Culture and sports, sightseeing, excursions, history

augsburg

Culture, sightseeing, excursions, history

Augsburg offers an abundance of free-time possibilities the whole year round. Enjoy, in one of the oldest cities in Germany, the advantages of a metropolis – pubs, theatres, museums – without getting lost in the ‘jungle’ of a massive, dangerous city!

Founded 2000 years ago by Emperor Augustus, and thanks to its central location in the heart of Europe, Augsburg has grown into a centre of architecture, music and art. Today Augsburg is regarded as a jewel of Renaissance architecture, with its countless magnificent fountains and the city hall.

Town Hall

Built by the city architect Elias Holl between 1615 and 1620, with its unique Golden Hall.

University of Augsburg

Founded on the 1st of January 1970 www.uni-augsburg.de

Bert Brecht

Bert Brecht (10.02.1898 – 14. 08. 1956) is Augsburg’s most important author. Bert Brecht’s birthplace is situated in a small street in the old town and is a museum now.

Augsburg

Capital of the district of Swabia. 250. 000 inhabitants, third largest city in Bavaria. Oldest city in Germany, founded in 15 B.C..

Fuggerei

The town within a town: In 1516 Jakob Fugger the Rich founded the world’s first social settlement for hard-working, guiltlessly impoverished citizens who were Catholic. It comprises 67 houses with 147 flats, a church and a fountain. This very day the yearly rent is one Rhenish gulden, which equals approximately € 0,88, plus one daily prayer for the founder.

Schaezler Palace

Today it houses the German Baroque Gallery and the State Gallery.

St. Ulrich and Afra

Late Gothic basilica valuably decorated in Renaissance and Baroque style: wrought-iron bars, numerous works of art

Cathedral

Frescos from Romanesque and Gothic times, beautifully painted vaults, four panels by Hans Holbein the Elder, the oldest glass paintings in Germany

St. Anna

Founded in 1321, a goldsmith’s chapel with Gothic murals was attached in 1420/1496. Conversion into a Protestant-Lutheran church. Inside you can find the burial chapel of the Fugger family, which is considered the earliest example of German Renaissance architecture. You can also find the “Luther Staircase” (Lutherstiege): a documentation of the beginnings of the reformation in Augsburg.

Mozart House

Leopold Mozart’s birthplace, father of Wolfgang Amadé. A private town house built in the 16th and 17th century. Today it houses the Mozart museum.

Synagogue

One of the most important magnificent buildings of the late Art Nouveau style in Europe. After its extensive renovation, the museum was reopened in November 2006.

Maximilian Museum

In more than 30 rooms sculptures, handcrafts and evidence of the city’s history are presented.

Open air theatre

Since 1929 the Augsburg open air theatre is located in the western embankment of the “Rotes Tor”. Season is in June and July with productions of operas, operettas and musicals.

Fountains in Augsburg

  • Augustus Fountain, Rathausplatz, built between 1588 - 1594
  • Herkules Fountain, Maximilian street (in front of the Schaezler Palace), designed by the Dutch Adriean de Vries, 1597 – 1600
  • Mercurius  Fountain, Maximilian street, designed by Adriean de Vries, 1596 1599

Maximilian Street

Maximilian street – the “emperor mile” – is one of the most beautiful magnificent streets in southern Germany with its unique ladies-court with which Jakob Fugger the Rich took himself to Italy.

Augsburger Puppenkiste

The most famous marionette theatre in Germany

Places in Augsburg off the beaten path

More

  • Bishop’s Residence
  • Zeughaus
  • Roman Museum
  • Perlach Tower
  • Museum of crafts and trades
  • Zoo
  • Botanical Garden
  • Row at the Oblatterwall