[Back to events calendar](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/events) # University Sentiments: The University of Marburg and Its Emotions in the Long Twentieth Century [Forschungszentrum Deutscher Sprachatlas](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=50.810969400%2C8.772273200) [Start navigation](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=50.810969400%2C8.772273200) 05.11.2026 – 06.11.2026 Institut für Hessische Landesgeschichte Free admission [Register now for free](https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fb06/hessische-landesgeschichte/veranstaltungen-des-lehrstuhls) ![University Sentiments: The University of Marburg and Its Emotions in the Long Twentieth Century](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/api/event-image?path=%2Fuploads%2Fmedia%2Fevent_images%2F0001%2F01%2F37c7aa75aef0379c2ce992a01f7ef520632566dd.jpg&size=800) ## Description * * * 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. [Dr. Martin Göllnitz mgoellnitz@uni-marburg.de](mailto:mgoellnitz@uni-marburg.de) [Prof. Dr. Sabine Mecking sabine.mecking@uni-marburg.de](mailto:sabine.mecking@uni-marburg.de) ## Dates in this series - [![University Sentiments: The University of Marburg and Its Emotions in the Long Twentieth Century](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/api/event-image?path=%2Fuploads%2Fmedia%2Fevent_images%2F0001%2F01%2F37c7aa75aef0379c2ce992a01f7ef520632566dd.jpg&size=720) Conference On site ### University Sentiments: The University of Marburg and Its Emotions in the Long Twentieth Century Thursday, 5 November 2026 B|05 Forschungszentrum Deutscher Sprachatlas](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/events/hochschulgefuehle/123)