A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city , but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district ) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several smaller institutions such as liberal arts colleges clustered, or the residential population may be small, but college towns in all cases are so dubbed because the presence of the educational institution(s) pervades economic and social life. Many local residents may be employed by the university—which may be the largest employer in the community—many businesses cater primarily to the university, and the student population may outnumber the local population.
49-549: Marburg ( German pronunciation: [ˈmaːɐ̯bʊʁk] or [ˈmaʁbʊʁk] ) is a university town in the German federal state ( Bundesland ) of Hesse , capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district ( Landkreis ). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximately 76,000. Having been awarded town privileges in 1222, Marburg served as capital of
98-640: A hospital city, and because of a lack of important industrial sites, there was not much damage from bombings except along the railroad tracks. In May 1945, the Monuments men officer Walker Hancock set up the first so-called Central Collecting Point in the Marburg State Archives. But since the capacity of the archive building was not sufficient to store the many objects and since other collecting points, for example in Munich , had been set up in
147-411: A low cost of living , and often a pedestrian - or public transit -friendly development pattern. Several development companies now specialize in constructing retirement communities in college towns. In some cases the communities have developed formal relationships with the local institution. The demand for housing from students, faculty, staff, and retirees kept college town home prices stable during
196-542: A moated castle in 1152 built by Count Wilhelm von Gleiberg , although the history of the community in the northeast and in today's suburb called "Wieseck" dates back to 775. The town became part of Hesse-Marburg in 1567, passing to Hesse-Darmstadt in 1604. The University of Giessen was founded in 1607. Giessen was included within the Grand Duchy of Hesse created in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars . After
245-611: A relatively intact Gothic town, simply because there was no money spent on any new architecture or expansion. When Romanticism became the dominant cultural and artistic paradigm in Germany, Marburg became a centre of activities once again, and many of the leaders of the movement lived, taught, or studied in Marburg. They formed a circle of friends that was of great importance, especially in literature , philology , folklore , and law . The group included Friedrich Carl von Savigny ,
294-491: A term with somewhat derogatory connotations. While noise, traffic, and other quality of life issues have not been resolved, some advocates of New Urbanism have led the development of neighborhoods in college towns by specifically capitalizing on their proximity to university life. For instance, some universities have developed properties to allow faculty and staff members to walk to work, reducing demand for limited on-campus parking; Duke University 's Trinity Heights development
343-579: A university expands its facilities, the potential loss of property tax revenue is thus a concern, in addition to local desire to preserve open space or historic neighborhoods. As a result, local people may resent the university and its students. The students, in turn, may criticize the local residents' taking jobs at the university provided by student tuition and fees, and accepting the tax revenues (e.g. local sales tax, property tax on rented properties) that students generate, but resenting students' lifestyles. Some students refer to other inhabitants as "townies",
392-425: Is twinned with: Marburg's coat of arms shows a Hessian landgrave riding a white horse with a flag and a shield on a red background. The shield shows the red-and-white-striped Hessian lion, also to be seen on Hessen's state arms, and the flag shows a stylized M, blue on gold (or yellow). The arms are also the source of the city flag's colors. The flag has three horizontal stripes colored, from top to bottom, red (from
441-511: Is a dialect of rotwelsch spoken in and around Giessen by people in lower income neighbourhoods, some of which are known as "Eulenkopf", "Gummiinsel", "Heyerweg" and "Margaretenhütte". Approximately 700–750 residents spoke the dialect fluently as of 1976. Although the dialect still influences the Giessen vernacular , it is nearly extinct in terms of fluent speakers. Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there
490-655: Is a key example. In many cases, developers have built communities where access to the university (even if not directly adjacent) is promoted as an advantage. Student housing is also an important component of college towns. In the United States most state universities have 50 percent or more of their enrolled students living off-campus. This trend, which began in the 1960s, originally meant the conversion of near campus single-family homes to student housing, creating " student ghettos ." Colleges and other developers began building purpose-built off-campus student housing areas in
539-452: Is divided into the following 25 boroughs ( Ortsbezirke ): As a larger mid-sized city, Marburg, like six other such cities in Hessen, has a special status as compared to the other municipalities in the district. This means that the city takes on tasks more usually performed by the district so that in many ways it is comparable to an urban district ( kreisfreie Stadt ). Before 1974, the city
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#1732756944147588-475: Is one of Germany's oldest universities. It is spread over two campuses: Firmanei at the centre of Marburg, and Lahnberge to the east of the town at the Botanischer Garten (Botanical Garden). College town In Europe , a university town is generally characterised by having an ancient university . The economy of the city is closely related with the university activity and highly supported by
637-537: Is one of the smaller "university towns" in Germany. These include Greifswald , Erlangen , Jena , and Tübingen , as well as the city of Gießen , which is located 30 km south of Marburg. In 1529, Philipp I of Hesse arranged the Marburg Colloquy , to propitiate Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli . Owing to its neglect during the entire 18th century, Marburg – like Rye or Chartres – survived as
686-678: The American occupation zone in the meantime, the Marburg facility was closed after more than a year in favor of the Wiesbaden Collecting Point. With the relocation of the sarcophagus of Field Marshal and President Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) to the Elisabethkirche in August 1946 the project ended. Post-war developments included a population growth first due to war refugees, then to increasing significance of
735-700: The First World War , it was part of the People's State of Hesse . During the Second World War , a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp was in the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Licher Straße . Heavy bombing destroyed about 75 percent of Giessen in 1944, including most of the town's historic buildings. It became part of the modern state of Hesse after the war. In 1977, Giessen was merged with
784-620: The Marburg virus , because this disease , a viral hemorrhagic fever resembling ebola , was first recognized and described during an outbreak in the city. In 1967, workers were accidentally exposed to infected green monkey tissue at the city's former industrial plant, the Behring-Werke, then part of Hoechst and today of CSL Behring , founded by Marburg citizen and first Nobel Prize in Medicine winner, Emil Adolf von Behring . During
833-576: The Pirate Party (1 seat). [1] Among the left wing groups are ATTAC , the Worldshop movement, an autonomist - anarchist scene, and a few groups engaged in ecological or human-rights concerns. The city of Marburg, similar to the cities of Heidelberg , Tübingen and Göttingen , has a rich history of student fraternities or Verbindungen of various sorts, including Corps, Landsmannschaften, Burschenschaften, Turnierschaften, etc. Marburg
882-566: The Thirty Years' War (1618–48), when it was fought over by Hessen-Darmstadt and Hesse-Kassel . The Hessian territory around Marburg lost more than two-thirds of its population, which was more than in any later wars (including World War I and World War II ) combined. Marburg is the seat of the oldest existing Protestant -founded university in the world, the University of Marburg (Philipps-Universität-Marburg), founded in 1527. It
931-494: The University of Marburg into the regional academic centre. Thus, Marburg's rise as an administrative and university city began. As the Prussian university system was one of the best in the world at the time, Marburg attracted many respected scholars. However, there was hardly any industry to speak of, so students, professors, and civil servants – who generally had enough but not much money and paid very little in taxes – dominated
980-413: The cost of living above that of the region. It is common for university employees to commute from surrounding areas, finding the cost of living in town too expensive. "Studentification", in which a growing student population move in large numbers to traditionally non-student neighborhoods, may be perceived as a form of invasion or gentrification . It may be due to university enrollment expanding beyond
1029-491: The housing market downturn that began in 2005 . Gie%C3%9Fen Giessen , spelled Gießen in German ( German pronunciation: [ˈɡiːsn̩] ), is a town in the German state ( Bundesland ) of Hesse , capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen . The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. The name comes from Giezzen , as it
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#17327569441471078-455: The landgraviate of Hessen-Marburg during periods of the 15th to 17th centuries. The University of Marburg was founded in 1527 and dominates the public life in the town to this day. Marburg is a historic centre of the pharmaceutical industry in Germany, and there is a plant in the town (by BioNTech ) to produce vaccines to tackle Covid-19 . Like many settlements, Marburg developed at the crossroads of two important early medieval highways:
1127-527: The 1970s in more college towns. Beginning around 2000 in the United States, nationwide real estate investment trusts (REIT) and publicly traded corporations began developing student housing complexes. Another notable development since the 1990s is the surge in popularity of retirees relocating to college towns. Retirees are attracted to these locations because of cultural and educational opportunities, college athletic events, good medical facilities (often at teaching hospitals affiliated with medical schools ),
1176-617: The 59-seat city parliament is held by a coalition of Green party (15 seats), SPD (14 seats) and Klimaliste (4 seats) members. Also represented are the factions of the Christian Democratic Union (13 seats), The Left (7 seats), the Free Democratic Party (2 seats), a CDU splinter group MBL ( Marburger Bürgerliste – 2 seats), the BfM ( Bürger für Marburg – 2 seats), Alternative für Deutschland (1 seat), and
1225-528: The Alps outside France, is an archetype of Gothic architecture in Germany. Much of the physical attractiveness of Marburg is due to Hanno Drechsler who was Lord Mayor between 1970 and 1992. He promoted urban renewal, the restoration of the Oberstadt (uptown), and he established one of the first pedestrian zones in Germany. Marburg's Altstadtsanierung (since 1972) has received many awards and prizes. Parks in
1274-580: The Gisos, it fell around that time to the Landgraves of Thuringia , residing on the Wartburg above Eisenach . In 1228, the widowed princess-landgravine of Thuringia, Elizabeth of Hungary , chose Marburg as her dowager seat, as she did not get along well with her brother-in-law, the new landgrave. The countess dedicated her life to the sick and would become after her early death in 1231, aged 24, one of
1323-508: The absence of a system for payments in lieu of taxes , the university population will disproportionately burden parts of the local public infrastructure, such as roads or law enforcement. Some analysts argue that students relieve the burden on other parts of the local public infrastructure, such as local primary and secondary schools, by far the most costly line item in most North American city and town budgets, by providing tax revenues through local sales tax and property tax paid by landlords. When
1372-403: The background), white (from the horse) and blue (from the shield). The coat of arms, which was designed in the late nineteenth century, is based on a landgrave seal on a municipal document. It is an example of a very prevalent practice of replacing forgotten coats of arms, or ones deemed not to be representative enough, with motifs taken from seals. The city's name is connected to a filovirus ,
1421-500: The capacity of on-campus housing, inadequate zoning enforcement, and/or student culture. Neighborhood associations may work to limit conversion of family homes to student rentals, while some local residents may oppose the construction of large on-campus dormitories or expansion of fraternity and sorority houses, forcing a growing enrollment to seek housing in town. In the US, educational institutions are often exempted from local taxes, so in
1470-444: The case of a company town , the large and transient university population may come into conflict with other townspeople. Students may come from outside the area, and perhaps subscribe to a different—sometimes radically different—culture. Most students are young people, whose living habits may be different from older people. Economically, the high spending power of the university and of its students in aggregate may inflate
1519-717: The centuries. As an example of this, Paris also illustrates the course of educational history with the Sorbonne and the Grande école . Besides a highly educated and largely transient population, a stereotypical college town often has many people in non-traditional lifestyles and subcultures and with a high tolerance for unconventionality in general, and has a very active musical or cultural scene. Many have become centres of technological research and innovative startups . Universities with start-up centers can be large cities like Munich , but also small cities like Trieste . Although
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1568-579: The concept of a university town has developed since the European Middle Ages, equivalents already existed in earlier times and in non-European cultures. For example, in later Classical times the city of Athens – no longer having any political or military power, but renowned as the greatest center of learning in the Roman Empire – had many of the characteristics of a university town, and is sometimes called such by modern scholars. As in
1617-490: The entire university structure, which may include university hospitals and clinics, printing houses, libraries, laboratories, business incubators, student rooms, dining halls, students' unions, student societies, and academic festivities. Moreover, the history of the city is often intertwined with that of the university. Many European university towns have not merely been important places of science and education, but also centres of political, cultural and social influence throughout
1666-644: The fairy tale editions are by the painter Otto Ubbelohde , who also lived in and near Marburg. The original building inspiring his drawing Rapunzel 's Tower stands in Amönau near Marburg. Across the Lahn hills, in the area called Schwalm, the costumes of little girls included a red hood. In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the Prince-elector of Hessen had backed Austria . Prussia won and took
1715-586: The large influx of 2016. After the war, the city was twinned with Winchester , UK. Giessen is twinned with: Giessen is home to the basketball club Giessen 46ers , five-time champion of the Basketball Bundesliga . Its home games take place at the Sporthalle Gießen-Ost . Also, Giessen has an American football team called Giessen Golden Dragons. The Catholic Scouts of Europe were founded in Giessen in 1975. Manisch
1764-545: The most important jurist of his day and father of the Roman Law adaptation in Germany, as well as the poets, writers, and social activists Achim von Arnim , Clemens Brentano , and especially Bettina von Arnim , Clemens Brentano's sister, who became Achim von Arnim's wife. Most famous internationally, however, were the Brothers Grimm , who collected many of their fairy tales here. The best-known illustrations for
1813-537: The most prominent female saints of the era. She was canonized in 1235. In 1264, St Elizabeth's daughter Sophie of Brabant , succeeded in winning the Landgraviate of Hessen , hitherto connected to Thuringia , for her son Henry . Marburg (alongside Kassel ) was one of the capitals of Hessen from that time until about 1540. Following the first division of the landgraviate, it was the capital of Hessen-Marburg from 1485 to 1500 and again between 1567 and 1605. Hessen
1862-642: The neighbouring city Wetzlar to form the new city of Lahn . However, this attempt to reorganize the administration was reversed in 1979. It was part of the Darmstadt region (regierungsbezirk) between 1945 and 1981, until the Giessen (region) was founded on 1 January 1981. A U.S. military base was located in Giessen after the Second World War. The U.S. Army Garrison of Gießen had a population of up to 10,000 American soldiers and their families. Gießen
1911-526: The opportunity to invade and annex the Electorate of Hessen (as well as Hanover , the city of Frankfurt , and other territories) north of the Main River. However, the pro-Austrian Hesse-Darmstadt remained independent. For Marburg, this turn of events was very positive, because Prussia decided to make Marburg its main administrative centre in this part of the new province Hessen-Nassau and to turn
1960-681: The outbreak, 31 people became infected and seven of them died. The virus is named after the city following the custom of naming viruses after the location of their first recorded outbreak. Many homes have solar panels and in 2008 a law was passed to make the installation of solar systems on new buildings or as part of renovation projects mandatory. 20 percent of heating system requirements ought to have been covered by solar energy in new buildings. Anyone who fails to install solar panels would have been fined €1,000. The new law, approved on 20 June 2008, should have taken effect in October 2008, however, this law
2009-501: The pharmaceutical industry based in Marburg, and an increase in staff and students for the university. The historic town was in danger of thorough decay, but was renovated from 1972. The university now has about 21 000 students (2023). Marburg lies on the river Lahn , 25 km north of Gießen . The federal road Bundesstraße 3 connects it with Gießen and Kassel . It is served by Marburg (Lahn) station (long-distance and local trains) and Marburg Süd station (local trains). The city
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2058-473: The town include the Old Botanical Garden , as well as the new Botanical Garden outside the town proper. The Marktplatz is the heart of Marburg's old town. In the center is a fountain dedicated to St Georg, a popular meeting place for the youths. To the south is the old town hall and the path running north leads to the palace overlooking the town. The University of Marburg , founded in 1527,
2107-487: The town. Franz von Papen , vice-chancellor of Germany in 1934, delivered an anti-Nazi speech at the University of Marburg on 17 June. From 1942 to 1945, the whole city of Marburg was turned into a hospital, with schools and government buildings turned into wards to augment the existing hospitals. By the spring of 1945, there were over 20,000 patients – mostly wounded German soldiers. As a result of its designation as
2156-666: The trade route linking Cologne and Prague and the trade route from the North Sea to the Alps and on to Italy , the former crossing the river Lahn here. A first mention of the settlement dates from 822 in the Reinhardsbrunner Chronik . The settlement was protected and customs were raised by a small castle built during the ninth or tenth century by the Giso. Marburg has been a town since 1140, as proven by coins. From
2205-539: Was a district-free city. The mayor of Marburg , Thomas Spies, in office since December 2015, and his predecessor Egon Vaupel (directly elected in January 2005), are members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany . His deputy, the head of the building and youth departments, Nadine Bernshausen, is from Alliance '90/The Greens . Following the city parliament elections of March 2021, the majority in
2254-653: Was also the site of the central US army depot for all of Europe as well as the site of a special ammunition depot. The base is a converted German Army Air Field which is reflected in some of the buildings including the housing area. A theatre, known as the Keller Theatre, is a converted German Army Officers' Club. As of 28 September 2007, the Giessen Depot and all other U.S. facilities in the greater Giessen area were returned to local German authorities. The former U.S. Army buildings were used to house refugees after
2303-474: Was first referred to in 1197, which refers to the position of the town between several rivers, lakes and streams. The largest river in Giessen is the Lahn , which divides the town in two parts (west and east), roughly 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Frankfurt am Main . Giessen is also home to the University of Giessen . In 1969, the town hosted the ninth Hessentag state festival. Giessen came into being as
2352-490: Was one of the more powerful second-tier principalities in Germany. Its "old enemy" was the Archbishopric of Mainz , the seat of one of the prince-electors , who competed with Hessen in many wars and conflicts for coveted territory, stretching over several centuries. After 1605, Marburg became just another provincial town, known mostly for the University of Marburg . It became a virtual backwater for two centuries after
2401-552: Was stopped by the Regierungspräsidium Giessen in September 2008. Marburg remains a relatively unspoilt, spire-dominated, castle-crowned Gothic or Renaissance city on a hill partly because it was isolated between 1600 and 1850. Architecturally, it is famous both for its castle Marburger Schloss and its medieval churches. The Elisabethkirche , as one of the two or three first purely Gothic churches north of
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