Page 375 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

HESSE  373

house), dating from 1565. town should start from the
Opposite the town hall stands Elisabethkirche, at the bottom
the Stumpfhaus (1609), its of the hill. Built in 1235–83, it is
façade beautifully decorated (after Trier) Germany’s second
with wood carvings and pain­ purely Gothic church. There is a
tings. From the town hall runs large set of Gothic altars from
the picturesque Fulder Gasse, the early 16th century, including
with the Gothic parish church the altars of St Elisabeth (1513)
Wal purgiskirche (13th–15th and of the Holy Family (1511).
centuries), which has 15th­ Next to the north choir entrance
century wall paintings. In stands the statue of St Elisabeth
Rossmarkt stands the for mer with a model of the church
Augustian Dreifaltigkeits­ (1480). The choir contains
kirche (church of the the tomb of the Saint,
Holy Trinity), from the positioned under the The Gothic portal of the Elisabeth kirche
13th–15th centuries. baldachin (around in Marburg
It was from here that 1280). The vestry
in 1522 the monk houses the greatest (artists’ house). High above the
Tilemann Schnabel treasure, the reliquary town towers the Landgrafen­
began to spread the of St Elisabeth (1235– schloss, the landgraves’ castle
Reform ation in Alsfeld. 49). In the south choir dating from the 10th–16th
The Märchenhaus is an interesting group centuries. The two­storey
(Fairy­Tale House) on of monuments to the Fürstenbau (dukes’ building)
Markt has several rooms Hessian land graves, has a large ducal chamber,
devoted to the tales of from the 13th–16th dating from 1330. The
the Brothers Grimm and Detail on the Rat haus, centuries. Wilhelmsbau was built in
in Marburg
a collection of puppets. The Kunst­ 1492–8. It houses a museum
The 18th­century castle in museum Marburg of sacral art with mementos
Altenburg, 2 km (1 mile) from holds a collection of paintings of the debate between Luther,
Alsfeld, enjoys a hilltop position. that were prod uced after Zwingli and Melanchthon.
1500, with a predominance
of 19th­ and 20th­century R Elisabethkirche
6 Marburg German artists. Around the Elisabethstraße. Tel (06421) 655 73.
market square stands a group Open Apr–Sep: 9am–5pm; Oct:
Road map C4. * 80,000. £ 9am–5pm; Nov–Mar: 10am–4pm.
n Pilgrimstein 26 (06421­991 20). of historic, half­timbered
_ Maieinsingen (30 Apr), 3­Tage houses from the 14th–17th E Kunstmuseum Marburg
Marburg (Jul), Elisabethmarkt (Oct), centuries. Particularly pretty Biegenstraße 11. Tel (06421) 282 23
Weihnachtsmarkt (Dec). are the Sonne (sun, No. 14), 55. Closed for renovations. &
∑ marburg.de the Stiefel (boot, No. 17) and + Landgrafenschloß und
the house at No. 19. The
When in 1248 the county Steinernes Haus (stone house, Museum für Kulturgeschichte
Schloß 1. Tel (06421) 282 58 71.
of Hesse broke away from No. 18), built in 1318, is the Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun
Thuringia, Marburg became one oldest in Marburg, along with (Nov–Mar: to 4pm). &
of the most important seats of that at No. 13 Hirschgasse.
the landgraves. The first land­ At No. 16 Markt is the
grave, Heinrich II, lived in the Renaissance Künstlerhaus
castle that towers over the town.
The town’s history is insepar ably
linked with the 13th­century
figure of Elisabeth of Thuringia,
wife of Ludwig IV, who devoted
her life to the poor and died
here. In 1527, Philipp the
Magnanimous founded the first
Protestant university in the Reich
at Marburg. He also instigated
the first Marburg Colloquy in
1529, to unify the Protestant
faith. The “articles” presented by
Martin Luther to Melanchthon
and Zwingli later formed the
basis for the Augsburg Creed.
Today, Marburg is a picturesque
university town. A tour of the The Alte Universität (old university) in Marburg

372-373_EW_Germany.indd 373 09/10/17 2:30 pm