Marburg

Marburg is a small town in Germany, Hesse at the Lahn river, and is the capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Population 78.117 (actual urban center 48.923) (2002), geographical location 50° 48' 36" North, 8° 46' 15" East.

Marburg is a university town and it is famous by mediaeval churches (e.g., Elisabethkirche, an incunabel of Gothic architecture in Germany) and the castle. Actually, Marburg is one of the four most famous university towns in Germany, the other three being Heidelberg, Tuebingen, Goettingen.

The city is also made famous by the outbreak of the Marburg virus. During the outbreak of the virus, 19 people became infected and 5 of them died. Whilst this may seem a small number of people, during a cholera epidemic in the modern world only 1 in 20 people die.

The Marburg virus is named after the town as it is customary to name viruses of such ferocity after the town, or area they originate.

In 1529, Philipp I of Hesse arranged the Conference of Marburg, to propitiate Luther and Zwingli (see Huldrych_Zwingli#8._Eucharistic_Conference_with_Luther_at_Marburg).

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Marburg is also the German name of Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia.