Some birthdays are so big that the celebrations go on all year long.
That’s true in 2022 for Marburg, Germany, which is marking 800 years of history with a full slate of events that acknowledge the past and cast ahead to a bright future. Among the historical highlights: The city was home to both scientist Emil von Behring, winner of the first Nobel Prize for medicine, and to the Brothers Grimm, who authored timeless fairy tales.
A recent birthday banquet stretched along a closed city highway and attracted 50,000 guests. Organizers named the party "Tischlein-deck-dich" or “The Wishing Table”, after a fairy tale authored by the Brothers Grimm, who attended university in Marburg in the early 1800s. On Whit-Sunday, 800 tables invited guests to join the celebration, enjoy performances on six stages, eat, drink and be merry.
![An outdoor event to celebrate Marburg, Germany's 800th birthday](https://www.csl.com/-/media/shared/vita-2022/2022_tischleindeckdich_daniela-maurer_stadtmarketing.jpg?h=900&iar=0&w=1600&cropregion=0,0,1600,900&hash=93CF27EA12C382FA533243DDB002A4C4)
The history of the city of Marburg is closely linked to the history of CSL Behring, a global biotech leader that has a large manufacturing and R&D site there. Owned by CSL, the business’ namesake, von Behring, lived and worked in the town as he pioneered a novel way to fight diphtheria. Today, CSL Behring, which makes medicines for rare and serious diseases, is helping to build the town’s future as a hub for science and innovation. The company plans to complete construction on a $157 million USD (150 million euro) R&D facility in September.