# YEARS of Marburg University Half a millennium of academic excellence, innovation and civic engagement. ![YEARS of Marburg University](https://cms.500jahre.uni-marburg.de/assets/0a432dd2-5f18-4e07-b858-02f476972372?key=webp-750) ## Celebrate with us! Marburg University will celebrate its 500-year anniversary in 2027. Since its founding in 1527 it has shaped research and teaching far beyond the borders of Hesse. ![Celebrate with us!](https://cms.500jahre.uni-marburg.de/assets/e50bf72c-4bc1-4442-bceb-000cce284dfa?key=webp-750) A wide range of [events](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/events), festive and informative 500 years of knowledge and academic tradition Fascinating insights into the university's [history](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history) Visions & new ideas for the [future](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/future) ## News [To all news](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/news) ## Events [To the event calendar](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/events) ## Fancy a quiz? [Start now](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/quiz) Which anniversary character are you? Find out and discover the events that suit you. ## Projects [To all projects](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/projekte) - [![Marburg knowledge spaces](https://cms.500jahre.uni-marburg.de/assets/78c16010-985a-471e-8c2d-f24b7ee7768f?key=webp-750) ### Marburg knowledge spaces How has the architecture of Marburg University developed over the centuries? And what can it tell us about research, teaching, student life and architecture?](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/projects/marburg-knowledge-spaces) - [![Philipps Fanfaren](https://cms.500jahre.uni-marburg.de/assets/986e3057-f7cb-474f-9dc6-15a5fbae2439?key=webp-750) ### Philipps Fanfaren 25,000 people, 25,000 soundscapes. Philipps Fanfaren is an electronic piece built from material drawn from the university, and it can be updated semester by semester.](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/projects/rimini-protokoll) - [![Celebratory flags 2027](https://cms.500jahre.uni-marburg.de/assets/c73bc1c0-4244-436f-bb9d-99bc8a679755?key=webp-750) ### Celebratory flags 2027 For the university's 475-year anniversary in 2002, flags and banners decorated the streets of Marburg. For the 500-year anniversary in 2027, students at the Institute of Fine Arts have designed celebratory flags once again, picking up where that project left off.](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/projects/celebratory-flags) 500 Year Timeline – Discover highlights from the fascinating history of Philipps University of Marburg. ![Decorative blue semi-circle image frame](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/0_shape-image-blue-semi-circle.svg) ![Seal of the Marburg school from 1527](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/1-seal.png) ![Portrait of Philip the Magnanimous](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/1-img_0.png) 1527 ## [Founding of the university](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1527) Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous of Hesse founds a university in Marburg with four faculties: theology, law, medicine and philosophy. It is the oldest Protestant university in the world still in existence today. ![Philipps University Marburg logo](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/logo.svg) Rethinking education 1609 ## [The world's first professorship in chemiatria](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1609) The cradle of university chemistry lies in Marburg: in 1609 Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Kassel appoints the chemist Johannes Hartmann (1568-1631) as the world's first professor of chemiatria (medical chemistry). Research sets new standards ![Historical illustrations for the chair of chymiatry](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/2-img_0.png) ![Historical manuscript by Karl Dadichi](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/3-img_2.jpg) 1718 ## [Syrian student Karl Dadichi in Marburg](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1718) International students have studied at Marburg University since its founding. In 1718 the first Syrian student known to us enrolled: Karl Dadichi, an orientalist and interpreter at the court of the Kingdom of Great Britain. International from the outset 1723 ## [Christian Wolff appointed professor of mathematics and philosophy](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1723) Wolff taught at Marburg University from 1723 to 1740 and was, alongside G. W. Leibniz, the most important philosopher of the early German Enlightenment. He gave philosophy a profile grounded in science and reason that carried on into Neo-Kantianism and still shapes how the discipline sees itself in Marburg today. Enlightenment for all! ![Portrait of Christian Wolff](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/4-1723_portrait.png) ![The Brothers Grimm – historical illustration](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/5-img-1.2.png) 1802 ## [Enrolment of the Brothers Grimm](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1802) The Brothers Grimm's years of study in Marburg became the starting point for a way of thinking that links scholarship, collecting and the passing on of knowledge across generations. Stories that endure 1901 ## [First Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to Emil von Behring](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1901) Bacteriologist Emil von Behring (1854–1917) received the very first Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research on serum therapy for diphtheria. Research that saves lives ![Emil von Behring and Nobel Prize diploma](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/6-1901-poster.png) ![Historical photograph of Alix Westerkamp](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/7-image-1907.webp) Putting equality into practice 1907 ## [Alix Westerkamp is the first woman to earn a doctorate in law in Germany](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1907) Alix Westerkamp is one of the great pioneers and trailblazers for women in academia. Her doctorate was completed successfully in 1907, making her the first woman to gain a doctorate in law at a German university and only the second woman to gain a doctorate at Marburg University. 1933 ## [Hermann Jacobsohn: dismissal and suicide](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1933) On 25 April 1933 the classical philologist and head of the German Language Atlas, Hermann Jacobsohn, was dismissed under the provisions of the 'Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service'. Because Jacobsohn had entered the civil service before 1914, he could not formally be suspended as a Jew; instead he lost his post on political grounds, as a member of the German Democratic Party (DDP). In the days after his dismissal, Jacobsohn took his own life. Remembrance as responsibility ![Portrait of Hermann Jacobsohn and historical document](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/8-1933.webp) ![Portrait of Wolfgang Abendroth](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/9-1951.svg) © Hessischer Rundfunk – www.hr.de 1951 ## [Appointment of Wolfgang Abendroth](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1951) Analysing, defending and developing democracy. Leading thinkers such as the political scientist Wolfgang Abendroth shape the university as a place of debate and social impact. In a tradition of change and of active shaping, the university brings different perspectives together and takes on its responsibility in a democratic society. Democracy needs conviction 1952 ## [Elisabeth Blochmann becomes professor of education](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#1952) When Elisabeth Blochmann (1892-1972) was appointed full professor of education at Marburg University in 1952, she made German academic history. Education had first been taught in Marburg by the philosopher Paul Natorp (from 1893) and later by psychologists; with Blochmann it became a discipline in its own right. She was the first woman in Germany to hold a full professorship in education, and the first woman to hold a full chair at Marburg University. New paths for education and scholarship ![Portrait of Elisabeth Blochmann over a geometric pattern](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/1952-person.png) ![Synthetic microbiology building, portrait of Bruno Eckardt, and label](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/10-2010-poster.png) 2010 ## [Bruno Eckhardt founds SYNMIKRO](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/history#2010) Philipps University Marburg looks ahead to 2027 and beyond: as a place of research, teaching, and social responsibility, it is preparing for the next chapter in its history – together with society, partners, and generations of students. Interdisciplinary paths to the future 2027 ## [The future of Marburg University](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/future) Join us in shaping the future of Philipps University and share your visions with us. Shaping the future together ![Abstract blue circle and semi-circle shapes](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/timeline/images/11-2027.svg) ## Merchandise for the 500-year anniversary Discover our anniversary merchandise ## 'We give people and society lasting momentum to help shape tomorrow's world for the better.' Marburg University's vision [Find out more about our mission](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/en/future) ### Collaborations and partnerships - ![EUPeace](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/partner-logos/EUPeace_logo_coordinator.svg) - ![Forschungscampus Mittelhessen](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/partner-logos/FCMH-Logo-FORSCHUNGSCAMPUS-MITTELHESSEN-02.svg) - ![StartMiUp](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/partner-logos/StartMiUp-Logo-ohne-Claim-RGB.svg) - ![UA11+](https://500jahre.uni-marburg.de/partner-logos/UA11+_RGB-blau.svg)