Press

Marburg University was founded in 1527. In 2027 the university marks the 500-year anniversary of its founding. The anniversary is a chance to look back over five centuries of university history and to discuss the university's role now and in the future. It celebrates its history, its people, its research and its ties to the city and the region. At the same time it looks at the university as it is today and at where it is going.

The anniversary year starts in the 2026/27 winter semester, opening on 14 October 2026 with a launch event to which the whole university is invited.

Marburg University’s anniversary is an uninterrupted continuation of the celebrations for '500 years of the Reformation in Hesse'. Students from the Collegium Philippinum of the Hessian Scholarship Foundation (the 'Stipe') will receive the anniversary baton in Homberg (Efze) and carry it to Marburg. This symbolises how Landgrave Philip of Hesse set out 500 years ago to found a university in the spirit of the Reformation, after the Homberg Synod had resolved in 1526 to introduce the Reformation in Hesse.

The programme is wide-ranging, with around 300 events. Academic events, symposia, conferences and congresses are a particular focus, alongside numerous exhibitions, concerts, publications, celebrations and projects. Much of the programme is open to everyone. Events and further information are published on the anniversary website, and the printed programme is available at various points around the university.

Everyone. The anniversary is for students and staff, researchers and partners, alumni, families, the people of Marburg, visitors and anyone curious about the university and its history.

The anniversary takes place across the university's many spaces: from the Audimax to the university library and from Marburg Castle to the botanical garden, it creates opportunities to meet and to spark new ideas at sites throughout the university.

Many events are explicitly aimed at the public. Where registration is required or particular conditions apply, this is stated with the event listing. For current information, see 500jahre.uni-marburg.de

The university and the city have been closely bound together for 500 years. Marburg University shapes Marburg as a place of research, education and everyday life - and is itself part of the city's community. The anniversary sets out to make that connection visible and to strengthen it further.

Around 25,000 people from many countries and disciplines study, research, teach and work at Marburg University today, taking forward research, education and knowledge transfer. It is a place for research, education, exchange and new ideas, and it has set out to help shape tomorrow's world for the better. Open and respectful dealings with one another, a curiosity guided by scientific responsibility and a commitment to the principles of democracy are the values on which the university rests.

The university has lived through political and social upheaval. It has seen new subjects and disciplines emerge and it has reinvented itself again and again. Its history is a history of change – transformation has become part of its culture.