MARBURG, a town in Hesse-Cassel, capital of the circle of Upper Hesse, is pleasantly situated on the right bank of the Lahn, 48 miles S.W. of Cassel, and 60 miles N. by E. from Frankfurt. The town is not well built, and lies in the form of a semicircle on the slopes of a hill, on which stands a castle formerly the residence of the landgraves of Hesse. Marburg is partly surrounded by walls, and has five gates. The streets are narrow, and in many cases so steep as to be ascended by flights of stairs. The university of Marburg was the first Protestant one established
in Germany, being founded by Philip the Generous in 1527. It is attended by about 270 students, has 62 professors and teachers, and a library of about 100,000 volumes. The principal of the other buildings are,—the castle, which in 1529 was the scene of a religious conference between Luther, Melancthon, Zwingli, and others of the Reformers, regarding transubstantiation; and the church of St. Elizabeth, a beautiful specimen of the Gothic style, begun in 1235, and completed in 1283, containing the monument and silver coffin of St. Elizabeth. Besides this, Marburg possesses two Lutheran and one Calvinist church, a gymnasium, a school of industry, a normal school, a school of surgery, a botanic garden, an hospital, two infirmaries, &c. There are also manufactures of stockings, hats, tobacco, tobacco-pipes, &c. Marburg is the seat of the principal law courts for Upper Hesse. On the other side of the Lahn stands the suburb of Weidenhausen. Pop. of the town, with the suburb of Weidenhausen which stands on the opposite side of the Lahn, 7954.