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Marburg
Marburg: the castle, old city, and St Elisabeth's Church
Marburg
Location of the town of Marburg within Marburg-Biedenkopf district
Coordinates	50°48′36″N 8°46′15″E / 50.81°N 8.77083°E / 50.81; 8.77083Coordinates: 50°48′36″N 8°46′15″E / 50.81°N 8.77083°E / 50.81; 8.77083
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
District	Marburg-Biedenkopf
Town subdivisions	20 Stadtteile
Lord Mayor	Egon Vaupel (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area	124.5 km2 (48.1 sq mi)
Elevation	173-412 m
Population	80,656 (31 December 2010)[1]
- Density	648 /km2 (1,678 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	MR
Postal codes	35001-35043
Area code	06421
Website	www.marburg.de

Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.^[2]

History[link]

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Founding and early history[link]

Like many settlements, Marburg developed at the crossroads of two important early medieval highways: 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. The settlement was protected and customs were raised by a small castle built during the 9th or 10th century by the Giso. Marburg has been a town since 1140, as proven by coins. From the Gisos, it fell around that time to the Landgraves of Thuringia, residing on the Wartburg above Eisenach.

St. Elisabeth[link]

In 1228 the widowed princess-landgravine of Thuringia, Elisabeth, 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 the most eminent female saints, St. Elisabeth of Hungary. She was canonized in 1235.

St. Elisabeth's Church (Marburg)

Capital of Hesse[link]

In 1264, St Elizabeth's daughter Sophie of Brabant, succeeded in winning the Landgraviate of Hesse, hitherto connected to Thuringia, for her son Henry. Marburg (alongside Kassel) was one of the capitals of Hesse from that time until about 1540. Following the first division of the landgraviate, it was the capital of Marburg from 1485 to 1500 and again between 1567 and 1605. Hesse was one of the more powerful second-tier principalities in Germany. Its "old enemy" was the Archbishopric of Mainz, one of the Prince-electors, who competed with Hesse in many wars and conflicts for coveted territory, stretching over several centuries.

After 1605, Marburg became just another provincial town, known mostly for University of Marburg. It became a virtual backwater for two centuries after the Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648, when it was fought over by Hessen-Darmstadt and Landgraviate of Hessen-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.

Reformation[link]

Marburg is the seat of the oldest protestant founded university in the world, the University of Marburg (Philipps-Universität-Marburg), founded in 1527. It is one of the smaller "university towns" in Germany: 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.

Marburg on the Lahn

Romanticism[link]

Owing to its neglect during the entire 18th century Marburg – like Rye or Chartres – survived as 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 interesting 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 Karl von Savigny, the most important jurist of his day and father of the Roman Law adaptation in Germany; the poets, writers, and social activists Achim von Arnim, Clemens Brentano, and especially the latter's sister and former's later wife, Bettina von Arnim. Most famous internationally, however, were the Brothers Grimm, who collected many of their fairy tales here. The original building inspiring his drawing Rapunzel's Tower stands in Amönau near Marburg. Across the Lahn hills, in the area called Schwalm, little girls' costumes included a red hood.

It has to be said, however, that this circle had disappeared from Marburg by the 1820s, and for another 45 years, Marburg became a Hessian backwater again.

Prussian town[link]

In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the reactionary Prince-elector of Hesse had backed Austria; Prussia won, and invaded (without any bloodshed) and annexed Electorate of Hessen (as well as Hanover, the City of Frankfurt, and other territories) north of the Main river, while likewise 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 Hesse-Nassau and to turn 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 the town, which tended to be very conservative.

20th century[link]

The Wettergasse in the Old City

Franz von Papen, vice-chancellor of Germany in 1934, delivered an anti-Nazi speech at the University of Marburg on 17 June. This contributed to several of von Papen's staff being murdered by the Nazis.

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 being designated a hospital city, there was not much damage from bombings except along the railroad tracks.

In 1945, Marburg became President and Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg's final resting place. His grave is in the Elisabethkirche. He is also an honorary citizen of the town.

Marburg is also now home to one of the most progressive schools for the blind in the world. Street crossings are equipped with "walk" and "don't walk" signs that also emit sounds enabling the blind to know what the signs are "saying".

Main sights[link]

Architecturally, Marburg is famous both for its medieval churches and for its castle Marburger Schloss. In particular the Elisabethkirche—one of the two or three first purely Gothic churches north of the Alps outside of France—is an archetype of Gothic architecture in Germany.

More important, however, is Marburg's status as an unspoilt, spire-dominated, castle-crowned Gothic/Renaissance city on a hill, intact because Marburg was isolated between 1600 and 1850. Marburg established one of the first pedestrian zones in Germany. Marburg's Altstadtsanierung (since 1972) has received many awards and prizes.

Much of the physical attractiveness of Marburg today is the legacy of the legendary Lord Mayor Dr. Hanno Drechsler (in office 1970-1992), who promoted urban renewal and the restoration, for the first time, by object and not by area; i.e., areas were not demolished but rather buildings restored. Thus, at a time when other cities were still pulling down medieval quarters, Marburg was protecting its unique heritage.

Politics[link]

As a larger mid-sized city, Marburg, like six other such cities in Hesse, 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).

The mayor of Marburg, Egon Vaupel, directly elected in January 2005 and in office since 1 July 2005, is from the Social Democratic Party of Germany. His deputy, the head of the building and youth departments, Dr. Franz Kahle, is from Alliance '90/The Greens. The majority in the 59-seat city parliament is held by a coalition of SPD (22 seats) and Green (13 seats) members. Also represented are the factions of the CDU (14 seats), the The Left (4 seats), the FDP (2 seats), a CDU splinter group MBL (Marburger Bürgerliste- 2 seats), the BfM (Bürger für Marburg – 1 seats) and the Pirate Party (1 seat).

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, Turnerschaften, etc.

City partnerships[link]

Marburg has the following sister cities^[3]:

• Poitiers, France since 1961
• Maribor, Slovenia since 1969
• Sfax, Tunisia since 1971
• Eisenach, Thuringia since 1988
• Northampton, United Kingdom since 1992
• Sibiu, Romania since 2005

Coat of arms[link]

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 Hesse'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 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's 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.

Marburg virus[link]

The city's name is also connected to a filovirus, the Marburg virus, which was first noticed and described during an outbreak in the city. Workers were accidentally exposed to infected Green Monkey tissue at the city's former industrial plant (1967), 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 the outbreak, 31 people became infected and seven of them died. "Marburg virus" is named after the city per the custom of naming hemorrhagic fever viruses after the location of their first recorded outbreak.

Green city[link]

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.^[4] However, this law was stopped by the Regierungspräsidium Giessen in September 2008.^[5]

Places of interest[link]

• Alter Botanischer Garten Marburg - a public green area in the middle of the city
• Neuer Botanischer Garten Marburg - outside the city, situated at the Lahnberge
• University of Marburg
• Elisabethkirche

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marburg

• Official website of Marburg (German) + (English)
• Marburg travel guide from Wikitravel

v t e Towns and municipalities in the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf Amöneburg Angelburg Bad Endbach Biedenkopf Breidenbach Cölbe Dautphetal Ebsdorfergrund Fronhausen Gladenbach Kirchhain Lahntal Lohra Marburg Münchhausen Neustadt Rauschenberg Stadtallendorf Steffenberg Weimar (Lahn) Wetter Wohratal

v t e Districts of Marburg Bauerbach Bortshausen Cappel Cyriaxweimar Dagobertshausen Dilschhausen Elnhausen Ginseldorf Gisselberg Haddamshausen Hermershausen Marbach Michelbach Moischt Ockershausen Richtsberg Ronhausen Schröck Wehrda Wehrshausen

Strung Out is a Californian punk rock band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1989.^[1] They are known mainly for their musical style, which fuses aspects of punk rock and heavy metal to form their primary sound. They have released seven albums on Fat Wreck Chords and appeared on numerous compilations and skate/surf videos. They have played on the Warped Tour and continue to tour internationally.

Biography[link]

The band formed in 1989 in Simi Valley, California. The original lineup consisted of vocalist Jason Cruz, guitarists Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos, bassist Jim Cherry and drummer Adam Austin. After releasing a self-titled 7" record, they became one of the first bands to be signed to Fat Wreck Chords, the record label owned and operated by Fat Mike of the band NOFX. Austin left the band in 1992 and was replaced by Brad Morrison who also left the band and was replaced on drums by Jordan Burns, formerly of fellow Simi Valley natives Ten Foot Pole. Their first album, Another Day in Paradise, was released in May 1994. Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues followed in 1996. In 1998 they released The Skinny Years...Before We Got Fat, a compilation album of their pre-Fat Wreck Chords material.

The band showed notable musical growth on their 1998 album Twisted by Design, which was both speedy and technical but also with darker overtones. The album established a mixture of the fast, poppy sound the band had established with Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues but mixed it with more atonality and more abstract song structures.

Bassist Jim Cherry left the band in 1999 and went on to play in Pulley and Zero Down, but died of heart failure in 2002. He was replaced by Chris Aiken, whose musical background had a strong impact on the 2000 album The Element of Sonic Defiance.

In 2002 the band released their fourth full-length album An American Paradox, their first release to appear in the Billboard 200. The initial production run contained a bonus song entitled "Don't Look Back". A video was filmed for the song "Cemetery" and was included on several punk rock video compilations. In 2003 they recorded and released a live album as part of the Fat Wreck Chords Live in a Dive series. Exile in Oblivion, was released in 2004, with a video filmed for the song "Analog." Strung Out released their sixth full-length album, Blackhawks Over Los Angeles on June 12, 2007.

While on tour with Evergreen Terrace in the fall of 2007 in Philadelphia PA, the band's van was stolen, which contained their equipment, merchandise, and personal belongings. The band continued the tour, traveling and playing with instruments provided by supporting acts I Am Ghost and Evergreen Terrace. Notably, this happened to ska/punk act Suburban Legends at the same hotel.

When they are not touring or making music, Jason Cruz enjoys life as an artist, Jordan is a co-owner of Moto XXX along with NOFX drummer Erik Sandin. Rob Ramos works in the film industry, and Jake gives occasional musical lessons.

In March 2009, Strung Out released a collection of rarities & b-sides entitled Prototypes and Painkillers. The album will be the second such compilation from the band who previously compiled material on The Skinny Years: Before We Got Fat in 1998.

On September 29, 2009, Strung Out released their 7th studio album titled Agents of the Underground. This has a less political tone to it than their previous one, and it also combines more of the old fast sound with heavy metal influences.

July 19, they are releasing a compilation album named "Top Contenders: The Best Of Strung Out". In it are remastered versions of 23 songs, and 3 new songs; "City Lights", "Saturday Night", and "Here We Are".^[2]

Band members[link]

Current members[link]

• Jason Alexander Cruz - vocals
• Jake Ira Kiley - guitar
• Rob Ramos - guitar
• Chris Aiken - bass
• Jordan Burns - drums

Past members[link]

• Jim Cherry - bass (1989–1999) (d. 2002)
• Adam Austin - drums (1989–1992)
• Brad Morrison - drums (1992–1993)

Discography[link]

Studio Albums[link]

• Another Day in Paradise (1994)
• Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues (1996)
• Twisted by Design (1998)
• An American Paradox (2002)
• Exile In Oblivion (2004)
• Blackhawks Over Los Angeles (2007)
• Agents of the Underground (2009)

7"s and EPs[link]

• "Somnombulance" 7" first ever recorded
• Strung Out 7"
• split 7" with Jughead's Revenge
• split 7" with Blount (1995)
• Crossroads and Illusions (1998) CD-EP
• The Element of Sonic Defiance (2000) CD-EP
• Fat Club 7" (2001)

Compilations, Soundtracks, and Live Albums[link]

• The Skinny Years...Before We Got Fat (1998)
• Live In A Dive: Strung Out (2003)
• Prototypes and Painkillers (2009)
• Top Contenders - The Best of Strung Out (2011)

Non-album tracks and B-sides[link]

• Punk Sucks compilation (1995) - "Support Your Troops"
• Split 7" with Blount (1995) - "Somnombulance" (demo version)
• Punk Bites compilation (1996) - "Wrong Side Of The Tracks" (demo version)
• The Fearless Flush Sampler compilation (1997) - "Jacqueline" (Jackie O demo version), "Season Of The Witch"
• Punk Bites Vol. 2 compilation (1997) - "Just Like Me" (demo version)
• Fat Music Vol. III: Physical Fatness compilation (1998) - "Ultimate Devotion" (demo version)
• The Show soundtrack (1998) - "Betrayal"(old version)
• As a Matter of Fact compilation (1998) - "Jacqueline" (Jackie O demo version), "American Lie," "Through Your Fingers"
• Before You Were Punk 2 compilation (1999) - "Every Breath You Take" (originally performed by The Police)
• Short Music for Short People compilation (1999) - "Klawsterfobia"
• Fat Music Vol. V: Live Fat, Die Young compilation (2000) - "Novacain"
• Punk Goes Metal compilation (2000) - "Bark at the Moon" (originally performed by Ozzy Osbourne)
• Beyond Cyberpunk compilation (2001) - "Betrayal" (new version)
• Fat Music Vol. VI: Uncontrollable Fatulence compilation (2001) - "Your Worst Mistake"
• Punk Goes Acoustic compilation (2003) - "Velvet Alley" (acoustic version)
• Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 compilation (2004) - "No Voice of Mine" (demo version)
• Crusty Demons of Dirt: the Soundtrack (2004)
• Punk Rock Mixtape 2006 compilation (2006) - "Analog" punkradiocast.com
• Edge 103.9 (Acoustic Live & Rare Compilation) (2006) - "Angeldust" (acoustic version)
• Kingrock Entertainment, Listen Up, Vol. #1 - "All the Nations" http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=69240&

Videography[link]

Music videos[link]

• "Bring Out Your Dead" from Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues - appears on Peepshow VHS (Fat Wreck Chords 1997)
• "Mind Of My Own" from Twisted By Design - appears on Peepshow Vol. 2 VHS (Fat Wreck Chords 1998)
• "Cemetery" from An American Paradox - appears on Peepshow Vol. 3 DVD (Fat Wreck Chords 2003) and Cinema Beer Buddy DVD (Hopeless Records 2002)
• "Analog" from Exile In Oblivion
• "Calling" from Blackhawks Over Los Angeles
• "Carcrashradio" from Agents Of The Underground
• "City Lights" from Top Contenders

Charts[link]

Album - Billboard (North America)

• Peak Position: The Billboard 200 #185 in 2002]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Strung Out on Myspace
• Review on Prototypes And Painkillers / source: www.Punk76.com
• Interview and arm wrestle with Jason and Jordan
• Fat Wreck Chords – Strung Out's record label
• Strung Out cover feature (Distorted online punkrock magazine)
• Interview with Strung Out (audio format only
• Our second interview with Strung Out
• Strung Out interview May 2009
• Skratch Magazine: article
• Concert live wire: interview
• Interview at The Land Salmon
• Interview with Chris Aiken
• Interview With Jake Kiley