Marburger Maieinsingen

Celebrating Tradition Modernly

The Marburger Maieinsingen is one of the largest Dance into May festivals in Hesse. Every year on April 30 – Walpurgis Night – the historic Market Square directly below Marburg Castle transforms into an open-air party location. In 2026, the festival will be held under the motto "Celebrating Tradition Modernly" – a blend of historically documented customs (the communal May singing at midnight) and great modern festival sound.

May Party from 8 PM

The party kicks off at 8:00 PM with DJ sets and live music. Thousands of Marburg residents and students from Philipps University will fill the Market Square, the Steinwege, and the surrounding alleys of Marburg's Oberstadt (Old Town). Local restaurateurs will serve wine, beer, and cocktails, while the crowd dances among the historic half-timbered houses, the Marbacher Rathauspassage, and the Gothic parish church.

Midnight: 'Der Mai ist gekommen'

Precisely at midnight, the ceremonial highlight occurs: Mayor Thomas Spies and the city leadership take the stage and, together with the crowd, begin singing the traditional folk song "Der Mai ist gekommen". This moment – the mayor and the population together against a medieval half-timbered backdrop – makes the Marburger Maieinsingen unique and distinguishes it from ordinary Dance into May parties.

Marburg, University City with Character

Marburg, with around 76,000 inhabitants, is home to the oldest Protestant university in the world (founded in 1527) and is one of Hesse's most beautiful half-timbered towns. Landgraf Castle towers 102 meters above the Lahn River, and St. Elizabeth's Church is considered one of the first purely Gothic church buildings north of the Alps. The Market Square, with its Renaissance town hall and the fountain in front of Landgraf Castle, forms the medieval center – and on the night of the Maieinsingen, the heart of the city.

One of Hesse's Largest May Festivals

The Maieinsingen attracts several thousand visitors each year, many of them students. It is a typical example of Marburg's vibrant combination of academic tradition and student party culture – history meets hipster party.