Augsburg

Travel times from Regensburg:
Train – 2 hours, 30 mins.
Car – 1 hour, 30 mins.

A highlight of your trip will be Augsburg, nicknamed the “German Renaissance City.” The era imparted magnificent beauty on the city’s façade, but having developed over two millennia, this town’s distinct cityscape was shaped by all the great stylistic epochs.  Grand buildings, monumental fountains, lavishly laid-out streets and ultramodern architecture attest to the city’s tradition of cosmopolitan bounty.

Founded by Emperor Augustus in 15 B.C., Augsburg got its starts as a Roman military camp and became a Roman provincial capital for more than 400 years. By the 15th century, it was one of Europe’s wealthiest and most important merchant cities.

Many of Augburg’s unique features can be credited to the pre-mercantile times of Roman soldiers, though. The city’s wall dates from the Middle Ages, but you can still find traces of the Romans’ handiwork in stretches of the original wall. They were also responsible for the city’s intricate canal system. By one count, as many as 600 bridges cross the still-intact waterways – more, Augsburgers claim, than in Venice or Amsterdam. Be sure you don’t miss the Roman Museum, a church of the former St. Magdalena monastery with prehistoric exhibits and interesting finds from the Roman Empire.

It was during the Renaissance, though, that Augsburg really bloomed. The majesty of the period is still very much alive in the architecture of the monumental Rathaus (City Hall), considered the most important secular Renaissance structure north of the Alps. This imposing masterpiece was built from 1615 to 1620 by Elias Holl as an expression of the Free Imperial City’s civic pride. Enjoy an impressive panoramic view of the city’s architectural gems from the adjacent Perlachturm tower.

The Churches of Saints Ulrich and Afra are an interesting match for the city: one is Roman Catholic, the other Lutheran, a duality that resulted from the Peace of Augsburg concluded in 1555 between Catholics and Protestants. Construction of the larger structure began in 1474 with the abbey church of the Benedictine monks. The choir, with three massive altars and the Crucifixion altar, was completed in the 16th and 17th centuries. The onion-domed tower is nearly 300 feet high. The Late Gothic basilica is richly appointed in Renaissance and Baroque styles with an elaborate wrought-iron grille, numerous works of art, and the burial vaults of Augsburg's patron saints Afra, Ulrich and Simpert.

Just one of many Renaissance fountains surviving intact, the magnificent Augustusbrunnen was erected in honor of the Roman Emperor from whom the city derives its name. Maximilian Street, framed by the historic façades of stately patrician homes, attests to the city’s affluence in the days of the famous Fugger and Welser merchant dynasties. The world’s oldest social settlement for the poor, The Fuggerei, was built by Jacob Fugger the Rich, banker to kings and emperors.  Even today, its residents pay less than a dollar a year in rent.

Banking must have been the profession of choice in Augsburg for those who wanted to lives like emperors and kings, as evidenced by the Schaezler Palace. The city palace of  banker Liebert von Liebenhofen was built from 1765 to 1770 and features a richly adorned Rococo Banquet Hall,. Considered the most impressive Rococo work in Augsburg, it is also one of the most impressive private Rococo buildings in Bavaria. Today it also houses the German Baroque Gallery and the State Gallery with paintings by masters such as Dürer, Holbein and Cranach.

Of interest to music-lovers, the ancestral home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is open to the public and houses a museum for the famous composer, whose family originated in Augsburg.

Augsburg also touts an impressive collection of religious edifices. The Dom (Cathedral) is lit by five of the oldest figured stained glass windows of the world (1140). St. Ulrich & Afra-Basilika and the Protestant Ulrichskirche join with the Dom to constitute a splendid architectural ensemble. And in 1518, Martin Luther first defended his theses of Protestantism to an emissary of the Pope while residing in St. Anna's Church, a former monastery that offers excellent examples of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo styles. The tomb chapel of the Fugger family within St. Anna’s is regarded as the first Renaissance church building in Germany. The church also features valuable paintings by northern Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Day excursions from Augsburg are a great way to further explore the romance and history of Bavaria.  Take a tour of royal castles, including Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, and see the world-renowned Wieskirche (Church in the Meadow) on the southern Romantic Road.  Take a day to visit Munich and discover the Bavarian capital’s numerous museums and artistic treasures and its intriguing city center.