Marburg has survived as a relatively intact Gothic town because it was an extreme backwater between 1600 and 1850 with no money to spend on new architecture or expansion. It is now known as a university town. Marburg is dominated from the high hill by the castle and from below by St. Elisabeth's Church.
St. Elisabeth's Church is one of the earliest purely Gothic churches in German-speaking areas and was consecrated in 1283. However, the towers were not finished until 1340.
St. Elisabeth of Hungary's childhood is typical of many girls born into royalty. She was born in Hungary in 1207 and at age 4, was brought to the court of the Rulers of Thuringia in Central Germany, to become a future bride in order to reinforce political alliances between the families. We have heard many times how young girls were often separated from their families and sent to live in the court of their future husbands to assure their loyalty and the acceptance by the locals there.Elisabeth was married at the age of 14, widowed at 20, relinquished her wealth to the poor, built hospitals where she herself attended to the sick, and became a symbol of Christian charity in Germany and elsewhere after her death at the age of 24.
She is perhaps best known for the legend which says that while she was taking bread to the poor in secret, her husband asked her what was in the pouch; Elisabeth opened it and the bread had turned into roses.
Tombs of Elisabeth's descendants. Sculptures of fully-clad knights lay atop many of the tombs. Click on the picture for a closeup of the knights in the right corner.
These two little ones at the foot of a golden Holy Family Altar reminded me of Emilie and Rebecca.
Call Child Protective Services! Several neglectful parents left their sleeping babies outside a smaller church while attending services! Another case of "You would never see this in America."
Horse sculptures meant to be climbed on
During lunch at a café, David pointed out the route he and his college buddies would take when enjoying a night on the town.
The University of Marburg was founded in 1527 and is the world's first and oldest Protestant university. Two of its most famous students were the Brothers Grimm, who collected many of their fairy tales here – Rapunzel's Tower stands in Marburg, and across the Lahn hills, in the area called Schwalm, little girls' outfits included a red hood.That white building David is pointing to is the university dormitory where he lived. Classes were held down in the city, so everyday, often in the cold rain, students would hike down the steep hillside and after classes, would hike back up again.
It was an arduous climb up to the castle.
In front of the castle was this camera obscura, a pinhole camera and predecessor to our modern day cameras. In the 4th century B.C., Aristotle described how the image of the stars in the evening sky could be projected onto a screen through a small opening. This camera obscura's optical system uses only a lens and a mirror (no electricity or computer parts). 
We all stood in this dark shed as our guide positioned the mirror and projected a crystal clear moving image of the castle onto the white table in front of us. He was able to change the image by moving the mirror and we marveled at the clarity of the "picture" in front of us. Our guide informed us that no camera found today has this resolution. James held out his hand and people who were walking in front of the castle strolled across his palm. David stretched his arm across the image so that the castle clock shown above his hand and asked us, "How do you like my wrist watch?" He may have stolen one of the guide's favorite jokes.
There are fewer than 25 such devices in the world, several in the U.S. and if you ever see one, it's an experience not to be missed.
This boar drinking fountain provided some much needed cool refreshment.
David has fond memories of the Hinkelstein, a "refreshment" establishment found in the basement of a 14th century stone house. It was usually the culminating point on a number of nightly treks into the city. 
He was especially pleased to find that after 23 years, they still served their specialty, Altbierbowle, a dark German beer (Altbier) served with peaches in the bottom of the glass. It sounds less than appetizing, but is actually quite good.
St. George fighting the dragon tops a fountain in the square.
For centuries, the clock on the Town Hall is famous for signaling each passing hour with the simulated crow of a cock.
These types of stairs are common in Germany. One section on the side is built for pushing strollers, wheel chairs or bikes up and down the stairs.
Micaela thought this set of chairs and desks was provided for artists. We couldn't find out any information on them, though.
Ice cream seems to be the "naughty" dessert of choice for Germans. Who are we to argue with that?
We divided into two groups to ride the paddle boats on the Lahn River, David with Emilie and Rebecca and me with the other two. 
I don't think I have ever laughed for 30 minutes straight like I did on our ride. Micaela and James were in front with the paddles with James doing the steering, and the fighting did not stop from the minute we left the dock until we got out of the boat again. At first we kept crashing into the dock, then into some ducks and trees and almost into other boaters and my yelling at James saying, "Steer, James!" and his yelling back, "How? I don't know how!" made everything worse. 
Once James got a better handle on the steering and I sat back and lost my fear of getting kicked out of the boat and having everyone laugh at us, the bickering between my two older children kept me in stitches. "James! Watch out for the tree!" "Micaela, I know what I'm doing! Don't stop paddling!" It just went on and on and was like listening to an Abbott and Costello routine. And I didn't have my video camera with me!
