Jugglers, witches and fakirs entertained the elector and emperor Maximilian I. who held political gatherings in Augsburg. Its citizens still like to dress in patrician clothes and enjoy the typical local food. The people from Augsburg take pride in the city's former status and celebrate it passionately. Which doesn't mean that they hold in high regard each citizen who has contributed to the city's fame. Bertolt Brecht, the greatest playwright of the 20th century, experienced this. It seems as if the Augsburger are still not willing to forgive him his communist attitude and his excoriating of the theatres in the student magazine „Ernte“. If you read Brecht, you will come across his home town again and again and feel his profound connection. The „Steinerne Mann“, who he learned about in school must have made a huge impression on him. This smart Augsburger expelled the besiegers during the 30 years' war thorugh a razzle-dazzle by throwing the last loaf of bread over the wall. This legend is found in Brecht's „Mutter Courage“ in the shape of "Stumme Kattrin". By the way, it is said to bring luck to rub one's nose.

Founded in 15 BC as the Roman military camp Augusta Vindelicum Augsburg reached its bloom during the 15th and 16th century through competent merchant families like the Fugger and Welser. The gorgeous Rokoko ballroom in Schaetzlerpalais was even refered to as the „Augsburg taste“. Celebrities like the painter Hans Holbein and the composer Leopold Mozart grew up in Augsburg. Rudolf Diesel constructed his first Diesel-Motor here. And the Linde company produced the first refrigerating machine as well as Messerschmitt did so with the first mass-production of a jet.

Brecht's birthplace lies in the Lech quarter, an idyllic craftsman neighborhood with many canals behind the historic city hall. The pompous Golden room is the setting of a scene in Brecht's play „Augsburger Kreidekreis“. The Perlachturm next to the city hall offers an amazing round view and only a stone's thro away you will find the Fuggerei. Jakob Fugger the rich founded the world's first social settlement with his brothers in 1521. It comprises 67 houses with 140 apartments, a church and a fountain. The current annual rent amounts to one Rhenish gulden, not even one Euro.

Going for a stroll on Maximilianstraße will make you feel the glamour of ancient times. Sisi's brother lived here and today's nightlife hotspot Julep’s (pendant of the Munich Bar in Breisacherstrasse), was the former armoury and granary. A city's highlight is the Stadtpalais of the Fugger, where Mozart performed, or the Schaetzlerpalais, which today is home of parts of the city museum. You will find the paintings of Lukas Cranach the older and Hans Holbein the older.

All these treasures and personalities make Augsburg famous beyond Germany's borders. A unique part of the city is the  Augsburger Puppet Show. Puppets like Urmel, Jim Knopf or Kater Mikesch are carved and bear the city's name into the world and into the hearts of the people.

by Karin Nagl