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Founded by the Romans in the reign of Caesar Augustus,
2000-year-old Augsburg on the Romantic Road is one of
the loveliest and most ancient cities in Bavaria.
The richness of its great cathedral and churches, its
elegant fountains and handsome palaces and mansions,
derives from one source: throughout the Middle Ages and
much later, trade and banking made Augsburg one of
Europe’s wealthiest cities. The banking house of Fugger
was one of the earliest and richest in Europe, and today
one can still visit the Fuggerei, a “town within the
town” and the first (1519) public housing scheme for the
elderly in the world. The annual rent is still only 1
Rhenish guilder, or less than a Pound Sterling in modern
currency.
For centuries Augsburg was renowned for its applied
arts, particularly the work of its magnificent
goldsmiths and silversmiths, and much of this artistic
wealth is still to be seen in the city’s fine churches,
palaces and museums.
One can hardly fail to mention the great seven-storey
Renaissance Rathaus, or Town Hall – and indeed the whole
market square in front of it comes particularly alive
during the “Christkindlesmarkt” during Advent, when at 6
p.m. every Saturday and Sunday the famous ‘Augsburg
Angels’ stage a magnificent musical tableau vivant from
the windows of the town hall, one of the most memorable
sights of the pre-Christmas season anywhere in Germany. |
