 June 1653, the university was reopened by William VI of Hesse-Kassel, who moved the state’s university back from Kassel to Marburg, thereby closing the University of Kassel. In the years that followed, the university faced difficult times due to ongoing confessionalization and financial hardship.

18th century

In 1723, philosopher Christian Wolff was appointed to a chair at Marburg University after being expelled from Halle by Frederick William I. Despite opposition from parts of the theological faculty, Wolff taught in Marburg until 1740 under the protection of the Landgrave, before being recalled to Prussia by Frederick the Great. The Seven Years' War later disrupted the university, as Hesse became a battleground and Marburg was fortified.
By 1785, the university held special legal and political status: it had its own jurisdiction, ecclesiastical endowments, and a seat in the regional assembly. The Landgrave acted as rector, the finance minister as curator, and the senate consisted of representatives from theology, law, medicine, and philosophy, along with language and technical instructors.

19th century

Marburg University experienced renewed growth during the Napoleonic era. In 1807, the Electorate of Hesse became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Westphalia, a French satellite state. Although several universities within the new kingdom were closed, Marburg was spared and benefited financially from the redistribution of resources, particularly following the closure of the universities in Rinteln and Helmstedt. The university library expanded significantly through transfers from Rinteln.
In 1810, Westphalian authorities banned students from wearing regional colours and uniforms, triggering a prolonged conflict between students and the administration. In May 1811, around 200 students protested by marching to Gladenbach, leading to the release of an imprisoned student and an official inquiry.
After the return of the prince-elector in 1813, many reforms were reversed, including the dissolution of Westphalian administrative structures and centralised funding. Influenced by the Wars of Liberation, student movements promoting national unity and liberal ideas gained traction in Marburg. In 1816, the student society Teutonia merged with local student associations to form Germania Marburgensis, though its development was hindered by the Carlsbad Decrees until the 1850s. Under prince-elector Wilhelm I, religious restrictions were eased, allowing the appointment of Catholic professors alongside Lutherans. Wilhelm II later granted full confessional equality, which contributed to rising enrolment. During the 1820s and following decades, the university expanded its facilities, including a new botanical garden, library, chemical laboratory, anatomical theatre, observatory, and clinics. The women’s clinic, begun under Hessian rule, was completed in 1867.
Following the annexation of Hesse by Prussia in 1866, the university transitioned from a regional institution to part of the Prussian education system, benefiting from its reforms. At the time, it had 264 students and 51 professors.
Due to property constraints and a preference for using existing state-owned buildings, the university remained decentralised across the city rather than adopting a unified campus model. Student numbers rose steadily, reaching 500 in 1880 and surpassing 1,000 by 1887.

20th century

By 1909, student enrolment at Marburg University had doubled. Although women were not yet formally admitted, Tadako Urata received a doctoral degree in medicine in 1905 under a special provision. The first academic honour awarded to a woman at the university had been granted in 1827 to Daniel Jeanne Wyttenbach, who received an honorary doctorate for her philosophical writings on aesthetics. Formal admission of women began in the winter semester of 1908/09 with 26 female students; their number rose to 206 by the outbreak of World War I.
The war marked a major disruption. While 2,258 male students were enrolled in summer 1914, the number dropped to 1,899 in the following semester, with only 478 attending lectures. Within three months of war, the university had lost 55 students.

Nazi period

In 1926, a chapter of the National Socialist German Students' League was established in Marburg. By 1931, it held a majority in the student council and led it from then on. After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, 21 professors—more than a tenth of the teaching staff—were dismissed for political or racial reasons under civil service laws. Among them were notable scholars such as economist Wilhelm Röpke, Romance philologist Erich Auerbach, and philosopher Karl Löwith. Professor Hermann Jacobsohn, a linguist, took his own life in April 1933 following his suspension. New racial and gender quotas were imposed on students, limiting Jewish enrolment to 1.5% overall and 5% for first-year students. The proportion of female students was temporarily capped at 10%.

After 1945

Following 1945, the university saw rapid growth in student numbers. To accommodate demand, expansion efforts began in the 1960s, including new administrative, dining, and lecture buildings, and the relocation of the Faculty of Philosophy. A Faculty of Natural Sciences was founded on the newly developed Lahnberge campus, whose buildings were among the first in Germany to follow a prefabricated construction model known as the Marburg System.

21st century

A nationally unprecedented event occurred on 1 January 2006, when the university hospital was privatised and sold to Rhön-Klinikum AG, a private healthcare company, following its merger with the University Hospital of Gießen.
In 2012 the university opened the first German interactive chemistry museum, called Chemicum. Its experimental course programme is aimed at encouraging young people to pursue careers in science.
In December 2023, the ceiling of a lecture hall in the Faculty of Law building collapsed.

Structure

Departments

Marburg University is divided into 16 departments. In its early days, the university consisted of the Faculty of Theology, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Law, and the Faculty of Philosophy, from which the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences was separated in 1964. In 1970, under the Hessian Higher Education Act, these faculties were restructured into 20 departments. Following mergers after 1997, the present organisation comprises 16 departments, whose numbering is no longer consecutive.
As part of the Bologna Process, the University introduced a large number of new Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes. At the same time, the traditional degree programmes with Magister, Diplom and similar qualifications were discontinued.

Associated institutes and museums

The university cooperates with the following affiliated institutes:
  • Christoph Dornier Foundation for Clinical Psychology
  • Research Centre for Personal Writings
  • Hans von Soden Institute for Theological Research
  • Health Care Management e.V.
  • Institute for Cooperative Studies
  • Institute for Behavioural Therapy and Behavioural Medicine
  • Institute for Business and Social Ethics
  • Catholic-Theological Seminary of the Faculty of Theology in Fulda
The following museums are affiliated with the university: