TOP 25 Sights in and around Marburg

The Landgrave Castle towers high above the old town of Marburg and is one of the most prominent buildings in the city of Marburg. The oldest visible parts of the building date from the 13th century. The first Hessian Landgrave Heinrich I, grandson of Saint Elisabeth, built his residence here. A special highlight every year is the city festival "Three Days Marburg" and the open-air cinema on the castle park stage, held around the beautiful castle park. 

Interesting fact: The Landgrave Castle is one of the earliest hill castles in Germany and was the starting point for the development of Marburg. And: The famous religious discussions between Martin Luther and Zwingli once took place in the "Luther Room".

The area around the "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Turm" - popularly known as "Spiegelslustturm" - has been a popular excursion destination for the people of Marburg since the early 19th century. Located on the wooded hill opposite the castle on the "Lahnbergen" and east of the city, the observation platform offers a wonderful view and a completely new perspective of Marburg and its upper town. But beware: myths surround this structure! Allegedly, you are only allowed to enter the area after passing an intermediate exam or even after successfully completing your studies.

Interesting fact: When the tower was being built and had already reached a considerable height of almost 29 meters, it completely collapsed down to the base during a stormy night in March 1876. It was not until about a decade later that they began the second attempt to build the tower, which was successful.

In the tower café on the ground floor, events with a cultural focus are on the program. During opening hours, visitors have the opportunity to climb the tower via the 167 steps inside and listen to readings or view exhibitions in the renovated tower room on the upper floor.

The Spiegelslustturm can be easily reached by car and offers ample parking. Without a car, take bus line 7 to the "Universitätsklinikum" stop. From the stop, a hiking trail leads to the Spiegelslustturm; a map of the hiking trails on the Lahnbergen can be found at the beginning of the bus stops towards the clinic on the right side.

©Photo Georg Kronenberg

Landgrave Castle Biedenkopf was built in the mid-15th century by Heinrich III of Hessen-Marburg and is considered one of the significant cultural monuments of the state of Hessen. In 1988, the castle had to be closed due to urgently needed renovation work. After its reopening in 1993, the interior renovation of the castle was awarded the "Hessian Monument Protection Prize". Landgrave Castle Biedenkopf houses the Hinterland Museum, which mainly boasts an extensive collection of traditional costumes. 

Interesting fact: Between 1577 and 1842, Castle Biedenkopf served as a grain storage facility, where the farmers' contributions were stored. Since 1908, it has housed the Hinterland Museum.

Castle Rauischholzhausen is located in the idyllic Ebsdorfergrund between Gießen and Marburg, nestled within a park designed in the English style. 

The park surrounding the romantic building offers a variety of exotic tree and plant species, which, together with several ponds, invite you to take relaxing walks.

Interesting fact: In 1873, Castle Rauischholzhausen collapsed because the foundations were not laid with enough care during construction. The castle was then redesigned, and construction was completed in 1875.

The ruins of Frauenberg Castle, located about 6 km south of Marburg, is a former hilltop castle with a beautiful view into the Amöneburg Basin. The castle ruins can be considered the cradle of the state of Hessen.

Interesting fact: The daughter of Saint Elisabeth of Brabant lived here, who had the castle built on the basalt hill around 1252 to control the main trade route to Amöneburg and to challenge the Mainz fortress Ohmfeste.

Since 1906, the ruins of Frauenberg Castle have belonged to the city of Marburg. For over a hundred years, it has been a popular excursion destination, as you can enjoy an excellent 360-degree view of the Marburg Lahnberge and the Amöneburg Basin from the castle hill. You can see around forty villages and towns from Frauenberg. Nature, forest, and hiking trails around Beltershausen-Frauenberg invite you to take a walk, with inns in the local district offering refreshments.

On a small basalt cone stands the hilltop castle Schweinsberg Castle. The entire castle complex dominates the small center of the place. The strategic importance of the castle quickly becomes clear: Located in the middle of a swamp area, it was practically "impregnable". During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was destroyed, and it threatened to fall into complete ruin. Today, the further preservation of the castle is secured by five families from the district. 

Interesting fact: Today, some condominiums are located in the castle and are inhabited. 

©Photo Henrik Isenberg

At the edge of the Burgwald lies the ruins of Mellnau Castle, a popular destination for hikers and day-trippers. Here you will find an oasis of tranquility and a magnificent view of the Marburg and Frankenberg regions. From the almost oval medieval core castle, parts of the ring wall are still preserved today. 

Interesting fact: Today, the castle mainly has feathered residents. Kestrels have claimed the historic walls as their home for many years. 

The highlight and at the same time a crowd puller in Marburg is the Elisabeth Church. The purely Gothic hall church with a three-cone choir was built between 1235 and 1283 in just 50 years. Already in the Middle Ages, the Elisabeth Church was considered an important pilgrimage site. The colorful windows depict the life and work of Saint Elisabeth. 

Interesting fact: Did you know that the Elisabeth Church is actually a Marian church, as it was named after its patron saint, the Virgin Mary? However, as the burial place of Saint Elisabeth (1207–1231), who was canonized in 1235, the name "Elisabeth Church" became popular among the population. 

In the heart of the old town lies Marburg's oldest parish church. It was the first building with which the Teutonic Order documented its future presence in the city of Marburg; the Elisabeth Church was outside the city at that time.

Interesting fact: Especially the crooked tower top causes much speculation among locals and visitors. However, weather influences are most likely to have caused the tower to lean. 

The Kugelkirche is open from Monday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Church of Saint John the Evangelist in Marburg from the early 16th century is also known as the "Kugelkirche". It is located in the upper town and is Marburg's youngest medieval sacred building. 

Interesting fact: The church is named after the former "Kugelherren" with their spherical headgear, who built the church and the associated monastery.

From afar, the collegiate church towers on the basalt hill and rises above the roofs of the historic old town of Amöneburg. The church served Saint Boniface in 721 as a location for the mission of Upper Hesse. A visit is also worthwhile to the opposite castle ruins.

Interesting fact: The church tower is the only remaining part of the collegiate church founded in 1360. It was heavily damaged in the Thirty Years' War and was only rebuilt from 1660 onwards.

Tours in the collegiate church are possible by appointment. 

The three-nave hall church has stood on the monastery hill since the 13th century. Particularly noteworthy is the only preserved two-manual organ by Johann Andreas Heinemann. Over the centuries, it has been subjected to many detrimental interventions. 

Interesting fact: The essential substance of the organ was preserved over the centuries, so the Förster and Nicolaus Lich family was able to restore the organ to its original state from 1997 to 1999. 

Tours are conducted by the staff of the church community. Simply register with the parish office.

The historic town hall (built 1512 to 1527) and the market place are still the center of city life in Marburg, even though there has long been insufficient space here for the employees of the Marburg city administration. Especially on market days, Wednesdays and Saturdays, the people of Marburg flock here to do their errands.

Above the tower entrance is the richly decorated figure of Saint Elisabeth in a small niche. The town hall clock, located in the middle of the roof gable, features a double dial above which a globe slowly rotates. The rooster, which sits in the middle of the roof gable, "crows" every hour on the hour and spreads its wings.

The foundations of the Old University, built in the 19th century in neo-Gothic style, already originate from the Dominican monastery founded in 1291. As early as 1527, the Hessian Landgrave Philipp founded the Marburg University here. As space soon became insufficient for all lecturers and students and the old buildings decayed over the centuries, a new building was constructed from 1873 to 1891. Today, the Department of Protestant Theology is still located here. 

The Old Aula now serves as a venue for university celebrations.

©Photo Oliver Geyer

The University Library of Marburg is not only a place of knowledge but also an architectural landmark of the city.

With its distinctive glass facade, it combines modern architecture with the long tradition of the Philipps University, one of the oldest universities in Germany. Inside, a light-flooded learning and working environment opens up with hundreds of thousands of media and modern research rooms. Visitors experience the special atmosphere of a university city where history and the present are closely intertwined.

©Photo Marburg Stadt und Land Tourismus

The Garden of Remembrance in Marburg is a quiet place of remembrance commemorating the Jewish community of the city and the victims of National Socialism. The park-like complex with memorial plaques and artistic elements invites visitors to a moment of peace and reflection. With its central location, the garden connects history, culture, and memory culture and is a significant part of Marburg's sights.

©Photo Georg Kronenberg

Directly opposite the town hall, at the upper end of the market square, is the Stone House in Mainzer Gasse. The oldest preserved residential building in Marburg can be recognized by its hard-to-miss fire-red door. It was built between 1319 and 1323 in Gothic style and is used for romantic weddings throughout the year. In the cellar vault, you can enjoy a refreshing drink at the Hinkelstein pub, taking a break from your tour of Marburg.

©Photo Marburg Stadt und Land Tourismus

The Marburg House of Romanticism honors one of the most formative epochs for the development of German literature and language, music, and the visual arts. The Marburg House of Romanticism association aims to convey the importance of Romanticism as a foundation for our current democracy and equality, as the goal of the Romantics was to create a free, educated person.
 

Interesting fact: Marburg was briefly a meeting place for almost all the protagonists of Romanticism. The association was founded in 1998 to preserve the legacy of this circle of Romantics for the benefit of the general public.

The museum has been open to visitors since 2001. In the "Red Salon," you will find a setting where you can closely experience the sociability and salon culture around 1800. Here you can learn about the biographies and works of the Marburg Romantics. 

In the Chemikum Marburg, doors open to a world full of experiments that spark curiosity and invite participation.

It's not about dry theory here, but about wonder, experimenting, and understanding. Whether sparks fly, colorful reactions occur, or mysterious substances are examined, visitors are in the middle of the action. Children, teenagers, and adults can research at interactive stations, go on a discovery tour in the student lab, or gain amazing insights into the chemistry of our everyday lives during guided tours. This makes what usually remains hidden tangible with all senses.

©Photo Marburg Stadt und Land Tourismus

The Marburg Museum of Art and Cultural History houses the most important collections of the university.

The Marburg Art Museum houses the university's painting collection and the arts and crafts collection. Experience the history of painting from the early modern period to classical modernism and numerous cultural-historical works on the history of Hesse.

©Photo Thomas Dimroth

In an inconspicuous hall in the Marburg district of Wehrshausen is Germany's first Police Oldtimer Museum with its unique historical police vehicles. What started as a small collection of police motorcycles in 1991 has grown into the largest collection of police vehicles in all of Germany, thanks to the contribution of vehicles from across the country.

With vivid photographic material and a variety of police exhibits, the PMC Marburg 1990 e.V. association aims to provide a lively insight into the motorization of the German police over the last hundred years and into the often challenging but diverse work of the police.

Interesting fact: Many of the exhibited models are real movie stars!
 

The Oldtimer Museum is open one day a month from April to October. Admission is free. 

Experience the world's first interactive mathematics museum at the Mathematikum in Gießen!

Unlike what you might remember from school, here you are offered an approach to mathematics that does not rely solely on formulas or equations. Under the motto "Mathematics to Touch," visitors to the museum can gain mathematical experiences at over 150 experiment stations. Visitors of all ages are invited to approach the complex science in a playful way through puzzles, bridge building, and solving brainteasers. 

With a visit to the Justus Liebig Museum in Gießen, you embark on an exploration tour in the historic laboratory of the chemist Justus von Liebig.

Chemistry enthusiasts and interested individuals can get an impression of the working conditions and tools of the time in one of the world's most important chemistry museums at the former Chemical Institute and transport themselves back to the time when Justus von Liebig lived and researched during his time as a professor at the University of Gießen.

Costume enthusiasts will be delighted here! The Hinterland Museum in Biedenkopf Castle boasts a diverse collection of Hinterland costumes and represents a significant cultural monument in the Hessian hinterland. On 1,000 square meters, the local cultural history of the past 900 years is presented in the Landgrave Castle Biedenkopf. Thematic focuses include traffic, industry, agriculture, and craft history, as well as costume, everyday, and living culture.
 

Interesting: The Marburg-Biedenkopf region is the most costume-rich region in Germany.

Detailed stagings demonstrate how people lived in this region about 150 years ago. 

©Photo Henrik Isenberg

The Marburg Art Association is an important point of contact for anyone interested in contemporary art in Marburg.
In the regularly changing exhibitions, works from painting, photography, sculpture, and new media are presented. With its central location, the Art Association offers visitors the opportunity to experience current art trends up close and to discover Marburg as a vibrant cultural city.

©Photo Georg Kronenberg