Augsburg

The animated city

Founded more than 2,000 years ago under the Roman Emperor Augustus, Augsburg is one of the oldest German cities. The economic heyday of this former Free Imperial Town was during the 15th and 16th centuries when it flourished thanks to foreign trade and the banking businesses of the Fuggers and Welsers. Reminders of these glorious days can be seen in the historical city centre with the splendid Maximilianstrasse and the Renaissance and Baroque façades of the palaces and patrician houses. Since 2019, the Augsburg water management system, with its 22 sites – water purification works, the fountain monument, the water infrastructure, power stations, waterways and canals – has been included on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.

History

  • 15 BC Drusus and Tiberius, step sons of Emperor Augustus set up a military camp on the site of the present-day city
  • AD 304 Martyr’s death of St. Afra
  • 955 Battle of Lechfeld
  • 1156 First Augsburg city charter
  • 1276 Second Augsburg city charter
  • 1316 Augsburg granted Free Imperial Town status
  • 1519 Construction of the Fuggerei
  • 1530 Confessio Augustana (Augsburg Confession)
  • 1555 Religious Peace of Augsburg
  • 1650 Augsburg Festival of Peace
  • 1770-72 Johann Heinrich Schüle founds the first continental calico manufactory
  • 1806 Incorporation of the Imperial City of Augsburg in the Kingdom of Bavaria
  • about 1816 Augsburg is Bavaria’s leading banking centre: Augsburg Bourse
  • 1840 Completion of the Munich-Augsburg railway line; the first train runs
  • 1929 Open-air theatre opened
  • 1970 Augsburg University founded
  • 1985 2000th anniversary of the city, Golden Hall in the Town Hall restored
  • 2019 Augsburg becomes a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the Augsburg Water Management System

Highlights

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Augsburg Water Management System (2019)

Augsburg’s water management system is unique in the world and an iconic example of progress, aesthetics and sustainability. As a result of its continued use and constant extension, it was a crucial influence on Renaissance waterworks, as well as on the technological developments of the industrial revolution. You can find more information HERE

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Tourist-Information Augsburg
Rathausplatz 1
86150 Augsburg
+49 (0) 821 50207-0
tourismus@regio-augsburg.de