Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in

Swabia, Bavaria Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. It is a

university town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several smal ...

and regional seat of the ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'' Schwaben with an impressive Altstadt (historical city centre). Augsburg is an

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is the third-largest city in Bavaria (after

and

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

) with a population of 300,000 inhabitants, with 885,000 in its metropolitan area. After

Neuss Neuss (; spelled ''Neuß'' until 1968; li, Nüss ; la, Novaesium) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and

Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the wor ...

, Augsburg is one of Germany's oldest cities, founded in 15 BC by the Romans as Augusta Vindelicorum, named after the Roman emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

. It was a

Free Imperial City In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

from 1276 to 1803 and the home of the patrician

Fugger The House of Fugger () is a German upper bourgeois family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and vent ...

and

Welser Welser was a Germans, German banking and merchant family, originally a patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician family based in Augsburg and Nuremberg, that rose to great prominence in international high finance in the 16th century as bankers t ...

families that dominated European banking in the 16th century. According to Behringer, in the sixteenth century, it became "the dominant centre of early capitalism", having benefitted from being part of the

Kaiserliche Reichspost ''Kaiserliche Reichspost'' (, ''Imperial Mail''), originally named ''Niederländische Postkurs'' (Low Countries' postal route), was the name of the international postal service of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1490. It was the first modern ...

system as "the location of the most important post office within the Holy Roman Empire" and the city's close connection to

Maximilian I Maximilian I may refer to: *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1486/93–1519 *Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, reigned 1597–1651 *Maximilian I, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636-1689) *Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, reigned 1795� ...

. The city played a leading role in the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

as the site of the 1530

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

and 1555 Peace of Augsburg. The Fuggerei, the oldest social housing complex in the world, was founded in 1513 by Jakob Fugger. In 2019,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

recognized the Water Management System of Augsburg as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

because of its unique medieval canals and water towers and its testimony to the development of hydraulic engineering.

Geography

Augsburg lies at the convergence of the

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

rivers

Lech Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, the legendary founder of Poland * Lech (Bohemian prince) Products and organizations * Lech (beer), Polish beer produced by Kompania Piwowarska, in Poznań * Lech Poznań, ...

and

Wertach Wertach is a small town in the Oberallgäu district, southern Bavaria, (Germany), in the German Alps. It is situated on the river Wertach, southeast of Kempten. The town was the childhood home of the writer W. G. Sebald. History Wertach was ...

and on the

Singold Singold is a river of Bavaria, Germany. It flows into the ''Fabrikkanal'', an artificial branch of the Wertach, near Augsburg. See also *List of rivers of Bavaria A list of rivers of Bavaria, Germany: A * Aalbach * Abens * Ach * Afferbach *Af ...

. The oldest part of the city and the southern quarters are on the northern foothills of a high terrace, which has emerged between the steep rim of the hills of Friedberg in the east and the high hills of the west. In the south extends the Lechfeld, an outwash plain of the post

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

between the rivers Lech and Wertach, where rare primeval landscapes were preserved. The Augsburg city forest and the Lech valley heaths today rank among the most species-rich middle European habitats. Augsburg borders on the

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

Augsburg Western Woods - a large forestland. The city itself is also heavily verdant. As a result, in 1997 Augsburg was the first German city to win the Europe-wide contest Entente Florale for Europe's greenest and most livable city.

Suburbs and neighbouring municipalities

Augsburg is surrounded by the counties Landkreis Augsburg in the west and

Aichach-Friedberg Aichach-Friedberg is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the northwest and clockwise) the districts of Augsburg, Donau-Ries, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Pfaffenhofen, Dachau, Fürstenfeldbruck and Landsberg, as w ...

in the east. The suburbs of Augsburg are Friedberg,

Königsbrunn Königsbrunn (Swabian: ''Kenigsbrunn'') is the largest town in the district of Augsburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Lech, approx. 10 km south of Augsburg. History Königsbrunn is one of the youngest settlem ...

Stadtbergen Stadtbergen ( Swabian: ''Staberga'') is a town in the district of Augsburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the outskirts of Augsburg, west of Augsburg city centre. Stadtbergen was granted town privileges in May 2007. Mayors * Ludwig F ...

, Neusäß, Gersthofen, Diedorf. Neighbouring municipalities:

Rehling Rehling is a municipality in the district of Aichach-Friedberg in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russi ...

Affing Affing is a municipality near () Augsburg in Aichach-Friedberg district, in Swabia - Bavaria, southern Germany. The municipality covers an area of . Of the total population of 5,140, 2,591 are male, 2,248 are female, and 301 are of indeterminat ...

, Kissing,

Mering Mering is a municipality in the district Aichach-Friedberg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the river Paar. First mentioned in records in 1021, Mering has a long history. The growing town with its nearly 15,000 inhabitants (2021) profits f ...

Merching Merching is a municipality in the district of Aichach-Friedberg in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Rus ...

Bobingen Bobingen (Swabian: ''Boobenge'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the rivers Wertach and Singold, on the edge of the Augsburg-Westliche Wälder Nature Park, in Augsburg District, some 13 km south of Augsburg itself. History The ...

Gessertshausen Gessertshausen is a municipality in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...

History

Early history

Nuremberg chronicles - Augusta vendilicorum

The city of Augsburg was founded in 15 BC on the orders of

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

. Emperor Augustus conducted extensive military campaigns and established administrative settlements. The settlement that became Augsburg was known as ''Augusta Vindelicorum'', meaning "the Augustan city of the Vindelici". The settlement was established at the convergence of the

rivers

and

. In 120 AD Augsburg became the administrative capital of the Roman province Raetia. Augsburg was sacked by the

Hun The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

s in the fifth century AD, by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

in the eighth century, and by Welf I, Duke of Bavaria in the 11th century.

Augsburg Confession

Augsburg was granted the status of a

on 9 March 1276 and from then until 1803, it was independent of its former overlord, the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg. Frictions between the city-state and the prince-bishops were to remain frequent however, particularly after Augsburg became

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and curtailed the rights and freedoms of

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. With its strategic location at an intersection of trade routes to Italy, the Free Imperial City of Augsburg became a major trading center. Augsburg produced large quantities of woven goods, cloth and textiles. Augsburg became the base of two banking families that rose to great prominence, the

s and the

s. The Fugger family donated the Fuggerei part of the city devoted to housing for needy citizens in 1516, which remains in use today. In 1530, the

was presented to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

at the

Diet of Augsburg The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such sess ...

. Following the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, after which the rights of religious minorities in imperial cities were to be legally protected, a mixed Catholic–Protestant city council presided over a majority Protestant population; ''see Paritätische Reichsstadt''.

Leading European centre of capitalism of the sixteenth century

Seld Joerg Vogelschauplan von Westen Augsburg

Augsburg's economic boom years occurred during the 15th and 16th centuries thanks to the

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

businesses of the merchant families

and Hochstetter. These families held a near total monopoly in important industries. Monopolies were considered criminal in contemporary laws and these families' practices were criticized by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

himself, but as

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...

needed their financial assistance, he cancelled the charged in the 1530s. In the 16th century Augsburg became one of Germany's largest cities. Augsburg was a major

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

center for

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s, armor,

scientific instrument A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. History Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...

s, as well as gold- and silver-smithing. The prolific

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

s of Augsburg also made the city the largest producer of German-language

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. Like other free imperial cities, Augsburg was an independent entity, and had authority over its tax policies. Augsburg's wealth attracted artists seeking patrons. The city rapidly became a creative centre for

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

s and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

s. Augsburg became the base of the Holbein family, starting with Hans Holbein the Elder. The composer

Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist and theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook ''Versuch einer gründlichen ...

was born and educated in Augsburg.

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

became so prevalent that it became known as "Augsburg style" throughout Germany. Augsburg benefitted majorly from the establishment and expansion of the

in the late 15th and early 16th century. This postal system, which was the first modern postal service in the world, was created through negotiations and agreements between the Taxis family represented by and the early Habsburgs monarches, notably

, his son Philip the Handsome and grandson Charles V. Even when the Habsburg empire began to extend to other parts of Europe, Maximilian's loyalty to Augsburg, where he conducted a lot of his endeavours, meant that the imperial city became "the dominant centre of early capitalism" of the sixteenth century, and "the location of the most important post office within the Holy Roman Empire". From Maximilian's time, as the "terminuses of the first transcontinental post lines" began to shift from

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and from

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Antwerpt Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, in these cities, the communication system and the news market started to converge. As the Fuggers as well as other trading companies based their most important branches in these cities, these traders gained access to these systems as well.(Despite a widely circulated theory which holds that the Fuggers themselves operated their own communication system, in reality they relied upon the imperial posts, presumably from the 1490s onwards, as official members of the court of Maximilian I).

Witch hunts

Several

witch hunts A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

occurred in Augsburg in the late 16th century. Following the 1585–1588

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

epidemic, southeast Germany was shattered by the 1589–1591 witch hunts. Following the 1592–1593 plague epidemic, cities in southeast Germany entered a period of

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

, marked by brutal witch hunts in urban areas.

Thirty Years' War

Religious peace in the city was largely maintained despite increasing tensions up to the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

(1618–1648). In 1629, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II issued the Edict of Restitution, which restored the legal situation of 1552. However, the edict was revoked in April 1632, when

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

occupied Augsburg. In 1634, the Swedish army was defeated at the nearby Battle of Nördlingen. By October 1634, Catholic troops had surrounded Augsburg. The Swedish army refused to surrender and a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

ensued through the winter of 1634/35 and thousands died from hunger and disease. During the Swedish occupation and the siege by Catholic troops, the population of the city was reduced from about 70,000 to about 16,000. Diseases such as

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

and the plague ravaged the city.

Guilds

In the first half of the 17th century Augsburg was pivotal in the European network of goldsmiths. Augsburg attracted goldsmith journeymen from all over Europe and in the 18th century a large number of silversmiths and goldsmiths became

master craftsman Historically, a master craftsman or master tradesman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster) was a member of a guild. The title survives as the highest professional qualification in craft industries. In the European guild system, only mas ...

in Augsburg.

Nine Years' War

In 1686 the

Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria ...

formed the ''League of Augsburg'', also known as the "Grand Alliance" after England joined in 1689. The

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

consisted at various times of Austria,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

, England, the

, the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

, Portugal,

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Spain, Sweden, and the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

. The coalition was formed to defend the Electorate of the Palatinate and fought against France in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

End of Free Imperial City status

The

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

or the Final Recess of 1803, saw the annexation of nearly all of the 51 Free Imperial Cities, excepting Augsburg and five others. However, when the

was dissolved in 1806, Napoleon encouraged his German allies to mediatize their smaller neighbours, and Augsburg lost its independence. It was annexed to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

. In 1817, the city became an administrative capital of the ''Oberdonaukreis'', then administrative capital in 1837 for the district Swabia and Neuburg.

Industrial revolution

During the end of the 19th century, Augsburg's textile industry again rose to prominence followed by the machine manufacturing industry.

Second World War and Cold War

Augsburg was historically a militarily important city due to its strategic location. During the German re-armament before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Wehrmacht enlarged Augsburg's one original Kaserne (barracks) to three: Somme Kaserne (housing Wehrmacht Artillerie-Regiment 27); Arras Kaserne (housing Wehrmacht Infanterie Regiment 27) and Panzerjäger Kaserne (housing Panzerabwehr-Abteilung 27 (later Panzerjäger-Abteilung 27)). Wehrmacht Panzerjäger-Abteilung 27 was later moved to Füssen. A-Polish-woman-weeps-as-she-tells-her-story-to-US-troops-142365089506

A-Polish-woman-weeps-as-she-tells-her-story-to-US-troops-142365089506

The MAN factory at Augsburg was the largest German manufacturer of engines for U-boats in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and became the target of the

Augsburg Raid Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...

. When the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

bomber was new in service, the RAF sent 12 at low level to bomb the factory in daylight, on 17 April 1942. The bombers were intercepted en-route and only five returned, all damaged. The factory was damaged but production continued; the factory was repeatedly bombed later. A subcamp of the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

outside Augsburg supplied approximately 1,300 forced labourers to local military-related industry, especially the

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

AG military aircraft firm, headquartered in Augsburg. In 1941,

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...

, without

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's permission, secretly took off from a local Augsburg airport and flew to Scotland, crashing in

Eaglesham Eaglesham ( ) is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, situated about south of Glasgow, southeast of Newton Mearns and south of Clarkston, and southwest of East Kilbride. The 2011 census revealed that the village had 3,114 occupants, dow ...

. His objective was to meet the

Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...

in an attempt to mediate the end of the European front of

and join sides for the upcoming Russian Campaign. The Reichswehr Infanterie Regiment 19 was stationed in Augsburg and became the base unit for the Wehrmacht Infanterie Regiment 40, a subsection of the Wehrmacht Infanterie Division 27 (which later became the Wehrmacht Panzerdivision 17). Elements of Wehrmacht II Battalion of Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 99 (especially Wehrmacht Panzerjäger Kompanie 14) was composed of parts of the Wehrmacht Infanterie Division 27. The Infanterie Regiment 40 remained in Augsburg until the end of the war, finally surrendering to the United States when on 28 April 1945, the U.S. Army occupied the city. The city and its Messerschmitt works were bombed on three occasions during the war. Collateral damage included the destruction of just under 25% of all homes in the city and the deaths of several hundred people. Following the war, the three Kaserne would change hands confusingly between the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and Germans, finally ending up in US hands for the duration of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. They became the three main US barracks in Augsburg: Reese, Sheridan and FLAK. US Base FLAK had been an anti-aircraft barracks since 1936 and US Base Sheridan "united" the former infantry barracks with a smaller Kaserne for former

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

communications units. The American military presence in the city started with the U.S. 5th Infantry Division stationed at FLAK Kaserne from 1945 to 1955, then by

11th Airborne Division The 11th Airborne Division ("Arctic Angels") is a United States Army airborne formation, first activated on 25 February 1943, during World War II. Consisting of one parachute and two glider infantry regiments, with supporting troops, the div ...

, followed by the 24th Infantry Division, U.S. Army

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII R ...

artillery,

USASA Field Station Augsburg United States Army Security Agency (USASA) Field Station Augsburg was the site of a Wullenweber AN/FLR-9 (V8) radio direction finder, established during the Cold War. Field Station Augsburg was located on Gablingen Kaserne, near the village of Ga ...

and finally the

66th Military Intelligence Brigade The 66th Military Intelligence Brigade ("Six-Six-M-I" and 66th MIB) is a United States Army brigade, subordinate to United States Army Intelligence and Security Command and based at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Wiesbaden, Germany. After years of histo ...

, which returned the former Kaserne to German hands in 1998. Originally the Heeresverpflegungshauptamt Südbayern and an Officers' caisson existed on or near the location of Reese-Kaserne, but was demolished by the occupying Americans.

Politics

Municipality

From 1266 until 1548, the terms ''Stadtpfleger'' (head of town council) and ''

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

'' were used interchangeably, or occasionally, simultaneously. In 1548 the title was finally fixed to ''Stadtpfleger'', who officiated for several years and was then awarded the title for life (though no longer governing), thus resulting confusingly, in records of two or more simultaneous ''Stadtpfleger''. After the transfer to

in 1806, Augsburg was ruled by a

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

with two mayors, supported by an additional council of "Community Commissioners": the ''Gemeindebevollmächtige''. As of 1907, the Mayor was entitled

Oberbürgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

, as Augsburg had reached a population of 100,000, as per the Bavarian

Gemeindeordnung The Gemeindeordnung ({{IPA-de, ɡəˈmaɪndəˌʔɔʁdnʊŋ, lang) is the municipal code in German law. Germany Historically, the Gemeindeordnung was state law. During the Weimar Republic, it became federal law named Deutsche Gemeindeordnung. ...

Mayor

The current mayor of Augsburg is Eva Weber of the Christian Social Union (CSU) since 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 15 March 2020, with a runoff held on 29 March, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Eva Weber , align=left, Christian Social Union , 41,534 , 43.1 , 63,762 , 62.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Dirk Wurm , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, 18,116 , 18.8 , 38,532 , 37.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Martina Wild , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

, 17,851 , 18.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Andreas Jurca , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

, 4,673 , 4.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Peter Hummel , align=left, Free Voters of Bavaria , 3,053 , 3.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Frederik Hintermayr , align=left, The Left , 2,564 , 2.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Lisa McQueen , align=left, Die PARTEI , 1,896 , 2.0 , - , , align=left, Bruno Marcon , align=left, Augsburg in the Citizens' Hands , 1,478 , 1.5 , - , , align=left, Anna Tabak , align=left, We are Augsburg , 1,261 , 1.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Lars Vollmar , align=left,

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

, 1,249 , 1.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Pettinger , align=left,

Ecological Democratic Party The Ecological Democratic Party (german: Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei, ÖDP) is a conservative and ecologist minor party in Germany. The ÖDP was founded in 1982. The strongest level of voting support for the ÖDP is in Bavaria, where in ...

, 1,183 , 1.2 , - , , align=left, Claudia Eberle , align=left, Pro Augsburg , 941 , 1.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Florian Betz , align=left,

V-Partei³ V-Partei3, known officially as V-Partei³ – Party for Change, Vegetarians and Vegans (german: V-Partei³ – Partei für Veränderung, Vegetarier und Veganer), is a German political party that was founded in April 2016 in Munich, Bavaria. The ...

, 678 , 0.7 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 96,477 ! 99.4 ! 102,294 ! 99.4 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 578 ! 0.6 ! 661 ! 0.6 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 97,055 ! 100.0 ! 102,955 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 214,110 ! 45.3 ! 213,982 ! 48.1 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Augsburg
first round

City council

The Augsburg city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 15 March 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Social Union (CSU) , 1,653,781 , 32.3 , 5.4 , 20 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , 1,198,090 , 23.4 , 11.0 , 14 , 7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 734,066 , 14.3 , 8.1 , 9 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , 337,834 , 6.6 , 0.7 , 4 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=#007E82, , align=left, Free Voters of Bavaria (FW) , 230,952 , 4.5 , 0.9 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 189,034 , 3.7 , 0.5 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(FDP) , 117,201 , 2.3 , 0.7 , 1 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(ÖDP) , 114,119 , 2.2 , 0.3 , 1 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Generation AUX (GenAUX) , 108,956 , 2.1 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Augsburg in the Citizens' Hands (AiB) , 96,690 , 1.9 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Pro Augsburg (PRO A) , 94,346 , 1.8 , 3.3 , 1 , 2 , - , , align=left, We are Augsburg (WSA) , 77,189 , 1.5 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , 76,557 , 1.5 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

, 69,643 , 1.4 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , , align=left, Political Voters' Association/ Democracy in Motion (Polit-WG/DiB) , 29,149 , 0.6 , 2.5 , 0 , 1 , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 5,127,607 ! 100.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 2,079 ! 2.1 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 97,013 ! 100.0 ! ! 60 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 214,110 ! 45.3 ! 4.1 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Augsburg

Members of the Bundestag

Augsburg is located in the ''Wahlkreis 253 Augsburg-Stadt'' constituency, which includes

and parts of the District of Augsburg ( Landkreis Augsburg). Volker Ullrich of the

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social Un ...

was directly elected to the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

in the

18th German Bundestag 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

. Indirectly elected to the Bundestag to adhere to the Landesliste were

Ulrike Bahr Ulrike Renate Martina Bahr (; born 25 April 1964) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and since 2013 MP in the Bundestag. She belongs to the left party wing of the SPD, the Parliamentary Left (''Parlamentarische Linke''). ...

for the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

and

Claudia Roth Claudia Benedikta Roth (born 15 May 1955) is a German politician (Alliance 90/The Greens). She was one of the two party chairs from 2004 to 2013 and previously served as one of the President of the Bundestag, vice presidents of the ''Bundestag'' ...

for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.

Climate

Augsburg has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Cfb'') or, following the 0 °C isotherm, a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfb'').

Main sights

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, built in 1620 in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style with the

Goldener Saal The Goldener Saal (Golden Hall) is a ceremonial room in the 3rd floor of Augsburg Town Hall, which is famous for its ceiling paintings, murals, and golden wall decoration. It was finished in 1643 and is one of the most important cultural monument ...

Perlachturm The 70-metre-tall Perlachturm is a belltower in front of the church of St. Peter am Perlach in the central district of Augsburg, Germany. It originated as a watchtower in the 10th century. The existing Renaissance structure was built in the 1610s ...

, a bell tower built in 989 * Fuggerei, the oldest social housing estate in the world, inhabited since 1523 *

Fuggerhäuser The Fuggerhäuser (''Fugger houses'') is a complex of houses on the Maximilianstraße in Augsburg, built for the Fugger family of businessmen. It is now owned by the Fugger-Babenhausen branch of the Fugger family who resides at Wellenburg castle ...

(Fugger houses), restored renaissance palatial homes of the Fugger banking family *Bishop's Residence, built about 1750 in order to replace the older bishop's palace; today the administrative seat of

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, founded in the ninth century * St. Anne's Church, medieval church building that was originally part of a monastery built in 1321 *St. Mary's

Syriac Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascus ...

on the Zusamstraße in Lechhausen, built 1998 by Suryoye (

Assyrians Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

) *Augsburg Synagogue, one of the few German synagogues to survive the war, now restored and open with a Jewish museum inside * Augsburg textile and industry museum-or just ''tim'', organises it displays under headings Mensch-Maschine-Muster-Mode. *

Schaezlerpalais The Schaezlerpalais is a baroque palace in Augsburg. The palace extends far back from the street, encompassing dozens of rooms, courtyards and gardens. The gilded mirrored ballroom was built between 1765-1770 and has survives intact. it is widely r ...

, a Rococo mansion (1765) now housing a major art museum * St. Ulrich and St. Afra—one church is Roman Catholic, the other

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, the duality being a result of the Peace of Augsburg concluded in 1555 between Catholics and Protestants *Mozart Haus Augsburg (where composer's father

was born and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

visited it several times) *

Augsburger Puppenkiste The Augsburger Puppenkiste (German for: Augsburg Puppetchest) is a marionette theater in Augsburg, Germany. It is located at the former Heilig-Geist-Spital in the historic center of Augsburg. Since 1948, the "Augsburger Puppenkiste" had been prod ...

, a puppet theatre *Luther Stiege, museum located in a church, that shows Martin Luthers life and different rooms. (free admission) *

Eiskanal The ''Augsburg Eiskanal'' is an artificial whitewater river in Augsburg, Germany, constructed as the canoe slalom venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics in nearby Munich. The first artificial whitewater course of its kind, it introduced the sport of ...

, the world's first artificial

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

course (venue for the whitewater events of the 1972 Munich Olympics) *

Dorint Hotel Tower The Hotel Dorint An der Kongresshalle Augsburg is the best-known high-rise building in the German city of Augsburg and visible throughout the city. At 115 m (167 m with the antenna) it is the highest building in the Augsburg area and among the te ...

*Childhood home of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

*The Augsburg

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s (

Botanischer Garten Augsburg The Botanischer Garten Augsburg (10 hectares) is a municipal botanical garden located at Dr.-Ziegenspeck-Weg 10, Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. It is open daily; an admission fee is charged. Today the garden contains a large Japanese garden, a medic ...

) *

Maximillian Museum The Maximilian Museum is a large, public museum housed in a palatial building erected in 1546 in Augsburg, Germany. It houses a notable collection of decorative arts. Augsburg was the leading German center of sculpture, painting, and, especially, o ...

Bahnpark Augsburg The Augsburg Railway Park (''Bahnpark Augsburg'') is a railway museum in Augsburg on part of the former Augsburg locomotive shed owned by the Deutsche Bahn. Following reconstruction work, the park officially reopened on 13 April 2009. In the futu ...

home of 29 historic locomotives, blacksmith, historic roundhouse *3 magnificent renaissance fountains, the Augustus Fountain, Mercury Fountain and Hercules Fountain from the 15th century, build for the 1500th anniversary of city foundation *Walter Art Museum at the ''Glas Palast'' ("Glas-Palace") *Roman Museum located in the former Monastery of St. Margaret (closed at the moment due to risk of collapsing). Renovation is taking place and the museum is expected to reopen in 2017. *Medieval canals, used to run numerous industries, medieval arms production, silver art, sanitation and water pumping * Kulturhaus Abraxas Fuenfgratturm1.JPG, ''Fünfgratturm'' tower Germany Augsburg Dom-St-Maria Door Handle.jpg, Ring of Mercy on the Dom (Cathedral) St. Maria Augsburg Synagoge.jpg, Augsburg Synagogue Augsburg - st ulrich u afra.jpg, St. Ulrich and St. Afra Cathedral Rechtfertigungslehre St.-Anna Augsburg rectified.jpg, Plaque commemorating the

Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification The ''Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification'' (JDDJ) is a document created and agreed to by the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999 as a result of exte ...

at St. Anne's Church

Water Management System

The water systems of Augsburg have been the site of innovations in hydraulic engineering for centuries. Augsburg was built on top of an aquifer fed by the Lech and Wertach rivers, which provided purified groundwater that ran through the city through springs and streams. The canals channeling this water through the city were first mentioned in 1276, and by 1416, waterworks, pumps, and water towers were added to effectively distribute this water. In 1545, Augsburg was one of the first European towns to separate drinking water from water used for industry, effectively preventing water-borne diseases. The pumps and waterwheels also generated power for fountains and food processing, such as a 17th-century butcher's hall that still stands today. In the 19th and 20th centuries, hydroelectic power plants were also installed. These power plants were some of the first in the world to generate electricity from water, and they are still in use today. On 6 July 2019, the Water Management System of Augsburg was designated as a

Urban legends

Goddess Cisa and the Stadtpir

The pagan goddess Cisa has been linked to the civic emblem of Augsburg, known as Stadtpir. Cisa and the Stadtpir came to represent the prosperity of the city. The Stadtpir was stamped on cloth that was approved by the town cloth inspector. Metalworks produced in the city were also stamped with the Stadtpir. The Stadtpir adorns the 17th century

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

The Stoinerne Ma

The "Stoinerne Ma" ("Stony Man") is a life-size stone figure on the eastern Augsburg city wall in the area of the so-called "Sweden staircase", which is located in the immediate vicinity of the Galluskirche and St. Stephan convent (on the outside of the city wall). It is probably a one-armed baker with a loaf of bread and a shield. In the area of the feet there is a helically twisted pedestal. According to the legend, it is the baker "Konrad Hackher" who, during a long siege of the city, baked bread from sawdust and threw it into the ditch clearly visible for the besiegers over the city wall. The impression that Augsburg would still have so much bread that one could throw it over the wall is said to have demoralized the besiegers so much that they fired at him with a crossbow out of anger. A hit struck off his arm, and soon afterwards the siege was broken off. Historically, the event belongs to the Thirty Years' War, more precisely to the siege of Augsburg during the years 1634/35, when Catholic Bavarian troops under Field Marshal von Wahl wanted to recapture the city occupied by the Protestant Swedes. The baker's deed is not reliably proven. The statue is often visited by walkers strolling along the city wall. As it is said to be a fortunate thing to touch the stone figure's iron nose. This custom is particularly popular with lovers.

=Bei den sieben Kindeln

= In the wall of the property ''Bei den Sieben Kindeln 3'' ("At the seven infants 3") there is a recessed stone relief from the Roman period. Legend says that the commemorative plaque was commissioned by a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

officer to commemorate the drowning of one of his children (therefore it is said to be "seven" children, although the plaque represents only six: the seventh child is drowned and lies in the coffin). According to current knowledge, the plate once formed the long side of a

Sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

Lazarethe plague houses

The city of Augsburg had two civic plague houses. The two civic plague houses, called ''Lazarethe'', were established when the

black death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

first appeared in Augsburg in 1349. Thereafter they were opened whenever a plague epidemic occurred in the city. As soon as a medical practitioner, such as a

barber surgeon The barber surgeon, one of the most common European medical practitioners of the Middle Ages, was generally charged with caring for soldiers during and after battle. In this era, surgery was seldom conducted by physicians, but instead by barbers ...

, diagnosed the plague the patients were transferred to the plague houses by order of the city council. The transfer to the plague houses was publicly announced, so as to prevent panic and the breakdown of economic life. In the second half of the 18th century, the plague houses were used to treat other diseases, such as

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

and

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

Incorporations

Population

Historical development

Twin towns – sister cities

Augsburg is twinned with: *

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, Scotland, UK (1956) *

Amagasaki file:Amagasaki Castle Tenshu 20181125.jpg, 270px, Amagasaki Castle file:Amagasaki city center area Aerial photograph.1985.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center file:Amagasaki st03s3000.jpg, 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial Citi ...

, Japan (1959) * Nagahama, Japan (1959) *

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

, France (1963) *

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, United States (1964) *

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

, Czech Republic (2001) *

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

, China (2004) *

Délegyháza Délegyháza is a village in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It has a population of 2,930 (2007). Since 2008 the village is the site of a Trail of the Whispering Giants sculpture, the first of Peter Wolf Toth's sculptures locat ...

, Hungary (2022)

Transport

Roads

The main road link is

autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

A 8 between

and

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Public transport

Public transport is very well catered for. It is controlled by the

Augsburger Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund The ''Augsburger Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund'' (German for Augsburg Transport and Tariff Association) or AVV is the transit authority of the city of Augsburg, located in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. Its jurisdiction covers the city and its surroundi ...

(Augsburg transport and tariff association, AVV) extended over central Swabia. There are seven rail Regionalbahn lines, five

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

lines, 27 city bus lines and six night bus lines, as well as several taxi companies. The Augsburg tramway network is now 35.5 km-long after the opening of new lines to the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1996, the northern city boundary in 2001 and to the Klinikum Augsburg (Augsburg hospital) in 2002. Tram line 6, which runs 5.2 km from Friedberg West to Hauptbahnhof (Central Station), opened in December 2010.

Intercity bus

There is one station for

intercity bus service An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public tr ...

s in Augsburg: Augsburg Nord, located in the north of the city.

Railway

Augsburg has seven stations, the Central Station (''Hauptbahnhof''), Hochzoll,

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

, Haunstetterstraße, Morellstraße, Messe and Inningen. The Central Station, built from 1843 to 1846, is Germany's oldest main station in a large city still providing services in the original building. It is currently being modernized and an underground tram station is built underneath it. Hauptbahnhof is on the Munich–Augsburg and Ulm–Augsburg lines and is connected by

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

and IC services to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

. As of December 2007, the French

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

connected Augsburg with a direct High Speed Connection to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In addition EC and night train services connect to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and connections will be substantially improved by the creation of the planned Magistrale for Europe. The AVV operates seven Regionalbahn lines from the main station to: *

Mammendorf Mammendorf is a municipality in Bavaria, Germany. It is located halfway between Munich and Augsburg. Location Mammendorf is part of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, Upper Bavaria and lies about 6 kilometres northwest of the city of Fürstenfeld ...

Schmiechen Schmiechen is a municipality in the district of Aichach-Friedberg in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after ...

(direction to

Ammersee Ammersee (English: Lake Ammer) is a Zungenbecken lake in Upper Bavaria, Germany, southwest of Munich between the towns of Herrsching and Dießen am Ammersee. With a surface area of approximately , it is the sixth largest lake in Germany. The lake ...

) * Aichach/ Radersdorf * Meitingen/ Donauwörth *

Dinkelscherben Dinkelscherben is a municipality in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany. Fleinhausen Fleinhausen is a village of the municipality of Dinkelscherben in the western part of the Bavarian district of Augsburg in Germany. Located on the w ...

Schwabmünchen Schwabmünchen (Swabian: ''Mingkchinga''Schwabmünchen) is a town in Bavaria in the administrative region of Swabia south of Augsburg in the Augsburg district. Geography Location Schwabmünchen lies about 20 km south of Augsburg between ...

Klosterlechfeld Klosterlechfeld is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Augsburg (district), Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany. History What is today the village of Klosterlechfeld developed in the 17th century around the pilgrimage church ' ...

Starting in 2008, the regional services are planned to be altered to

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...

frequencies and developed long term as integrated into the Augsburg S-Bahn.

Air transport

Until 2005 Augsburg was served by nearby

Augsburg Airport Augsburg Airport is a regional airport in Affing, northeast of the city of Augsburg, the third largest city in the German state of Bavaria. It is used for business and general aviation with very little passenger airline traffic. History The ...

(AGB). In that year all air passenger transport was relocated to

Munich Airport Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...

. Since then, the airport is used almost entirely by business airplanes.

Economy

Augsburg is a vibrant industrial city. Many global market leaders namely MAN,

EADS Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

or KUKA produce high technology products like printing systems, large diesel engines,

industrial robots An industrial robot is a robot system used for manufacturing. Industrial robots are automated, programmable and capable of movement on three or more axes. Typical applications of robots include welding, painting, assembly, disassembly, pick a ...

or components for the

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

and the

Ariane Ariane may refer to: *Ariana (name), also Ariane, Arianne Arts * ''Ariane'' (Martinů), an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, first performed 1961 * ''Ariane'' (Massenet), an opera by Jules Massenet, first performed 1906 * ''Ariane'' (film), a 1931 ...

carrier rocket. After

, Augsburg is considered the high-tech centre for Information and Communication in Bavaria and takes advantage of its lower operating costs, yet close proximity to Munich and potential customers. In 2018 the Bavarian State Government recognized this fact and promoted Augsburg to ''Metropole''.

Major companies

*Boewe Systec * Faurecia * Fujitsu Technology Solutions * KUKA Robotics / Systems * MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg) * manroland *MT-Aerospace (former ''MAN Technologie'') * NCR *

Osram Osram Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). Osram positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and tre ...

Premium AEROTEC Premium AEROTEC is a German aerospace manufacturing business, headquartered in Augsburg in Germany. It is a subsidiary of Airbus. The company was created in September 2008 as a spin off from the multinational aerospace group EADS, which subse ...

*RENK AG (offshoot of MAN SE) *

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

* UPM-Kymmene (former Haindl) *WashTec (former Kleindienst) *

Synlab Group SYNLAB Group is an international medical diagnostics provider with laboratory services for human and veterinary medicine as well as environmental analysis. The company emerged from the combination of the two medical diagnostics providers Labco a ...

* Cancom *Check24 *

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Patrizia Immobilien Patrizia SE (or ''PATRIZIA SE'' as the company writes it) has been active as an investment manager in the real estate market across Europe for more than 38 years. Based in Augsburg, Germany, the company is listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange ...

Education

Augsburg is home to the following universities and colleges: * University of Augsburg, founded in 1970 * Hochschule Augsburg (University of Applied Sciences, formerly Fachhochschule Augsburg)

Media

The local newspaper is the '' Augsburger Allgemeine'' first published in 1807.

Notable people

Saint Afra Saint Afra (died 304) was martyred during the Diocletian persecution. Along with Saint Ulrich, she is a patron saint of Augsburg. Her feast day is August 7. Afra was dedicated to the service of the goddess, Venus, by her mother, Hilaria. Throu ...

, died 304 *

Simpert Saint SimpertAlso spelled Sintbert, Sintpert, Simbert. (died 13 October 807) was an abbot, bishop, and confessor of the late-8th and early-9th centuries, and was supposedly the nephew of Charlemagne. He was educated at Murbach Abbey in Alsace, whe ...

, died 807 * Saint Ulrich (c. 890–973) * Saint Wolfhard (1070–1127) *

Jakob Fugger the Elder Jakob Fugger (1398 in Augsburg – 1469 in Augsburg) was a German master weaver, town councillor and merchant, as well as the founder of the Fugger dynasty. He was later known as Jakob Fugger the Elder to distinguish him from his son Jakob F ...

(1398–1469) * Erhard Ratdolt (1442–1528), Printer, famous for having produced the first known printers type specimen book * Jakob Fugger (1459–1525), Noted banker and financial broker. An area within the city, called the Fuggerei was set aside for the poor and needy. Founded in 1519 * Hans Holbein the Elder (1460–1524), a pioneer in the transformation of German art from the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

to the

style *

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered o ...

(1497–1543), portrait and religious painter *

Matthäus Schwarz Matthäus Schwarz (19 February 1497 – c.1574) was a German accountant, best known for compiling his ''Klaidungsbüchlein'' or ''Trachtenbuch'' (usually translated as "Book of Clothes"), a book cataloguing the clothing that he wore between 1520 ...

(1497–c. 1574), accountant and author * Paulus Hector Mair (1517–1579), martial artist * Elias Holl (1573–1646), architect * Philipp Hainhofer (1578–1647), merchant, banker, diplomat and art collector *

Julius Schiller Julius Schiller (c. 1580 – 1627) was a lawyer from Augsburg, who like his fellow citizen and colleague Johann Bayer published a star atlas in celestial cartography. In the year of his death, Schiller, with Bayer's assistance, published th ...

(1580–1627), lawyer and astronomer *

Johann Georg Wirsung Johann Georg Wirsung (July 3, 1589 Augsburg – August 22, 1643 Padua) was a German anatomist who was a long-time prosector in Padua. He is remembered for the discovery of the pancreatic duct ("duct of Wirsung") during the dissection of a m ...

(1589–1643), anatomist *

Andreas Christoph Graf Andreas Christoph Graf (1701 in Augsburg – 1776 in Augsburg) was a German teacher, poet and writer of the etiquette book "The polite student" "Der höfliche Schüler" (1745). Life Magister Andreas Christoph Graf was a teacher at the Gymnasiu ...

(1701–1776), German teacher, author and poet *

Johann Jakob Haid Johann Jacob Haid or Johann Jakob Haid (1704–1767) was a German engraver who worked in Augsburg. Life and works Haid came from a German family of artists and engravers and was known for large mezzotint portraits. He worked in England, and it ...

(1704–1767), engraver *

(1719–1787), violinist-composer and father of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Christoph Christian Sturm Christoph Christian Sturm (1740–1786) was a German preacher and author, best known for his ''Reflections on the Works of God in Nature''. The son of Johann Jakob Sturm, a lawyer, at Augsburg, was born at Augsburg, January 25, 1740. He studied at ...

(1740–1786), preacher and author *

Eduard Bayer Johann Gottfried Eduard Bayer (20 March 1822 – 23 March 1908), usually known as Eduard Bayer, was a German composer for the classical guitar and a virtuoso performer on the guitar, harp guitar, mandolin and zither. Biography Bayer was born in ...

(1822–1908), composer and classical guitarist * Rudolf Diesel (1858–1913), inventor of the diesel engine *

Albert Rehm Albert Rehm (August 15, 1871 (in Augsburg)- July 31, 1949 (in Munich)) was a German philologist best known for his work on the Antikythera mechanism - he was the first to propose that it was an astronomical calculator. Services Albert Rehm has ...

(1871–1949), philologist who first understood the significance of the

Antikythera mechanism The Antikythera mechanism ( ) is an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery, described as the oldest example of an analogue computer used to predict astronomy, astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. It could also be ...

Hans von Euler-Chelpin Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin (15 February 1873 – 6 November 1964) was a German-born Swedish biochemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Arthur Harden for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and enz ...

(1873–1964), co-recipient of 1929

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

Karl Haberstock Karl Haberstock (born 19 June 1878 in Augsburg; died 6 September 1956 in Munich) was a Berlin art dealer who trafficked in Nazi-looted art. Haberstock's name appears 60 times in the Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) Reports 1945–1946 and ...

(1878–1956), Art dealer to the Nazis *

Artur Lauinger Artur Lauinger (23 August 1879, in Augsburg – 15 October 1961, in Frankfurt am Main) was a German business journalist of Jewish descent., Life Artur Lauinger was the second son of the Jewish businessman Heinrich Lauinger. After earning the A ...

(1879–1961), German journalist *

Julius Streicher Julius Streicher (12 February 1885 – 16 October 1946) was a member of the Nazi Party, the ''Gauleiter'' (regional leader) of Franconia and a member of the '' Reichstag'', the national legislature. He was the founder and publisher of the virul ...

(1885–1946), prominent Nazi prior to World War II, founder and publisher of anti-Semitic ''

Der Stürmer ''Der Stürmer'' (, literally "The Stormer / Attacker / Striker") was a weekly German tabloid-format newspaper published from 1923 to the end of the Second World War by Julius Streicher, the ''Gauleiter'' of Franconia, with brief suspensions ...

'' newspaper, executed for war crimes *

Julius Schaxel Julius Christoph Ehregott Schaxel (March 24, 1887 – July 15, 1943) was a German biologist who was a native of Augsburg. He initially studied biology, philosophy and psychology at Jena under Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), then continued his educati ...

(1887–1943), biologist *

Hans Loritz Hans Loritz (12 December 1895, Augsburg – 31 January 1946, Neumünster) was an officer in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) who was the commandant of several concentration camps in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe. He committed suicide in captivity ...

(1895–1946), Nazi SS concentration camp commandant *

(1898–1956), writer and theater director *

August Schmidhuber August Schmidhuber (8 May 1901 – 19 February 1947) was an SS-Brigadeführer who commanded two Waffen-SS divisions in occupied Yugoslavia and Albania during the latter stages of World War II who was executed by the post-war Yugoslav authori ...

(1901–1947), Nazi SS officer executed for war crimes *

Wilhelm Gerstenmeier '' SS-Hauptsturmführer'' Wilhelm Gerstenmeier (17 January 1908 – 3 December 1944) was a German member of the SS (member number 13300) during World War II. He was convicted of atrocities committed at the Majdanek concentration camp in occupie ...

(1908–1944), SS concentration camp officer executed for war crimes *

Josef Priller Josef "Pips" Priller (; 27 July 1915 – 20 May 1961) was a German military aviator and wing commander in the Luftwaffe during World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 101 enemy aircraft shot down in 307 combat missions. All of his v ...

(1915–1961),

ace *

Mietek Pemper Mieczysław "Mietek" Pemper (24 March 1920 – 7 June 2011) was a Polish-born German Holocaust survivor. Pemper helped compile and type Oskar Schindler's now-famous list, which saved 1,200 people from being killed in the Holocaust during World Wa ...

(1920–2011), Polish-born Jew compiled and typed

Oskar Schindler Oskar Schindler (; 28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a German industrialist, humanitarian and a member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and amm ...

's list, which saved 1,200 Jewish prisoners from the Holocaust. *

Günther Schneider-Siemssen Günther Schneider-Siemssen (7 June 1926 – 2 June 2015) was a German-born Austrian scenic designer, working as the chief designer for all Austrian State Theatres and the Salzburg Festival, where he created 28 productions for Herbert von Karajan ...

(1926–2015), scenic designer *

Werner Haas Werner Haas (; 30 May 1927 – 13 November 1956) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Germany. He became Germany's first motorcycle world champion when he won the 1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist ...

(1927–1956), Grand Prix motorcycle road racer *

Ulrich Biesinger Ulrich "Uli" Biesinger (6 August 1933 – 18 June 2011) was a German footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a forward. Career Born in Augsburg-Oberhausen, Biesinger was an attacker for BC Augsburg. Between 1954 ...

(1933–2011), former German footballer, part of the team that won the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerla ...

* Helmut Haller (1939–2012),

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who represented

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

at three

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Hans Henning Atrott Hans Henning Atrott, also Hans Atrott, (born 12 January 1944 in Klaipėda, Memel, East Prussia now Klaipéda, Lithuania - 2018) was notable for his commitment in the German right-to-die movement. Biography Descent and Childhood His father w ...

(born 1944), German author and theorist * Wolf Blitzer (born 1948), American journalist and CNN reporter * Bernhard Langer (born 1957), professional golfer *

Günther K.H. Zupanc Günther K.H. Zupanc (born 20 October 1958) is a neurobiologist, researcher, university teacher, book author, journal editor, and educational reformer. He is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachus ...

(born 1958), neurobiologist, researcher, university teacher, book author, journal editor, and educational reformer * Bernd Schuster (born 1959),

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player * Armin Veh (born 1961),

coach * Sheryl Lee (born 1967), actress, poet, and activist *

Alexander Wesselsky Alexander "Alexx" Wesselsky (born 18 November 1968) is a German singer. He is the lead vocalist of Neue Deutsche Härte band Eisbrecher and previously performed with Megaherz from 1993 to 2003. Biography In 1985, Dale Arden became Wesselsky's f ...

(born 1968), lead singer of the German band

Eisbrecher Eisbrecher (; German for "icebreaker") are a German Neue Deutsche Härte band that consists primarily of Alexander Wesselsky (vocals) and Noel Pix (lead guitar/ programming), with live support from Jürgen Plangger (guitar), Rupert Keplinger ...

Florian Hecker Florian Hecker was born in 1975 in Augsburg, Germany. He was raised in Kissing, Germany and studied Computational Linguistics and Psycholinguistics at Ludwig Maximilian Universität, Munich and Fine Arts at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, V ...

(born 1975), experimental electronic music composer *

Marisa Olson Marisa Olson is an artist, writer, curator, and former punk singer. In 2004 she auditioned for popular American television show American Idol as an artistic project. Over the course of three months of daily "training exercises," it is revealed th ...

(born 1977), artist *

Benny Greb Benny Greb (born 13 June 1980 in Augsburg, West Germany) is a German drummer, singer and clinician. He started playing the drums at age six and began taking lessons at age twelve. He plays a large variety of music and can be seen playing rock wit ...

(born 1980), solo drum artist *

Andreas Bourani Andreas Bourani (formerly Stiegelmair; 2 November 1983) is a German singer-songwriter. Career Bourani was born to Egyptians, Egyptian parents and adopted as an infant by a German family in Augsburg, in the southwest of Bavaria. As a youth, he a ...

(born 1983), singer-songwriter *

Philipp Kohlschreiber Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...

(born 1983), tennis player *

Bianca Voitek Bianca Voitek (born 15 November 1985) is a German female bodybuilder Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.Maximilian Hornung (born 1986), cellist *

Stefan Bradl Stefan Bradl (born 29 November 1989) is a German professional motorcycle racer. Bradl is best known for winning the Moto2 World Champion. Then he made the move to MotoGP in 2012 with LCR Honda. While in MotoGP, Bradl is best known for his per ...

(born 1989), motorcycle racer * Johnny Cecotto Jr. (born 1989), racing driver *

Nico Sturm Nico Sturm (born May 3, 1995) is a German professional ice hockey forward for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Sturm won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. Playing career Amateur Sturm played as a youth ...

(born 1995), ice hockey player

Sports

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

is a football team based in Augsburg and plays in the

WWK ARENA Augsburg Arena, currently known commercially as the WWK Arena (; officially stylised as WWK ARENA) is a football stadium in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of FC Augsburg. The stadium ...

to the south of the city centre. FC Augsburg secured promotion to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

in 2011 and have remained there ever since, qualifying for the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

for the first time in 2015 and securing mid-table finishes across the last few seasons. The club, nicknamed the Fuggerstädter or simply as FCA, reached the last 32 in the 2015-16 Europa League with a 1-0 aggregate defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. The

, nicknamed the "Anfield of the B17 Highway" following the Liverpool UEL match, opened in July 2009 and also hosted games of the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

. The 30,660 capacity arena is easily accessible from the city centre or the adjacent B17 dual carriageway. The city is home to a DEL (first-division) ice hockey team, the

Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburger EV ...

. The original club, AEV, was formed in 1878, the oldest German ice sport club and regularly draws around 4000 spectators, quite reasonable for German ice hockey. Home games are played at the

Curt Frenzel Stadion The Curt Frenzel Stadium (Curt-Frenzel-Stadion) is an arena in Augsburg, Germany. It is used for ice hockey in the German DEL as home arena for the Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche E ...

: a recently rebuilt (2012–2013) indoor rink and modern stadium and the club reached the 2018/19 DEL semi finals, eventually losing in the winner-takes-all game 7 to EHC Red Bull München (4-3 series defeat). Consequently, the Panthers qualified for the Champions Hockey League. Augsburg is also home to one of the most traditional German Baseball clubs, the Augsburg Gators and 2 American Football Clubs, the Raptors and Augsburg Storm, and in nearby

there's the Königsbrunn Ants. For the 1972 Olympic Games in

, a

dam protective diversionary canal for river ice was converted into the world's first

artificial whitewater An artificial whitewater course (AWWC) is a site for whitewater canoeing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater racing, whitewater rafting, playboating and slalom canoeing with artificially generated rapids. Course types Main types of course: Fl ...

slalom course: the

and remains a world-class venue for whitewater competition and served as prototype for two dozen similar foreign courses.

Local city nicknames

While commonly called ''Fuggerstadt'' (Fuggers' city) due to the Fuggers residing there, within Swabia it is also often referred to as ''Datschiburg'': which originated sometime in the 19th century refers to Augsburg's favorite sweet: the ''Datschi'' made from fruit, preferably prunes, and thin cake dough. The ''Datschiburger Kickers'' charity football team (founded in 1965) reflects this in its choice of team name.Augsburger Stadtlexikon – ''Datschiburger Kickers''
accessed: 18 November 2008 Among younger people, the city is commonly called "Aux" for short.

Notes

References

*''Die Chroniken der schwäbischen Städte, Augsburg'', (Leipzig, 1865–1896). *Werner, ''Geschichte der Stadt Augsburg'', (Augsburg, 1900). *Lewis, "The Roman Antiquities of Augsburg and Ratisbon", in volume xlviii, ''Archæological Journal'', (London, 1891). *Michael Schulze, ''Augsburg in one day. A city tour'' Lehmstedt Verlag, Leipzig 2015, .

Bibliography

External links

Stadt Augsburg
Official site (English version)
Augsburg Tourism
Official tourism portal for Augsburg region

District of AugsburgHydraulic Engineering and Hydropower, Drinking Water and Decorative Fountains in Augsburg
{{Authority control Roman towns and cities in Germany 15 BC establishments Venues of the 1972 Summer Olympics Displaced persons camps in the aftermath of World War II 1270s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1276 establishments in Europe 1803 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire Free imperial cities States and territories established in 1276 States and territories disestablished in 1803 World Heritage Sites in Germany