Hessentag 1972

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The Hessentag 1972 took place from June 17 to 25, 1972 in Marburg an der Lahn and was the 12th event of its kind.

Preparations

On the 11th Hessentag 1971 in Eschwege , the Hessian state government decided to award the 12th Hessentag to Marburg. In addition to Marburg, Pfungstadt had applied, which was awarded the Hessentag 1973 . The reason for the decision in favor of Marburg was the 750th anniversary of the city of Marburg, which took place in the same year. The first documentary mention of Marburg as a city dates back to 1222.

A festival committee was set up under the chairmanship of the Lord Mayor, to which 12 working groups worked. The main focus of the planning was the preparation of the pageant, the sports and music show and the business exhibition.

Even if not officially declared as preparation for the Hessentag or the anniversary celebration, the city intensified its efforts to promote the renovation of the old town. With city grants, which amounted to between 40 and 50% of the investment sum, in particular facade renovations of listed half-timbered houses in the old town were initiated. There was so much demand for the program that not all applications from homeowners could be considered. A total of 140 houses were renovated from 1971 to 1972.

After a Hessentag couple was presented for the first time with great success in 1971, this topic was taken up again in Marburg. A five-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy in Catholic Marburg costume were the second Hessentag couple.

Festive program

The state exhibition "Living and Leisure" was inaugurated on June 18 by Prime Minister Albert Osswald . On June 20, a violin concert with Nathan Milstein took place in the town hall . On June 22nd, the Hessischer Rundfunk broadcast a live citizens' meeting with Hessian politicians from 8 pm under the title “We switch to Marburg”.

A highlight was the music show in the large sports field on June 24th. This was followed by a fireworks display.

The parade on June 25, 1972 was planned for the first time according to a uniform concept. The history of Marburg should be presented in chronological order and thus draw attention to the 750th anniversary celebration. The motto of the pageant was "Hessen - in the mirror of history". The first part of the train with twelve numbers dealt with “Marburg in the Middle Ages”, the following six carriages represented “Marburg and the Philipps University in the 16th – 18th centuries. Century "followed by 23 numbers about" Marburg in the 19th and 20th centuries ". This was followed by groups and cars from the Hessian districts. The train had a total of 297 numbers.

statistics

The state government put the cost of the state at 300,000 DM. In addition, the city had expenses of 310,000 euros. The number of visitors is given as between 250,000 and 485,340 (information provided by the city based on police estimates). The Hessentagszug attracted 200,000 visitors, the Living and Leisure exhibition was visited by 120,000 people, and the international sports and music show sold 25,000 tickets. In addition, there were many 10,000 visitors to the sports and other events.

In a non-representative survey of 112 visitors (who were selected in such a way that half were men / women and half from Marburg / non-Marburg) every second person stated that the most interesting thing about Hessentag was the parade. 63.4% of those surveyed believed that the Hessentag strengthens the Hessian sense of home. This was also due to the fact that 54.46% (with 20.54% no votes and 25% no answer) of the respondents believed the Hessentag was an old custom (although it was only the 12th edition). A large majority of 85.71% of those surveyed stated that Hessentage should also be held in the future.

literature

  • Andreas C. Bimmer (Ed.): Hessentag: A festival of the Hessians? Marburg 1973

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