Exhibition: 500 Years of the University as Reflected in its Artefacts

From 14 October 2026 to 28 February 2027, the Museum of Art and Cultural History at the Landgrave’s Castle will be hosting an exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of Philipps University of Marburg. It explores the university’s history through insignia, documents and everyday objects from the archives, library and museum.

Exhibition: 500 Years of the University as Reflected in Its Artifacts

October 14, 2026, through February 28, 2027 | Museum of Art and Cultural History in the Landgrafenschloss

What remains of 500 years of university history? It is not only big names, significant discoveries, and historical events, but also the objects that tell their stories: charters, scepers, seals, documents—and sometimes quite unassuming items.

How can the history of a university be told through tangible objects? The exhibition at the Museum of Art and Cultural History in the Landgrave’s Castle invites visitors to discover 500 years of university history from a unique perspective.

The focus is on the university’s insignia – special symbols and objects such as scepers, seals, or chains of office that represent the university and its academic community. They are far more than historical artifacts: they reveal how the university has understood itself and what significance has been attributed to it over the centuries. They reflect academic traditions, power dynamics, and social changes—and thus a piece of the university’s history and contemporary history.

On display are objects and documents from the University Archives, the University Library, and the University Museum, supplemented by selected items on loan. In addition to particularly valuable and significant pieces, the collection also includes unassuming documents or those preserved more by chance, which nonetheless reveal much about the university’s history. The exhibits include the founding charter and the historic scepers, as well as documents from the university’s founding period and the centuries that followed. They offer insights into, among other things, the history of women’s education and the Nazi era. The Nobel Prize certificate awarded to the Marburg scientist Emil von Behring is also on display.

The exhibition thus brings history to life through tangible objects and offers an unusual perspective on 500 years of the university.

Exhibition dates: October 14, 2026, through February 28, 2027

Location: Museum of Art and Cultural History in the Landgrafenschloss, Schloss 1, 35037 Marburg