Augsburg Travel Guide

The Town Hall of Augsburg (German: Augsburger Rathaus) is the one of the most significant secular buildings of the Renaissance style north of the Alps. It was designed and built by Elias Holl, Stadtbaumesiter (Master Builder of the town), in 1615-1624. Due to its historic and cultural importance, it is protected by the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Inside the Rathaus, Holl built three overlaying halls: on the ground floor, behind the main entrance, is the Lower Fletz, and on the floor above, the Upper Fletz; by far the most impressive room in the building, however, is the double-height Goldener Saal, or Golden Hall, with its magnificent doorways, murals and coffered ceiling. Adjacent to the Goldener Saal is the Prince's Room, designed as a retreat for important guests.

Along with the Town Hall, the Perlach Tower is the most recognizable symbol of Augsburg. The tower rises over the 1182-built collegiate church of St. Peter on Perlach. In the course of building the neighboring Town Hall, architect Elias Holl had it erected in 1614. The tower stands 70 m (230 ft) high and is equipped with a carillon and onion dome.

Every year on September 29th (the Feast of St. Michael and all Angels) the children of Augsburg delight in the Turamichelefest. Every hour on the hour, a small door in the tower opens and two mechanical figures come out. As the bell strikes, the figure of St. Michael defeats the dragon with a thrust of his spear.

For a commanding view of the surrounding countryside, one can climb the 261 steps to the top of the tower. The particularly sporty participate each year in the “Perlachturm Run”, a challenge to see who is the quickest to the top.

In 1943, Walter Oehmichen, his wife Rose and their daughters Hannelore and Ulla built their own marionette theater, the Puppenschrein (puppet shrine). Although destroyed by bombs in WWII, Oehmichen was not to be discouraged and in 1948 opened a marionette theater in the former Holy Ghost Nursing Home. The Augsburger Puppenkiste opened with the fairytale Puss in Boots. TV broadcasts in the 60’s and 70’s made the Puppenkiste and its characters like Urmel, Jim Knopf and the cat Mikesch famous throughout Germany. Today, the two grandsons of the founder, Klaus and Jürgen Marschall, manage the Puppenkiste and continue to carve their own figures and write their own scripts. Adjacent to the theater is a marionette museum (open Tuesday - Sunday 10am - 7pm) where one can get an up-close view of many of the popular figures.

The Eiskanal is an artificial canal feature that was constructed as the whitewater canoeing and whitewater kayaking venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics that were hosted in Munich, Germany. The first artificial whitewater course of its kind, it has served as a prototype for numerous artificial courses since constructed. The Eiskanal is still considered a world-class venue, and hosts many World Cup and other international races.

The Basilica of St. Ulrich and Afra is one of the last major late-gothic church buildings in Schwabia. The typical onion-domed tower became an archetype for baroque churches in Bavaria. The Basilica’s richly decorated Renaissance- and Baroque-styled interior blends harmonically into the gothic structure.

Since the 8th century, this has been a site for sacred structures hosting pilgrimages honoring St. Afra (d. 304). In 973, Augsburg’s Bishop Ulrich was entombed near Afra; since 1012, Augsburg’s Benedictine Cloister of St. Ulrich and Afra have looked after these sacred sites.

Construction on the Benedictine monastery’s brick abbey church began in 1474 and was finished in 1500 by Burkhard Engelberg, who also built the Ulm Cathedral tower. In 1500, Emperor Maximilian I laid the cornerstone for the foundation of the choir. Due to the religious conflicts in the 16th century, the choir was not completed until 1603/04. After the 30-year War, when the church properties were divided, the twin churches were separated and one became Catholic, the other Lutheran.

In 1643, the first Mozart ancestor, David Mozart, became a citizen of Augsburg, where he had already bought the house in the Frauentorstrasse where in 1731, Leopold Mozart was born. Wolfgang visitedmy papa’s home town five times and repeatedly gave concerts here. He maintained a heartfelt relationship with his Augsburg cousin Anna Thekla Mozart (Bäsle). Thus, Augsburg considers itself, after Salzburg and Vienna, the third most important city in Mozart’s life—the only German Mozart City. It is with this in mind that Augsburg hosts a yearly Mozart Festival.

In 1937, a memorial room was opened in the Mozart House, and then in 1939 the Hasen Brewery donated the house to the city of Augsburg. After numerous enlargements and renovations over the last decades, today the Mozart House is a modern memorial to the Mozart family and a venue for lectures and concerts.

Hours: Tuesday - Sunday: 10am - 5pm.

Admission: 3 € Adults, 2 € Concessions, Children under 10 years free.

The Fuggerei is known as a city within a city and is still managed by the Fugger family foundation as it was at the time of its beginning. In 1521, Jakob Fugger the Rich and his brothers founded what is now the oldest social settlement in the world for Augsburgers who had fallen into hardship (and who practiced the Catholic faith). The settlement is comprised of 67 houses with 140 apartments, a church and a fountain. Even today, annual rent is the equivalent of one Rhinish Gulden, about 0.88 euros. House rules still dictate that every day residents must recite The Lord’s Prayer in honor of the settlement’s founders.

The Fuggerei can be visited daily for a small admission fee. The admission price includes a visit to the museum, which displays an apartment preserved in the original style and features an exhibition about the Fugger family history.

Hours: April - September: 8am - 8pm. October - March 9am - 6pm.

The Fuggerei can be visited daily for a small admission fee. The admission price includes a visit to the museum, which displays an apartment preserved in the original style and features an exhibition about the Fugger family history.

The Maximilian Museum lies in the heart of Augsburg’s lively pedestrian zone between the Town Hall and St. Anne’s Church. It is housed in two 15/16th century upper middle class residences that were joined at the end of the 17th century. Three of the original ceiling frescoes have survived; important works of the artist Melchior Steidl. In 1856, one year after the opening of Augsburg’s oldest museum, King Maximilian II of Bavaria assumed patronage of the museum and granted it his name. Today the Maximilian Museum is part of the Municipal Museums and Art Collections. Its more than 30 rooms contain sculpture, decorative art and items pertaining to Augsburg’s cultural heritage. Highlights in the collection include works from Augsburg gold- and silversmiths. Significant works in the sculpture collection include a statue of a female saint by Hans Multscher (ca. 1437) and Sebastian Loscher’s 1513 depiction of St. Sebastian as well as a Fountain Lad by Adriaen de Vries (ca. 1600) and several works from the early-baroque Augsburg sculptor Georg Petel. In 2000, in honor of the Adriaen de Vries Exhibition, the courtyard was topped with a glass roof and it now serves as a permanent, protected home for the original sculptures from Augsburg’s monumental fountains.

Hours: Tuesday: 10am - 8pm. Wednesday until Sunday: 10am - 5pm.