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Arrival and First Days
Please remember the emergency number for your day of arrival (when dialing from within Germany): 0151 - 70.42.10.02. (WhatsApp messages also possible!). Below you find some important information regarding your day of arrival (e.g. the pick-up service, how to get to Marburg etc.). Please read all information carefully. You will receive email updates after your registration as well.
Arrival
Destination airport: Frankfurt am Main International Airport (FRA)
On the day of arrival a member of the ISU team will welcome you at Terminal 1 of Frankfurt International Airport, to hand you your students ID and walk you to the right train. Please note, that the Marburg students ID in combination with a picture ID is a valid ticket for most trains and busses in Hesse, hence you can take the train from Marburg to the airport for free. If you do not meet our ISU staff at the airport, you will have to pay for your own ticket however and will not be reimbursed, as travel expenses are not covered by the tuiton fee. Our team members will be waiting at the airport from 8 am to 3 pm. The exact meeting point will be sent to you via email.
If you do not arrive at this time, you can also easily make your way to Marburg on your own, by following the instructions below.
Please let us know in any case if you wish to be met at the airport or not, to help us plan.
If you arrive at Terminal 1
Pick up your checked baggage.
Follow the signs that lead you downstairs to the Regional Train Station (Regionalbahnhof).
Buy a train ticket to “Marburg an der Lahn” (max. € 20) at the Travel Center (Deutsche Bahn Reisezentrum) or at one of the ticket machines.
Take the S-Bahn to Frankfurt Main Train Station ("Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof”) which will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes.All trains departing from platform 1 (Gleis 1) of the Regionalbahnhof go to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof.
Once you arrive in Frankfurt, you will need to follow the signs to the train station on the upper level to change trains to go to Marburg. Please make sure you follow the itinerary given to you by the Deutsche Bahn Reisezentrum.
If you arrive at Terminal 2
Pick up your checked luggage.
Take the "Skyline" or the shuttle bus to Terminal 1 and proceed to follow the steps mentioned above for an arrival at Terminal 1.
Train to Marburg
The train ride from "Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof" to "Marburg an der Lahn Hauptbahnhof" lasts roughly one hour. In order to find the train suitable for you, please visit the website of the German railway company, "Die Bahn" (see below).
There are some trains that go directly to Marburg, and other connections that require a change in "Giessen". Please be aware that some trains will be divided on the way to Marburg (at the stop "Giessen"). Only one part (usually front part in the direction of travel) will continue to Marburg. So, make sure you are in the right part when you board the train in Frankfurt. If you are not sure about which train to take you can always ask someone at the platform to help you.
Whatever you do, do not board the train without a valid ticket! You will be fined, without exception. Also, please do NOT exit the train at "Marburg Süd", but wait for the next stop, which is "Marburg an der Lahn Hauptbahnhof".
Once in Marburg
On arrival day, a member of the ISU team will pick you up at the station from 10 am to 6 pm. Be on the lookout for someone in a red Shirt bearing the ISU sign. If you do not see anyone right away, do not panic, and just wait for a moment.
If you want to find us by yourself: Our registration office will be at the "Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies", address: Deutschhausstrasse 12, 35037 Marburg.
Should you need to contact us you can use the emergency phone number (++49 - 151 - 70421002) that will be provided to you (WhatsApp messages also possible!)
Housing
Equipment of dorm rooms
All ISU students will be accommodated in single rooms in one of the university’s dormitories. Dorm rooms are equipped with a washing facility. On each floor there are common bathrooms, showers, and a kitchen to share. You can also find laundry rooms in every dormitory building. It is important that you bring your towels, cleaning supplies and toiletries; bed sheets however will be provided and washed by your “Hauswirtschafterin” (housekeeper), so please make sure to introduce yourself to them, once you arrive.
Since air conditioning is not common in Germany, there will be no dorm rooms available that provide ac. Therefore it is important that you always ventilate and air out your room by opening windows and doors on a regular basis. Please also note that there is no cafeteria in the dorms.
Location
Due to the fact that Marburg has a historical center with mostly small, traditional houses, there is little space to accommodate the large number of students of Philipps-Universität Marburg in the city center. Hence, most dorms are situated outside the center. But, they can easily be reached by bus and most of them even by foot.
You will receive your room assignment on arrival day. These assignments are a service by our colleagues of the dorm department (Studentenwerk). The ISU team has no influence on where participants are being placed. This is subject to availability and cannot be changed, as dorms are fully booked.
Accommodations are covered by the program fee. Private accommodations cannot be organized by the ISU team.
Living with your neighbours
Please show special consideration to your neighbours inside and outside of the student dorms, by cleanliness and keeping noise down, especially during statutory rest times (usually 10 pm to 6 am), Sundays and holidays. Most of the students and residents nearby have homework, school and work to prepare, for the next day. In their free time however, they will surely be happy to meet you, so you can use this great opportunity of being accommodated with other international and also German students, to get to know each other, plan activities and make friends from all around the world, with a big variety of cultural backgrounds.
Your first days in Marburg
Cafeteria and Meals
As dorms in Germany do not include catering, you will be responsible for your meals yourself throughout the majority of the program. To facilitate your stay, you will receive a meal subsidy of € 50. During your registration on the first day, you will receive the debit card with € 45 charged to it and another € 5 deposit, that you will receive when handing it back at the cafeteria at the end of your stay. This card can be used in the popular Mensa, where breakfast, lunch, and dinner are available, and also at other university cafeterias. The prices for a standard meal range from € 2.50 to € 4.50.
If you wish to learn more about the university’s cafeterias, please follow this link:
http://www.studentenwerk-marburg.de/essen-trinken/mensen.html
Furthermore there will be a snack available for you at the CNMS on all days when you have classes, just after your German course, from 11.00 am to 11.30 am. As this is an important opportunity for ISU staff to meet you, make announcements and discuss relevant topics, we kindly ask you to always attend breakfast with us in order not to miss anything. Even if you don’t feel hungry, it will be a great opportunity to just grab a cup of tea or coffee and chat with your classmates.
Internet
For your time at ISU you will be provided with a student’s account and login information for all Marburg University Wi-Fi computers, which will be activated prior to your arrival. Please wait for an email informing you about your account details and be aware that the username is automatically generated and cannot be changed.
Compared to many other countries, Germany does not have as many free public Wi-Fi spots to utilize, but all university buildings will supply free Wi-Fi accessible with your university login information.
Please note that not all dorms are equipped with internet. However there are computer labs in the CNMS building, where your classes will be held, and also in the main University library just across the street, available for students daily from 8.00 am. to 11.45 pm.
Phone Calls
Public phones are not too common in Germany, but you will be able to call home for free, using Skype or WhatsApp, for example, using the universities internet connection. You can of course also get a German SIM card that enables you to make calls and send texts within Germany and also use data packs. Prepaid cards are not expensive usually. Since the program lasts for only a month, please do not sign any german phone contracts, as those usually have a minimum term of 2 years. Please confirm with your provider at home if your smartphone has a SIM lock and if it needs to be unlocked beforehand.
More information about phone and data service in Germany can be found here: https://www.study-in-germany.de/en/germany/everyday-life/communication-services/Program Location
All ISU classes take place at the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS), which is in the city center of Marburg (next to Elisabethkirche). Buses run regularly from CNMS to your dormitories and vice versa, which makes travelling within Marburg easy. Important university-related buildings such as the Mensa (cafeteria), the International Office, the ISU Office, the University library, etc. are all located within a walking distance of 15 minutes or less. In addition, almost all stores, such as banks, grocery stores and department stores, are very close by. The historical part of Marburg has a great variety of shops and bars and can easily be reached by foot, making shopping and social gatherings very convenient.
Transportation
You will receive a student’s ID from Philipps-Universität Marburg upon registration from one of our ISU staff members. This ID enables you to use the public transportation system of Hesse for free. Our ISU student assistants will explain the bus system to make it easier for you to adapt to it. When riding the bus or using any other form of public transport in Hesse, please make sure that you have you student’s ID as well as another picture ID with you. Otherwise you will be issued a 60€ fine for not being able to provide sufficient identification during ticket inspection.
The following websites will help you to find any bus connection you may need, as they provide a search engine that works with both, addresses and names of bus stops:
www.bahn.de
www.rmv.de
Please note that most busses do not run at night, between approximately 0.00 am and 6.00 am, so please plan ahead and also always check the right weekday, as there will be fewer connections on Saturdays and Sundays.
If there is no bus connection suitable for you, you can aways still take a taxi. Some companies offer reduced rates compared to the yellow cabs with a taxi sign on their roof and they can usually pick you up within 15 minutes, once you give them a call and your location. It is however recommendable to discuss the price before getting in the car, or asking for the price when you are on the phone.
You can call one of the following numbers:
Spar Car: 06421/ 99 99 88
Minicar: 06421/ 1 44 44
EuroCar: 06421/ 99 99 95
Telecar: 06421/ 2 51 00
Yellow Car: 06421/ 30 40 50
