Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town (German: 'Universit tsstadt') and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a population exceeding 264,000 citizens. After Neuss and Trier, Augsburg is Germany's third oldest city.
Augsburg is the only German city with its own legal holiday, the Augsburger Hohes Friedensfest, celebrated on August 8 of every year. This gives Augsburg more legal holidays than any other region or city in Germany.^[1]

History

The city was founded in 15 BC by Drusus and Tiberius as Augusta Vindelicorum, on the orders of their stepfather Emperor Augustus. The name "Augusta Vindelicorum" means "Augusta of the Vindelici". This garrison camp soon became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia.

Early development was due to a 400-year affiliation with the Roman Empire, especially because of its excellent military, economic and geographic position at the convergence of the Alpine rivers Lech and Wertach, and with direct access to most important Alpine passes. Thus, Augsburg was the intersection of many important European east-west and north-south connections, which later evolved as major trade routes of the Middle Ages.^[2]

Around 120 AD Augsburg became the capital of the Roman province Raetia. Augsburg was sacked by the Huns in the 5th century AD, by Charlemagne in the 8th century, and by Welf of Bavaria in the 11th century, but arose each time to greater prosperity.

Historical spellings of the name of the city include "Ausburch" and "Ausbourch."

Augsburg Confession

Augsburg was decreed an Imperial Free City on March 9, 1276. Augsburg also held its own bishop at this time. With a strategic location as intersection of trade routes to Italy, it became a major trading center. Augsburg produced large quantities of woven goods, cloth and textiles. Augsburg became the base for the Fugger banking empire, who donated the Fuggerei part of the city devoted to housing for needy citizens in 1516 and remains in use today. Perlach market place in 1550. 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 legally protected, a mixed Catholic Protestant city council presided over a majority Protestant population; see Parit tische Reichsstadt.

Thirty Years' War

Religious peace in the city was largely maintained despite increasing Confessional tensions until the Thirty Years' War (1618 1648). In 1629, Ferdinand II issued the Edict of Restitution, which restored the legal situation of 1552 which again curtailed the rights of the Protestant citizens. The inequality of the Edict of Restitution was rescinded when in April 1632, the Swedish army under Gustavus Adolphus captured Augsburg without resistance.

In 1634, the Swedish army was routed at nearby N rdlingen. By October 1634, Catholic troops had surrounded Augsburg. The Swedish garrison refused to surrender and a siege ensued through the winter of 1634/35 and thousands died from hunger and disease. According to J. N. Hays, "In the period of the Swedish occupation and the Imperial siege the population of the city was reduced from about 70,000 to about 16,000, with typhus and plague playing major roles."^[3]

Nine Years' War

In 1686, Emperor Leopold I, formed the League of Augsburg, termed by the English as the "Grand Alliance" after England joined in 1689: a European coalition, consisting (at various times) of Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Palatinate of the Rhine, Portugal, Savoy, Saxony, Spain, Sweden, and the United Provinces. It was formed to defend the Palatinate from France. This organization fought the War of the Grand Alliance against France in the Nine Years War.

Augsburg's peak boom years occurred during the 15th and 16th centuries thanks to the bank and metal businesses of the merchant families Fugger and Welser, who held a local near total monopoly on their respective industries. Augsburg's wealth attracted artists seeking patrons and rapidly became a creative centre for famous painters, sculptors and musicians notably birthplace of : the Holbein painter family, the composer Leopold Mozart and the playwright Berthold Brecht. Rococo became so prevalent that it became known as Augsburg style throughout Germany.

Industrial Revolution Revival

A map of Augsburg in 1800. In 1806, when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, Augsburg lost its independence to become part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1817 Augsburg became an administrative capital of the Oberdonaukreis, then administrative capital in 1837 for the district Swabia and Neuburg.

During the end of the 19th century, Augsburg's textile industry again rose to prominence followed by the connected machine manufacturing industry.

Military

Augsburg was historically a militarily important city due to its strategic location. During the German re-armament before the Second World War, the Wehrmacht enlarged Augsburg's one original Kaserne (barracks) to three: Somme Kaserne ((housing Wehrmacht Artillerie-Regiment 27)); Arras Kaserne ((housing Wehrmacht Infanterie Regiment 27)) and Panzerj ger Kaserne (housing Panzerabwehr-Abteilung 27 (later Panzerj ger-Abteilung 27). Wehrmacht Panzerj ger-Abteilung 27 was later moved to F ssen.

The Reichswehr Infanterie Regiment 19 was stationed in Augsburg and became the base unit for the Wehrmacht Infanterie Regiment 40, a subsection of the Wehrmacht Infanterie Division 27 (which later became the Wehrmacht Panzerdivision 17). Elements of Wehrmacht II Battalion of Gebirgs-J ger-Regiment 99 (especially Wehrmacht Panzerj ger Kompanie 14) was composed of parts of the Wehrmacht Infanterie Division 27. The Infanterie Regiment 40 remained in Augsburg until the end of the war, finally surrendering to the United States.

The three Kaserne changed hands confusingly between the American and Germans, finally ending up in US hands for the duration of the Cold War.

During World War II, one subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp was located outside Augsburg, supplying approximately 1300 forced labourers to local military-related industry, most especially the Messerschmitt AG military aircraft firm headquartered in Augsburg.^[4][5]

In 1941 Rudolf Hess without Hitler's permission secretly took off from a local airport and flew to Scotland to meet the Duke of Hamilton, and crashed in Eaglesham in an attempt to mediate the end of the European front of World War II and join sides for the upcoming Russian Campaign.

In 1945, the U.S. Army occupied the heavily bombed and damaged city. (see Bombing of Augsburg in World War II). An American military presence in the city started with the 11th Airborne Division, followed by the 24th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Seventh Corps Artillery, 701st Military Intelligence Brigade and finally the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, which returned the former Kaserne to German hands in 1998. Originally the Heeresverpflegungshauptamt S dbayern and a Officers' caisson existed on or near the location of Reese-Kaserne, but was demolished by the occupying Americans. The former Wehrmacht Kaserne became the three main US barracks in Augsburg: Reese;, Sheridan and FLAK. US Base FLAK had been an anti-aircraft barracks since 1936 and US Base Sheridan "united" the former infantry barracks with a smaller Kaserne for former Luftwaffe communications units.

Politics

Municipality

From 1266 until 1548, the terms Stadtpfleger (head of town council) and Mayor were used interchangeably, or occasionally, simultaneously. In 1548 the title was finally fixed to Stadtpfleger, who officiated for several years and was then awarded the title for life (though no longer governing), thus resulting confusingly, in records of two or more simultaneous Stadtpfleger.

After the transfer to Bavaria in 1806, Augsburg was ruled by a Magistrate with two mayors, supported by an additional council of "Community Commissioners": the Gemeindebevollm chtige.

As of 1907, the Mayor was entitled Oberb rgermeister, as Augsburg had reached a population of 100,000, as per the Bavarian Gemeindeordnung.

Town Council

¹ Local elections on March 2, 2008     ²2008: Die Linke     ³ Pro Augsburg: 6, Freie W hler: 1

Members of the Bundestag

Augsburg is located in the Wahlkreis 253 Augsburg-Stadt constituency, which includes K nigsbrunn and the District of Augsburg (Landkreis Augsburg).

Christian Ruck of the CSU was directly elected to the Bundestag with 49.2% of the vote in the 16th German Bundestag.

Indirectly elected to the Bundestag to adhere to the Landesliste were Miriam Gru for the FDP, Heinz Paula for the SPD and Claudia Roth for B ndnis 90/Die Gr nen.

Main sights

F nfgratturm tower Ring of Mercy on the Dom (Cathedral) St. Maria

• Town Hall, built in 1620 in Renaissance style with the Der Goldene Saal
• Perlachturm, a bell tower built in 989
• Fuggerei (see above)
• Bishop's Residence, built about 1750 in order to replace the older bishop's palace; today the administrative seat of Swabia
• Cathedral, founded in the 9th century
• Schaezlerpalais, a Rococo mansion (1765)
• St. Ulrich and St. Afra one church is Roman Catholic, the other Lutheran, the duality being a result of the Peace of Augsburg concluded in 1555 between Catholics and Protestants
• Mozart Haus Augsburg (where composer father Leopold Mozart was born and Mozart visited it several times)
• Augsburger Puppenkiste, a puppet theatre
• Eiskanal, the world's first artificial whitewater course (venue for the whitewater events of the 1972 Munich Olympics)
• Dorint Hotel Tower
• Childhood home of Bertolt Brecht
• The Augsburg Botanical Gardens (Botanischer Garten Augsburg)

Incorporations

Historical population development

Census result

Partner cities

• Inverness, United Kingdom since 1956
• Amagasaki, Japan, since 1959
• Nagahama, Japan, since 1959
• Bourges, France, since 1963
• Dayton, United States, since 1964
• Liberec, Czech Republic, since 2001
• Jinan, People's Republic of China, since 2004

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

Transport

Roads

The main road link is autobahn A 8 between Munich and Stuttgart.

Public transport

Public transport is very well catered for. It is controlled by the Augsburger Verkehrsverbund (Augsburg transport union, AVV) extended over central Swabia. There are seven rail Regionalbahn lines, five tram lines, 27 city bus lines and six night bus lines, as well as, several taxi companies.

The tram network is now 35.5 km-long after the opening of new lines to the university in 1996, the northern city boundary in 2001 and to the Klinikum Augsburg (Augsburg hospital) in 2002. Tram line 6, which runs 5.2 km from Friedberg West to Rotes Tor, opened in December 2010.^[6]

Rail services

The front of the station Augsburg has seven stations. The Hauptbahnhof (main station) built from 1843 to 1846 is Germany s oldest main station in a large city still providing services in the original building. It is currently being modernized and an underground tram station is built underneath it. Hauptbahnhof is on the Munich Augsburg and Ulm Augsburg lines and is connected by ICE and IC services to Munich, Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart. As of December 2007, the French TGV connected Augsburg with a direct High Speed Connection to Paris. In addition EC and night train services connect to Amsterdam, Paris and Vienna and connections will be substantially improved by the creation of the planned Magistrale for Europe.

The AVV operates seven Regionalbahn lines from the main station to:

• Mammendorf
• Schmiechen
• Aichach/Radersdorf
• Meitingen/Donauw rth
• Dinkelscherben
• Schwabm nchen
• Klosterlechfeld

Starting in 2008, the regional services are planned to be altered to S-Bahn frequencies and developed long term as integrated into the Augsburg S-Bahn.

Air transport

Until 2005 Augsburg was served by nearby Augsburg Airport (AGB). In that year all air passenger transport has been relocated to Munich Airport. Since then the Airport only serves for General aviation and business aviation.

Economy

Statue of Archangel Michael in Augsburg

KUKA's industrial robots

Augsburg is a vibrant industrial city. Many global market leaders namely MAN, EADS or KUKA produce high technology products like printing systems, large diesel engines, industrial robots or components for the Airbus A380 and the Ariane carrier rocket. After Munich, Augsburg is considered the high-tech centre for Information and Communication in Bavaria and takes advantage of its lower operating costs, yet close proximity to Munich and potential customers.

Major companies

• Boewe Systec
• EADS
• EMCON Technologies (former Zeuna-Staerker)
• Fujitsu Technology Solutions
• KUKA Robotics / Systems
• MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-N rnberg)
• manroland
• MT-Aerospace
• NCR
• Osram
• Premium AEROTEC
• Siemens
• UPM-Kymmene (former Haindl)
• Verlagsgruppe Weltbild
• WashTec (former Kleindienst)

Education

Augsburg is home to the following universities and colleges:

• University of Augsburg, founded in 1970^[7]
• Hochschule Augsburg (University of Applied Sciences, formerly Fachhochschule Augsburg)

Media

The local newspaper is the Augsburger Allgemeine first published in 1807. Besides, there are several local radio stations and a local TV station (a.tv).

Notable citizens

Holbein's house

• died 304 Saint Afra
• c.890-973 Saint Ulrich
• 1070-1127 Saint Wolfhard
• 1442-1528 Erhard Ratdolt Printer, famous for having produced the first known printers type specimen book.
• 1459 1525 Jakob Fugger Noted banker and financial broker. An area within the city, called the Fuggerei was set aside for the poor and needy. Founded in 1519.
• 1460 1524 Hans Holbein the Elder, a pioneer in the transformation of German art from the Gothic to the Renaissance style.
• 1497 1543 Hans Holbein the Younger, portrait and religious painter.
• 1517 1579 Paulus Hector Mair, martial artist.
• 1573 1646 Elias Holl, architect
• 1580 1627 Julius Schiller, lawyer and astronomer.
• 1704 1767 Johann Jakob Haid, engraver
• 1719 1787 Leopold Mozart, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• 1740-1786 Christoph Christian Sturm, German preacher and author.
• 1898 1956 Bertolt Brecht, famous German writer.
• 1858 1913 Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine.
• 1920-2011 Mietek Pemper, compiled and typed Oskar Schindler's list, which saved 1,200 Jewish prisoners from the Holocaust.^[8][9]
• 1933 Ulrich Biesinger, a former German footballer, part of the team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup.
• 1939 Helmut Haller, a footballer who represented West Germany at three World Cups.
• 1948 Wolf Blitzer, journalist and CNN reporter
• 1957 Bernhard Langer, famous professional golfer.
• 1959 Bernd Schuster, a German football coach and former player.
• 1961 Armin Veh, a German football coach.
• 1962 Josef Priller, Luftwaffe Ace
• 1980 Benny Greb, a German solo drum artist.
• 1983 Philipp Kohlschreiber, a German tennis player.
• 1985 Bianca Voitek, a German female bodybuilder.

Sports

Impuls Arena]] FC Augsburg is a football team based in Augsburg and plays in the SGL arena. FC Augsburg was promoted to Bundesliga in 2011. The new stadium (opened in July 2009) also hosted games of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The city is home to a DEL (first-division) ice hockey team, the Augsburger Panther. The original club, AEV, was formed in 1878, the oldest German ice sport club and regularly draws around 4000 spectators, quite reasonable for German ice hockey. Home games are played at the Curt Frenzel Stadion: not truly an indoor rink as the sides are open, though a new stadium is in the process of planning.

For the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, a Lech River dam protective diversionary canal for river ice was converted into the world's first artificial whitewater slalom course: the Eiskanal and remains a world-class venue for whitewater competition and served as prototype for two dozen similar foreign courses.

Local City Nicknames

While commonly coined Fuggerstadt (Fuggers' city) due to the Fuggers residing there, within Swabia it's also often referred to as Datschiburg: which originated sometime in the 19th century refers to Augsburgs favorite sweet: the Datschi made from fruit, preferably prunes, and thin cake dough.^[10] The Datschiburger Kickers charity football team (founded in 1965) reflects this in its choice of team name.^[11][12] Among the younger people, the city is commonly called "Aux" as an short form.

See also

• List of civic divisions of Augsburg
• League of Augsburg
• Augsburg College, a private Lutheran College in the United States that takes its name from the Augsburg Confession
• List of mayors of Augsburg
• Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the Diesel engine, who also used biodiesel

Notes

References

• Die Chroniken der schw bischen St dte, Augsburg, (Leipzig, 1865 1896).
• Werner, Geschichte der Stadt Augsburg, (Augsburg, 1900).
• Lewis, "The Roman Antiquities of Augsburg and Ratisbon", in volume xlviii, Arch ological Journal, (London, 1891).

External links

• Stadt Augsburg Official site (English version)
• Augsburg Region Tourism
• Wohnungen Augsburg
• Fotosafari Augsburg An interactive set of pictures which allows you to explore Augsburg
• Augsburg City Plan
• District of Augsburg
• The history of Augsburg in data

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