Augsburg

History of an 2000-year old City

A short hours drive from Munich, where the two rivers Wetach and Lech join, is Augsburg. It can easily be reached by train from Munich, or by car, and it also has its own small regional airport.

Since it was founded in the year 15b.Chr., Augsburg has been a crossing point of the most important trafficroads of the continent. Accordingly, it can look back on a rich past, being, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the scene of many battles, later on of the quarrels between German emperors and the bishops, until it became in 1276 an independent “Reichsstadt”.

In the 15th and 16th century, it was the center of economic and spiritual life, with the famous mercandile-families Fugger and Welser, that were among the richest dynasties of their time. You can still visit the famous Renaissance-settlement, the “Fuggerei”, that had been built as a housing-area for .poor citizens.

In the 30-year war it was occupied by the Swedish, and from that period started to decay, until, in 1806, it became a part of the Bavarian kingdom, and remained in the shadow of the city of Munich.

2000 years of history have stamped their image on this city, buildings of all the great architectural style-epoques can be admired. So, apart from the Fuggerei, you can see the roman-gothic dome, the St.Anna church, as well as St.Ulrich and Afra (1012), the city-hall, the bishop`s residence, and , of course, many museums and galleries, as well as the Mozart- and Brecht- houses.

The families of the painter Hans Holbein and of Mozart lived in this city, and in the year 2006, the Mozart year, the memory of this great musician, who visited Augsburg several times, was especially celebrated. But also men like Rudolf Diesel, the great technician, were born in Augsburg.

The thirdlargest city in Bavaria is today a university city with a large clinical department, it is the residence of the government of “Bavarian Schwaben”, and it is an important businesscenter, with internationally renowned companies, that offer the most modern electronic and computer techniques.