Marburg view by Thomas Riess

Marburg views. Marburg is the district town of the central Hessian district of Marburg-Biedenkopf and lies on the River Lahn. To distinguish it traditionally from Marburg an der Drau, the town was officially called Marburg an der Lahn or Marburg a. d. Lahn until 1974 and then Marburg (Lahn) until the end of 1976. Marburg is a university town and the eighth largest city in Hesse with a population of 78,203. The urban area extends on both sides of the River Lahn westwards into the Gladenbacher Bergland and eastwards over the Lahnberge mountains to the edge of the Amöneburg Basin. Marburg has had city rights since the 13th century. Today it fulfils the function of a regional centre in the administrative district of Giessen (Central Hesse). As the largest medium-sized town, Marburg, like six other medium-sized towns in Hesse, has a special status compared to the other municipalities belonging to the district. The city therefore takes on the tasks of the district, so that in many respects it is similar to an independent city. Marburg is home to Philipps University, founded in 1527 and the oldest Protestant university in the world still in existence, which still characterises the cityscape today with its buildings and student life. The city may owe its name Marburg to the fact that a border ("mar]") once ran here between the territories of the Landgraves of Thuringia and the Archbishops of Mainz. There is no clear historical evidence of this. The outstanding sights in Marburg are St Elisabeth's Church, the Old University, the Landgrave's Palace and the old town below it, which is called the "Upper Town" in Marburg.