Augsburg

Related Topics:
Augsburg :: Augsburger_Puppenkiste :: Augsburg_College :: Augsburg_Confession

Augsburg is a city in south-central Germany. It is the capital of the Swabia administrative region of Bavaria, and is located at the confluence of the Wertachand Lech rivers. The population was 276,193 in 2004.

Districts

There are 17 districts Stadtteile in Augsburg:

Innenstadt (inner city)
Jakobervorstadt
Antonsviertel
Bärenkeller
Bergheim (includes Neubergheim, Wellenburg, Radegundis and Fuchssiedlung)
Firnhaberau
Göggingen mit Schafweidsiedlung
Hammerschmiede
Haunstetten-Siebenbrunn (Meringerau)
Herrenbach-Spickel
Hochfeld
Hochzoll
Inningen
Kriegshaber
Lechhausen
Liann Hochfeld
Oberhausen
Pfersee
Universitätsviertel (University district)cat

History

The city was founded in 15 BC in the reign of Roman emperor Augustus as a garrison called Augusta Vindelicorum. It was laid waste by the Huns in the fifth century, by Charlemagne in the eighth, and by Welf of Bavaria in the eleventh; it rose each time only to greater prosperity.

It became an Imperial Free City on March 9, 1276. Given its strategic location on the trade routes to Italy, it became a major trading centre. It produced large quantities of woven goods, cloth and textiles, and was the base for the Fugger banking empire. The Fuggerei, part of the city devoted to housing for the needy citizens of Augsburg, was founded in 1516 and is still in use today.

In 1530 the Augsburg Confession was presented to the Holy Roman Emperor at the Diet of Augsburg. Following the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, after which the rights of religious minorities in imperial cities were to be protected, a mixed Catholic-Protestant city council presided over a majority Protestant population.

Until the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), religious peace in the city was largely maintained despite increasing confessional tensions. In 1629 Emperor Ferdinand II issued the Edict of Restitution resulting in the installation of an entirely Catholic city government that radically curtailed the rights of local Protestants. This persisted until April 1632, when the Swedish army of Gustavus Adolphus took the city without resistance. Just over two years later, the Swedish army was routed at nearby Nördlingen, and by October 1634 Catholic troops had surrounded Augsburg. The Swedish garrison refused to surrender and a disastrous siege ensued through the winter of 1634–5, during which thousands died of hunger and disease.

These difficulties, together with the discovery of America, and of the road to India by the Cape, conspired to destroy the town's prosperity. In 1806, when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, Augsburg lost its independence and became part of the kingdom of Bavaria. It increased considerably in industrial importance in the nineteenth century. It contained large cotton and woolen mills, machine shops, and manufacturers of acetylene gas, paper, chemicals, jewelry, and leather. Also it gave birth to the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg (Later to merge with Maschinenfabrik Nurnberg and become Maschinenfabrik Augsburg Nurnberg or MAN AG) - a machine factory where Rudolf Diesel pioneered commercial production of his Diesel engine.

In 1941 Rudolf Hess took off from a local airport and flew to Scotland to meet the Duke of Hamilton and attempt to mediate the end of the European front of World War 2 and join sides for the upcoming Russian Campaign.

In 1945 elements of the US Army occupied the heavily damaged city. An American Military presence in the city started with the 11th Airborne division, moving to the 24th Infantry Division, US Army Seventh Corps Artillery, and, ending with the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, which left the area in 1998.

Incorporations

Year	Municipality	Area	-	July 1, 1910	Meringerau	9.5 km²	-	January 1, 1911	Pfersee	3.5 km²	-	January 1, 1911	Oberhausen	8.6 km²	-	January 1, 1913	Lechhausen	27.9 km²	-	January 1, 1913	Hochzoll	4.4 km²	-	April 1, 1916	Kriegshaber	59 km²	-	July 1, 1972	Göggingen		-	July 1, 1972	Haunstetten		-	July 1, 1972	Inningen

Historical population development:

Year	Population	-	1635	16,432	-	1645	19,960	-	1806	26,200	-	1830	29,019	-	December 1, 1871 ¹	51,220	-	December 1, 1890 ¹	75,629	-	December 1, 1900 ¹	89,109	-	December 1, 1910 ¹	102,487	-	June 16, 1925 ¹	165,522	-	June 16, 1933 ¹	176,575	-	May 17, 1939 ¹	185,369	-	September 13, 1950 ¹	185,183	-	June 6, 1961 ¹	208,659	-	May 27, 1970 ¹	211,566	-	June 30, 1975	252,000	-	June 30, 1980	246,600	-	June 30, 1985	244,200	-	May 27, 1987 ¹	242,819	-	June 30, 1997	257,300	-	December 31, 2002	259,231	-	December 31, 2003	259,217	-	December 31, 2004	260,407	-	December 31, 2005	263,804	-	December 31, 2006	269,449

¹ Census result

Partner Cities

Information on the partner cities can also be found at www.augsburg.de

Sights

Town hall, built in 1620 in Renaissance style
Perlachturm, a bell tower built in 1182 ^*]
Fuggerei, see above
Bishop's Residence, built about 1750 in order to replace the older bishop palace; today the administrative seat of Swabia
Cathedral, founded in the 9th century
Augsburger Puppenkiste
Eiskanal
Dorint Hotel Tower
Sts. Ulrich & Afra (One is Roman Catholic, the other Lutheran--the duality is a result of the Peace of Augsburg concluded in 1555 between Catholics and Protestants)
Mozarthaus (The composer's father/teacher were born there and Mozart visited on several occasions)

Education

Augsburg is home to the following universities and colleges:

University of Augsburg, founded in 1970 ^*
Fachhochschule Augsburg

Notable citizens

Paulus Hector Mair, 16th century martial artist.
Jakob Fugger Noted banker and financial broker (1459-1525). An area within the city, called the Fuggerei was set aside for the poor and needy. Founded in 1519.
Hans Holbein the Elder (ca. 1465 - 1524), a pioneer in the transformation of German art from the Gothic to the Renaissance style.
Leopold Mozart, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Bertolt Brecht, famous German writer.

Miscellaneous

The patron saint of Augsburg is Saint Afra, who was killed by the Romans at Augsburg in 304. An earlier patroness was Zisa, referenced in the 11th century, feast day September 28th), possibly an early Germanic goddess and originally the consort of Tiwaz.

The White Water Canoeing events for the 1972 Summer Olympics were held on the Lech in Augsburg. The facilites are still open to the public.

The burg ("castle" in German) part of the city's name is cognate to the English word borough.

References

Die Chroniken der schwäbischen Städte, Augsburg, (Leipzig, 1865-96)
Werner, Geschichte der Stadt Augsburg, (Augsburg, 1900)
Lewis, "The Roman Antiquities of Augsburg and Ratisbon," in volume xlviii, Archæological Journal, (London, 1891)

External links

Stadt Augsburg Official site (English version)
Augsburg Region Tourism
Fotosafari Augsburg An interactive set of pictures which allows you to explore Augsburg
Sites in German:
- Augsburg City Plan
- District of Augsburg

Augsburg | Roman legions' camps in Germany | Cities in Bavaria | 15 BC establishments

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