The research group of Jean-Marie Lehn recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Lehn, who shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1987 with Donald J. Cram and Charles J. Pedersen, has been active in many initiatives in the European chemical community, and was instrumental in the founding of Chemistry-A European Journal and ChemBioChem. This Meeting Report summarizes the symposium that was recently held to commemorate the achievements of the Lehn group.