University Sentiments: The University of Marburg and Its Emotions in the Long Twentieth Century

This conference, organized by the Institute for Hessian Regional History, explores the history of emotions at the University of Marburg during the "long" 20th century, examining which "university-related emotions" shaped the academic sphere at different points in time.

When people think of universities, they typically associate them with scholarship and research, objectivity and rationality. Yet, as spaces where students, researchers, and administrative staff come together, universities are also inherently places of emotion. In celebration of the university’s 500th anniversary, the speakers will examine the history of emotions at the Philipps University of Marburg throughout the "long" 20th century. They will investigate which "university-related emotions" defined the academic landscape of this Central Hessian city during various periods. Did certain emotions dominate at specific times, or is the emotional history of the University of Marburg a rapid succession of overlapping emotional highs and lows?

Thursday, November 5, 2026

From 1:30 PM: Arrival and Introductions

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Welcome, Introduction, and Keynote

Moderator: Sabine Mecking

Thomas Nauss, President of the Philipps University of Marburg

Welcoming Address: 500 Years of the Philipps University of Marburg—A Love Affair Between University and City?

Martin Göllnitz and Sabine Mecking

Welcome and Introduction: "University-Related Emotions"

Silke Fehlemann

Keynote: The Potential of a History of Emotions in the University Context

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM: Coffee Break

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM: The Emotional Archive?

Moderator: Martin Göllnitz

Dennis Hormuth

The Pride of Universities: University Archives as Functional and Emotional Archives

Katharina Schaal

Little Emotion in the Archive? What the Marburg University Archives Can Tell Us About Emotions

17:00 – 17:30: Coffee Break

17:30 – 19:00: Emotions During National Socialism and the Cold War

Moderator: Tobias Karl

Eckart Conze

Pride Goes Before a Fall: The Self-Image and Academic Philosophy of Philipps University as Reflected in Rectoral and University Addresses, 1933–1945

Andreas Hedwig

Fear and Dread of the "Class Enemy"? Political Discourse During the Cold War at the University in the 1950s

Stephanie Zloch

A Zest for Confrontation: Academic Research on Eastern Europe During the Division of Europe, 1945–1989

Friday, November 6, 2026

9:30 – 11:00: Emotions in Higher Education During the First World War and the Weimar Republic

Moderator: Leon Bohnsack

Christoph Nonn

Emotions in Higher Education During the First World War: From Dutiful Uncertainty to Alienation and Frustration

Silke Lorch-Göllner

Tolerated, Valued, or Marginalized? Female Students at the University, 1908–1935

Alexander Priebe

Community, Landscape, and the Experience of Nature: The Organization of Hiking at the Institute for Physical Education During the Weimar Republic

11:00 – 11:30: Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:30: Emotions in Higher Education in the Federal Republic of Germany (I)

Moderator: Polly Wagner

Lea Lachnitt

An Emotional Balancing Act: Between Deception and Pride. Psychiatrist Werner Villinger and the Handling of the Nazi Past

Christian Kleinschmidt

Feelings of Consumption: Boredom as a Phenomenon of the Mass-Consumption Society in the Work of Wilhelm Röpke

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch Break

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Emotions in Higher Education in the Federal Republic of Germany (II)

Moderator: Lea Lachnitt

Sarah Herbst-Kramer

Emotions in Motion: The Interplay of Feeling and Calculation during University Protests in the 1960s and 1970s

Tobias Karl

Suspicion and Uncertainty: Emotions in Higher Education in the Context of the "Radical Decree" (*Radikalenbeschluss*)

Sven Opitz and Andrea Wiegeshoff

Fears of the "Marburg Virus": The "Monkey Plague," the University, and the World

3:00 PM: Closing Remarks and Farewell

Conference Publication:

Martin Göllnitz / Sabine Mecking (eds.): *Hochschulgefühle* [Emotions in Higher Education]: An Emotional History of the University of Marburg in the Long 20th Century, transcript: Bielefeld 2026/27.