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The largest city on the Romantic Road (and Bavaria's third largest), Augsburg is also one of Germany’s oldest, founded by the stepchildren of Roman emperor Augustus over 2000 years ago. As an independent city state from the 13th century, it was also one of its wealthiest, free to raise its own taxes, with public coffers bulging on the proceeds of the textile trade. Banking families such as the Fuggers and the Welsers even bankrolled entire countries and helped out the odd skint monarch. However, from the 16th century, religious strife and economic decline plagued the city. Augsburg finally joined the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806.
Shaped by Romans, medieval artisans, bankers, traders and, more recently, industry and technology, this attractive city of spires and cobbles is an easy day trip from Munich or an engaging stop on the Romantic Road, though one with a grittier, less quaint atmosphere than others along the route.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Augsburg.
Historic Site
The legacy of Jakob Fugger ‘The Rich’ lives on at Augsburg’s Catholic welfare settlement, the Fuggerei, which is the oldest of its kind in existence. Around 200 people live here today and their rent remains frozen at 1 Rhenish guilder (now €0.88) per year, plus utilities and three daily prayers. Residents wave to you as you wander through the car-free lanes of this gated community flanked by its 52 pin-neat houses (containing 140 apartments) and little gardens.
Church
Often regarded as the first Renaissance church in Germany, the rather plain-looking (and well-hidden) St Anna Kirche is accessed via a set of cloisters lined with tombstones. The church contains a bevy of treasures, as well as the sumptuous Fuggerkapelle, where Jacob Fugger and some of his relatives lie buried, and the lavishly frescoed Goldschmiedekapelle (Goldsmiths' Chapel; 1420).
Church
Augsburg’s cathedral has its origins in the 10th century but was Gothicised and enlarged in the 14th and 15th centuries. The star treasures here are the so-called ‘Prophets’ Windows’. Depicting David, Daniel, Jonah, Hosea and Moses, they are among the oldest figurative stained-glass windows in Germany, dating from the 12th century. Look out for four paintings by Hans Holbein the Elder, including one of Jesus’ circumcision.
Museum
The Maximilianmuseum occupies two patrician townhouses joined by a statue-studded courtyard covered by a glass-and-steel roof. Highlights include a fabulous collection of Elias Holl’s original wooden models for his architectural creations, and a collection of gold and silver coins. However, the real highlights here are the expertly curated temporary exhibitions on a variety of Bavarian themes.
Museum
Opened in 1998 to celebrate local boy Bertolt Brecht's 100th birthday, this house museum is the birthplace of the famous playwright and poet, where he lived for the first two years of his life (from 1898 to 1900) before moving across town. Among the displays are old theatre posters and a great series of life-size chronological photos, as well as his mother's bedroom.
Notable Building
Located on the 2nd floor of Augsburg's Rathaus, the meticulously restored Goldener Saal is the city's resplendent main meeting hall. It's a dazzling space canopied by a gilded and coffered ceiling, interspersed with frescos.
Square
The heart of Augsburg’s Altstadt, this large, pedestrianised square is anchored by the Augustusbrunnen, a fountain honouring the Roman emperor; its four figures represent the Lech River and the Wertach, Singold and Brunnenbach brooks.
Historic Building
Rising above the Rathausplatz are the twin onion-domed spires of the Renaissance Rathaus, built by Elias Holl from 1615 to 1620 and crowned by a 4m-tall pinecone, the city's emblem (also an ancient fertility symbol). Upstairs is the Goldener Saal, a huge banquet hall with an amazing gilded and frescoed coffered ceiling.
Museum
About 300m east of the main train station, as you head towards the Altstadt, you’ll come to the Synagoge Augsburg, an art nouveau temple built between 1914 and 1917 and housing a worthwhile Jewish museum. Exhibitions here focus on Jewish life in the region, presenting religious artefacts collected from defunct synagogues across Swabia.