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History of Social and Cultural Anthropology in Marburg

In 2015, the Ethnographic Collection moved to Rudolph-Bultmann-Str. 4a. The division of Social and Cultural Anthropology has been located at Deutschhausstraße 3 in Marburg’s city center since 2014. Previously, the division was housed at Kugelgasse 3 in Marburg’s Oberstadt for 40 years. The division has been called “Cultural and Social Anthropology” since 2010 and no longer “Völkerkunde” (Ethnology), as it was called for 54 years. By now it is called "Social and Cultural Anthropology". Professor Ernst Halbmayer has held the chair for Cultural and Social Anthropology since 2008. He succeeded Mark Münzel who chaired the division from 1989 until his retirement.

Ties between the division of Social and Cultural Anthropology and the town of Marburg date back to the 16th century. Since then, Anthropology in Marburg has gone through different phases and diverse orientations, and has operated under varying premises of morality and ethics. Only through familiarity with this history is it possible to critically analyze Anthropology’s local legacy, integrate the debate in its historical context, and look at current developments. Efforts to critically reconstruct the history of the division are currently under way.