Augsburg

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Augsburg

Augsburg is an independent

Independent city

An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity.Independent cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other nation-state....
city

City

Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
. The College town

College town

A college town or university town is a community which is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several smaller institutions such as liberal arts colleges clustered, or the residential population may be small, but college towns in all cases are so dubbed because the presence of the educati...
is home of the Regierungsbezirk

Regierungsbezirk

A Regierungsbezirk is a type of government region of Germany, a subdivision of certain federal states . It is responsible for the districts , either List of German rural districts or urban districts: cities which constitute a district in their own right ....
Schwaben

Swabia (administrative region)

Swabia is one of the seven Regierungsbezirks of Bavaria, Germany, located in southwest Bavaria. It was formed out of the part of the historic region of Swabia which was annexed by Bavaria in 1803....
and also of the Bezirk Schwaben

Swabia (administrative region)

Augsburg (district)

Augsburg is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Augsburg and the districts of Aichach-Friedberg, Landsberg , Ostallg?u, Unterallg?u, G?nzburg , Dillingen and Donau-Ries....
. In 1906 Augsburg became a Großstadt

City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
(city), and is currently the third-largest city in Bavaria with more than 264,000 citizens. Only Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
and Nuremberg
Nuremberg

Nuremberg is a city in the Germany State of Bavaria, in the Regierungsbezirk of Middle Franconia. It is situated on the Pegnitz River river and the Rhine?Main?Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city....
are larger.

The name of the city dated from the Roman settlement Augusta Vindelicorum. The city was founded by the Roman emperor Augustus 15 BC as a castra
Castra

The Latin language word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position....
. Therefore the "Fugger
Fugger

The Fugger family was a historically prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century mercantile patrician of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and venture capitalists like the Welser and the H?chstetter families....
stadt" is the second oldest city in Germany after Trier
Trier

Trier is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier is not the only city claiming to be Germany's oldest, but it is the only one that bases this assertion on having the longest history as a city, as opposed to a mere settlement or army camp....
.

History

The city was founded in 15 BC in the reign of Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
emperor
Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
Augustus as a garrison
Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, of more than 50 men, but now often simply using it as a home base....
called Augusta Vindelicorum. Around 120 AD Augsburg became the capital of the Roman province Raetia
Raetia

File:REmpire Rhetia.pngRaetia was a Roman province of the Roman Empire, bounded on the west by the country of the Helvetii, on the east by Noricum, on the north by Vindelicia, and on the south by Cisalpine Gaul....
. It was laid to waste by the Huns in the fifth century, by Charlemagne
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
in the eighth, and by Welf of Bavaria
Welf I, Duke of Bavaria

Welf I was duke of Bavaria from 1070 to 1077 and from 1096 to his death. He was the first member of the Welf branch of the House of Este. In the Welf genealogy he is counted as Welf IV....
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
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, it became a major trading centre. It produced large quantities of woven goods, cloth and textiles, and was the base for the Fugger
Fugger

The Fugger family was a historically prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century mercantile patrician of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and venture capitalists like the Welser and the H?chstetter families....
banking empire. The Fuggerei
Fuggerei

The Fuggerei is a walled enclave within the city of Augsburg, Bavaria. It takes it name from the Fugger family and was founded in 1516 by Jacob Fugger as a place where the needy citizens of Augsburg could be housed....
, 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
Augsburg Confession

The Augsburg Confession, also known as the "Augustana" from its Latin name, Confessio Augustana, is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church....
was presented to the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor

Image:HRR 14Jh.jpgThe Roman of the Emperor's title was a reflection of the translatio imperii principle that regarded the Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, a title left unclaimed in the West after the death of Julius Nepos in 480....
at the Diet of Augsburg
Diet of Augsburg

The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire in the German city of Augsburg. There were many such sessions, but the three meetings during the Protestant Reformation and the ensuing religious wars between the Catholic emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the Protestant Schmalkaldic League in the e...
. Following the Peace of Augsburg
Peace of Augsburg

The Peace of Augsburg was a treaty between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the forces of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, on September 25, 1555, at the city of Augsburg in Bavaria, Germany....
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; see Paritätische Reichsstadt . Until the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe....
(1618–1648), religious peace in the city was largely maintained despite increasing confessional tensions. In 1629, Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand II , of the House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , King of Hungary ....
issued the Edict of Restitution
Edict of Restitution

The Edict of Restitution, passed eleven years into the Thirty Years' Wars on March 6 1629 following Catholic League successes at arms, was a belated attempt by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor to impose and restore the religion and territorial situations reached in the Peace of Augsburg ....
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
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden

Gustav II Adolf, In the era, which was characterized by nearly endless warfare, he led his armies as Monarch of Sweden—from 1611, as a seventeen year old, until his death in battle while leading a charge during 1632 in the bloody Thirty Years' war—as Sweden rose from the status as a mere regional power and run-of-the-mill king...
took the city without resistance. Just over two years later, the Swedish army was routed at nearby Nördlingen
Nördlingen

N?rdlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Bavaria, Germany, with a population of 20,000. It is located in the middle of a giant Impact crater, called the N?rdlinger Ries....
, 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
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
, and of the route to India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
by the Cape
Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headlands and bays on the Atlantic Ocean coast of South Africa. There is a very common misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa and the dividing point between the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Oceans, but in fact the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 150 kilometres t...
, conspired to destroy the town's prosperity. In 1806, when the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
was dissolved, Augsburg lost its independence to become part of the kingdom of Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria

The Kingdom of Bavaria was a Germany state that existed from 1806–1918. Elector Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806....
. It increased considerably in industrial importance in the 19th century. It contained large cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
and wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
len mills, machine shops, and manufacturers of acetylene
Acetylene

Acetylene is the chemical compound with the symbol carbonhydrogen. It is the simplest alkyne.As an alkyne, acetylene is Saturation because its two carbon atoms are Chemical bond together in a triple bond....
gas, paper, chemicals, jewellery, and leather. Out of one acetylene gas plant the company KUKA
KUKA

KUKA Robotics and its German parent company KUKA is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots and automation for a variety of industries - from automotive and fabricated metals to food and plastics....
was founded (1898) as Keller und Knappich Augsburg, today one of the leading companies for industrial robots. Also it gave birth to the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg (Later to merge with Maschinenfabrik Nürnberg and become Maschinenfabrik Augsburg Nürnberg or MAN AG
MAN AG

MAN Aktiengesellschaft is a German language mechanical engineering company based in Munich.MAN is one of the world's leading manufacturers of engineering equipment and commercial vehicles....
)—a machine factory where Rudolf Diesel
Rudolf Diesel

Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a French_People/German_people inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the diesel engine....
pioneered commercial production of his Diesel engine
Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine which operates using the diesel cycle . Diesel engines have the highest thermal efficiency compared to any internal combustion or external combustion engine....
.

In the Nazi-era, Augsburg became the capital of the Gau Schwaben, one of 42 administrative regions of Nazi Germany.

During World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, various sub-camps of the Dachau concentration camp
Dachau concentration camp

Dachau was a Nazi Germany Nazi concentration camps, and the first one opened in Germany, located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria which is located in southern Germany....
were located in the city. They supplied slave labour to local industry.

In 1941 Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess

Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent figure in Nazi Germany, acting as Adolf Hitler's Deputy F?hrer in the Nazi Party. On the eve of war with the Soviet Union, he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the United Kingdom, but instead was arrested....
took off from a local airport and flew to Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
to meet the Duke of Hamilton
Duke of Hamilton

The Dukedom of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1643, the holder is the premier peer of Scotland. The title, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, and many places around the world are named for members of this family....
and attempt to mediate the end of the European front of World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
and join sides for the upcoming Russian Campaign.

In 1945 elements of the U.S. Army occupied the heavily damaged city. An American Military presence in the city started with the 11th Airborne Division
U.S. 11th Airborne Division

The 11th Airborne Division was a United States Army Airborne forces, first activated on 25 February 1943, during World War II. The division took part in several training exercises in 1943, including the Knollwood Maneuver....
, 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.

Politics

Municipality

On the head of the city Augsburg as chairman of the town council governed since 1266 the so-called Stadtpfleger, sometimes also called mayor, so it happened that both titles were in use at the same time.

Not before 1548 the title was fixed on Stadtpfleger. These men officiated for some years and after that they were elected for lifetime. This is why there were sometimes two or more Stadtpfleger simultaneously.

After the transfer to Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
in 1806 Augsburg constituted a magistrate
Magistrate

A magistrate is a judicial officer; in ancient Rome, the word magistratus denoted one of the highest government officers with judicial and executive powers....
with two mayors, it was supported by an additional council of so called "community commissioners" (Gemeindebevollmächtige).

Since 1907 the mayor is called Oberbürgermeister, because Augsburg reached a population of 100,000. The title is stated in the bavarian Gemeindeordnung
Gemeindeordnung

The Gemeindeordnung is the municipal code in German law....
.

Town Council

Election results of the Town Council since 1972 in percent
Year CSU SPD FDP Grüne ödp DKP/PDS REP NPD other
1972 44,9 46,5 2,3 – – 0,7 – 0,9 4,7
1978 46,8 44,5 2,7 – – 0,4 – 0,6 4,9
1984 32,9 44,9 1,3 4,2 – 0,2 – 0,7 15,8
1990 43,1 28,4 2,5 10,8 – – 10,0 – 5,2
1996 44,1 29,4 1,7 10,5 – – 2,8 – 11,5
2002 43,5 36,4 3,5 8,7 1,8 1,2 – – 4,9
2008 40,1 30,1 2,7 10,3 1,5 3,5 – – 11,8
Seats 2008¹ 25 19 1 6 – 2² – – 7³
¹ Local elections on March 2, 2008 ²2008: Die Linke ³ Pro Augsburg: 6, Freie Wähler: 1

Members of the Bundestag

Augsburg is located in Wahlkreis 253 Augsburg-Stadt, the same which in is Königsbrunn
Königsbrunn

K?nigsbrunn is a municipality and the largest town in the Augsburg , in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Lech River, approx....
and the same-named Landkreis Augsburg
Augsburg (district)

Augsburg is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Augsburg and the districts of Aichach-Friedberg, Landsberg , Ostallg?u, Unterallg?u, G?nzburg , Dillingen and Donau-Ries....
.

At the election for the 16. Deutschen Bundestag was Christian Ruck of the CSU directly elected with 49,2%.

Indirectly over the Landesliste also were Miriam Gruß for the FDP, Heinz Paula for the SPD and Claudia Roth
Claudia Roth

Claudia Benedikta Roth is a Germany Alliance '90/The Greens politician and one of the two current party chairs, together with Cem ?zdemir....
for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen elected for the Bundestag
Bundestag

The 'Bundestag' is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag ....
.

Main sights

The Town Hall, built in 1620 in Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
style
Perlachturm
Perlachturm

The 70m tall Perlachturm is a tower in the central district of Augsburg, Germany. Originally built as a watchtower in the 10th century, it is nowadays part of an ensemble with the City Hall of Augsburg, a landmark of the Free imperial city....
, 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
Swabia

Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia is both a historic and linguistics region in Germany. Swabia consists of much of the present-day state of Baden-W?rttemberg , as well as the Bavarian Swabia ....
Cathedral, founded in the 9th century
Augsburger Puppenkiste
Augsburger Puppenkiste

The Augsburger Puppenkiste is a marionette theater in Augsburg, Germany.Their first performance ever was the fairy tale "Der gestiefelte Kater" ....
, a very famous marionette theater
Eiskanal
Eiskanal

The Eiskanal is an artificial Artificial whitewater feature in the city of Augsburg that was constructed as the whitewater canoeing and whitewater kayaking venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics that were hosted in Munich, Germany....
, the world's first artificial whitewater course (venue for the whitewater events of the 1972 Munich Olympics).
Dorint Hotel Tower
Dorint Hotel Tower

The Dorint Hotel Tower is the best-known high-rise building in the Germany city of Augsburg and visible throughout the city. At 107,2 m it is the highest building in the Augsburg area and among the ten highest in Bavaria....
Der Goldene Saal
St. Ulrich and St. Afra
St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey, Augsburg

St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey, Augsburg is a former Order of St. Benedict abbey dedicated to Ulrich of Augsburg and Afra in the south of the old city in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany....
—one church is Roman Catholic, the other Lutheran
Evangelical Church in Germany

Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 23 regional Lutheran, Reformed churches and United and uniting churches Protestant churches. In fact only one member church is not restricted to a certain territory....
, the duality a result of the Peace of Augsburg
Peace of Augsburg

The Peace of Augsburg was a treaty between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the forces of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, on September 25, 1555, at the city of Augsburg in Bavaria, Germany....
concluded in 1555 between Catholics and Protestants
Mozarthaus Augsburg (The composer's father, Leopold Mozart
Leopold Mozart

Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gr?ndlichen Violinschule....
was born there and Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty; at seventeen he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position, always...
visited on several occasions)
Childhood home of Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht

was a Germany poet, playwright, and theatre director. An influential theatre practitioner of the Twentieth-century theatre, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and Theatre, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble?the post-war theatre company operated by Brec...

Incorporations

Year Municipality Area
July 1, 1910 Meringerau 9.5 km²
January 1, 1911 Pfersee 3.5 km²
January 1, 1911 Oberhausen
Augsburg-Oberhausen

Oberhausen is one of the seventeen Planungsr?ume of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. Located in the northwestern portion of the city, it is home to 23,510 residents as of January 1, 2006, making it one of the larger planning districts in terms of population....
8.6 km²
January 1, 1913 Lechhausen 27.9 km²
January 1, 1913 Hochzoll
Hochzoll

Augsburg Hochzoll - the district of Hochzoll lies in the east of the city of Augsburg. Hochzoll is bordered on its west by the Lech river, whose waters also feed the Kuhsee to the south of Hochzoll....
4.4 km²
April 1, 1916 Kriegshaber 59 km²
July 1, 1972 Göggingen
Augsburg-Göggingen

G?ggingen is one of the list of civic divisions of Augsburg of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. The Planungsraum is made up of three Stadtbezirke , the 37th, 38th and 40th Stadtbezirke, which are named G?ggingen-Nordwest , G?ggingen-Nordost and G?ggingen-S?d , respectively....

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

Inverness
Inverness

Inverness is a City status in the United Kingdom in northern Scotland. The city is the administrative centre for the Highland Council areas of Scotland, and it is promoted as the capital of the Scottish Highlands....
, Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
since 1956
Amagasaki, Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, since 1959
Nagahama, Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, since 1959
Bourges
Bourges

Bourges is a commune in France in central France on the Y?vre river. It is the capital of the Departments of France of Cher and also was the capital of the former provinces of France of Berry ....
, France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, since 1963
Dayton
Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 166,179 at the United States Census, 2000....
Ohio, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, since 1964
Liberec
Liberec

Liberec is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Capital and largest city of the Liberec Region. Located on the Lusatian Neisse and surrounded by the Jizera Mountains and Je?ted-Koz?kov Ridge, it is the sixth-largest city in the Czech Republic....
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic

The Czech Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east....
, since 2001
Jinan
Jinan

Jinan is a sub-provincial city and the capital of Shandong Provinces of China, People's Republic of China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilization and has evolved into an important administrative, economic, and transportation hub....
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
, since 2004

Information on the partner cities can also be found at

Commerce and infrastructure

Transport
The main road link is the autobahn
Autobahn

is the German language word for a major high-speed road restricted to motor vehicles capable of driving at least and having full control of access, similar to a motorway or freeway in English-speaking countries....
A 8
Bundesautobahn 8

Bundesautobahn 8 is an Autobahn that runs 497 km from the Luxembourg border through southern Germany to Austrian border near Salzburg....
towards Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
and Stuttgart
Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in southern Germany. The list of cities in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 590,429 while the metropolitan area referred to as Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million ....

Public transport
Public transport in Augsburg is controlled by the Augsburger Verkehrsverbund (Augsburg transport union, AVV), which extends over central Swabia, and includes seven Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn

The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany....
lines, four tram
Tram

A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolley car, or streetcar is a railroad car, of lighter weight and construction than a train, designed for the transport of passengers within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets....
lines, 27 city bus and six night bus lines as well as several taxi companies.

The tram network is now 35.5 km-long following the opening of new lines to the university
University of Augsburg

The University of Augsburg is a university located in the Augsburg-Universit?tsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 7 Faculties....
in 1996, the northern city boundary in 2001 and to the Klinikum Augsburg (hospital) in 2002. Two more tram lines are planned to be completed in 2011.

Rail services
Augsburg has seven stations, including the Hauptbahnhof
Augsburg Hauptbahnhof

is the Hauptbahnhof for the Bavarian city of Augsburg, situated in southern Germany.The station has one of the oldest still existing station halls in Germany, which was built from 1843 to 1846 after plans by architect Friedrich B?rklein....
(main station), which was built from 1843 to 1846 and is Germany’s oldest main station in a large city still in service in its original building. It is currently being modernized and an underground tram station is being built under it. It is on the Ulm–München line
Ulm–München rail line

|}|}The Ulm-Munich line is a Germany railway line. The first part of the line was built by the Munich-Augsburg Railway Company and opened in 1840....
and is connected by ICE
InterCityExpress

File:ICE 3 Fahlenbach.jpgThe Intercity-Express ? in Austria and Switzerland: InterCityExpress ; abbreviation: ICE ? is a system of high-speed rail predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries....
and IC
Intercity

Intercity or Inter-city means "between cities". It can refer to inter-city transportation by Rail transport, bus, truck or airline. There are many transport companies with Intercity or Inter-city as their brand....
services to Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
, Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
, Dortmund
Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the States of Germany of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 587,830 makes it the largest city in the region, 7th-largest in Germany, and 34th-largest in the European Union....
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt

is the largest city in the German States of Germany of Hesse and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000....
, Hamburg
Hamburg

Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg metropolitan area has more than 4.3 million inhabitants....
and Stuttgart
Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in southern Germany. The list of cities in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 590,429 while the metropolitan area referred to as Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million ....
. Since December 2007 the French TGV
TGV

The TGV is France's high-speed rail service. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF, the French national rail transport operations, and is now operated primarily by SNCF....
connects Augsburg with a direct High Speed Connection to Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
. In addition EC
EuroCity

EuroCity, abbreviated EC, denotes an international train service within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains with the "IC" label, "EC" trains are international trains that meet certain criteria described below....
and night train services connect to Amsterdam
Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the Capital of the Netherlands and List of cities in the Netherlands with over 100,000 people of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands of North Holland in the west of the country....
, Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
and Vienna
Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
and connections will be substantially improved by the creation of the planned Magistrale for Europe
Magistrale for Europe

The Magistrale for Europe is a Trans-European Networks project for the creation of a high-speed railway line between Paris and Budapest. It is to a large extent identical to TEN project No....
.

The AVV operates seven Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn

The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany....
lines from the main station to:
Mammendorf
Mammendorf

Mammendorf is a Municipalities of Germany in Bavaria, Germany. It is located halfway between Munich and Augsburg....
Schmiechen
Schmiechen

Schmiechen is a Municipalities of Germany in the district of Aichach-Friedberg in Bavaria in Germany....
Aichach
Aichach

Aichach is a town in Germany, located in the States of Germany of Bavaria and situated just northeast of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Aichach-Friedberg....
/Radersdorf
Kühbach

K?hbach is a Municipalities of Germany in the district of Aichach-Friedberg in Bavaria in Germany....
Meitingen
Meitingen

Meitingen is a market town in the Augsburg , in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Lech River, 20 km south of Donauw?rth, and 21 km north of Augsburg....
/Donauwörth
Donauwörth

Donauw?rth is a city in the Germany State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and W?rnitz River rivers meet....
Dinkelscherben
Dinkelscherben

Dinkelscherben is a Municipalities of Germany in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany....
Schwabmünchen
Schwabmünchen

Schwabm?nchen is a regional centre in Bavaria in the administrative region of Swabia south of Augsburg in the Augsburg ....
Klosterlechfeld
Klosterlechfeld

Klosterlechfeld is a Municipalities of Germany in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany....
.
Starting in 2008, the regional services are to be operated to S-Bahn
S-Bahn

S-Bahn refers to suburban rapid transit railways in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The name is an abbreviation for the German "Stadtschnellbahn" and was introduced in December 1930 in Berlin, after "SS-Bahn" had been unofficially in use already....
frequencies and are to be developed in the long term into the Augsburg S-Bahn.

Economy
Augsburg is a classical production site. World market leaders and global players like MAN
Man

A man is a male human. The term man is used for an adult human male, while the term boy being the usual term for a human male child or adolescent human male....
, EADS
EADS

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on 10 July 2000 of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany, A?rospatiale-Matra of France, and Construcciones Aeron?uticas SA of Spain....
or KUKA
KUKA

KUKA Robotics and its German parent company KUKA is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots and automation for a variety of industries - from automotive and fabricated metals to food and plastics....
produce technologically demanding products like printing systems, large diesel engines, industrial robots or components for the Airbus A380 and the Ariane carrier rocket. Besides Munich, Augsburg is the high-tech centre for Information and Communication in Bavaria and takes advantage of its proximity to Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
and the huge potential of customers.

Boewe Systec
EADS
EADS

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on 10 July 2000 of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany, A?rospatiale-Matra of France, and Construcciones Aeron?uticas SA of Spain....
EMCON Technologies (former Zeuna-Staerker)
Fujitsu Siemens Computers
Fujitsu Siemens Computers

Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Inc. is a Japanese and Germany Information technology vendor , selling consumer and business computing products in the markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa ....
KUKA
KUKA

KUKA Robotics and its German parent company KUKA is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots and automation for a variety of industries - from automotive and fabricated metals to food and plastics....
Robotics / Systems
MAN
Man

A man is a male human. The term man is used for an adult human male, while the term boy being the usual term for a human male child or adolescent human male....
(Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg)
manroland
MAN Roland

manroland AG manufactures newspaper web offset presses, commercial web offset presses, and sheetfed offset presses for commercial, publications and packaging printing....
MT-Aerospace
NCR
NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation is a technology company specializing in products for the retail and financial sectors. Its main products are point of sale, automatic teller machines, cheque processing systems, barcode reader, and business consumables....
Osram
Osram

OSRAM, founded 1906, is part of the industry sector of Siemens AG and one of the two leading lighting manufacturers in the world. The name is derived from osmium and Wolfram , as both these elements were commonly used for lighting filaments at the time the company was founded....
Siemens
Siemens

Siemens AG is a German electrical and telecommunications companysiemens may refer to*siemens , the SI unit of electrical conductance, equivalent to 1 ampere/volt...
UPM-Kymmene (former Haindl)
Verlagsgruppe Weltbild
Weltbild

The Verlagsgruppe Weltbild is a major Germany publisher and media retailer based in Augsburg. It is owned by the dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church of Germany....
WashTec (former Kleindienst)

Education
Augsburg is home to the following universities and colleges:

University of Augsburg
University of Augsburg

The University of Augsburg is a university located in the Augsburg-Universit?tsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 7 Faculties....
, founded in 1970
Fachhochschule Augsburg
Fachhochschule Augsburg

Hochschule Augsburg ? University of Applied Sciences. One of two universities in Germany which offer a course of studies in 'Multimedia' which combines both Design and Computer Sciences....

Media
The town is home to the Augsburger Allgemeine

Augsburger Allgemeine

The Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung is a major Germany regional daily newspaper published since 1945....
, a newspaper first published in 1807.

Notable citizens

1459–1525 Jakob Fugger Noted banker and financial broker. An area within the city, called the Fuggerei
Fuggerei

The Fuggerei is a walled enclave within the city of Augsburg, Bavaria. It takes it name from the Fugger family and was founded in 1516 by Jacob Fugger as a place where the needy citizens of Augsburg could be housed....
was set aside for the poor and needy. Founded in 1519.
1460–1524 Hans Holbein the Elder
Hans Holbein the Elder

Hans Holbein was a Germany Painting.He was born in Augsburg, Bavaria and died in Isenheim, Alsace. He and his brother Sigismund Holbein painted religious works in the late Gothic art style....
, a pioneer in the transformation of German art from the Gothic
Gothic art

Gothic art was a Medieval art art movement that lasted about 200 years. It began in France out of the Romanesque art period in the mid-12th century, concurrent with Gothic architecture found in Cathedrals....
to the Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
style.
1517–1579 Paulus Hector Mair
Paulus Hector Mair

Paulus Hector Mair was an Augsburg civil servant, and active in the Historical European Martial Arts. He collected Fechtbuch and undertook to compile all knowledge of the art of fencing in a compendium surpassing all earlier books....
, martial artist.
1573–1646 Elias Holl
Elias Holl

Elias Holl was the most important architect of early Germany Baroque architecture....
, architect
1580–1627 Julius Schiller
Julius Schiller

Julius Schiller was a lawyer from Augsburg, Germany, who like his fellow citizen and colleague Johann Bayer published a star atlas in celestial cartography....
, lawyer and astronomer.
1704–1767 Johann Jakob Haid
Johann Jakob Haid

Johann Jakob Haid was a Germany engraving who worked in Augsburg.Haid came from a German family of artists and engravers and was known for large mezzotint portraits....
, engraver
1719–1787 Leopold Mozart
Leopold Mozart

Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gr?ndlichen Violinschule....
, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
1898–1956 Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht

was a Germany poet, playwright, and theatre director. An influential theatre practitioner of the Twentieth-century theatre, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and Theatre, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble?the post-war theatre company operated by Brec...
, famous German writer.
1858–1913 Rudolf Diesel
Rudolf Diesel

Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a French_People/German_people inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the diesel engine....
, inventor of the diesel engine.
1933 Ulrich Biesinger
Ulrich Biesinger

Ulrich Biesinger is a former Germany football .Born in Augsburg, he was an attacker for FC Augsburg. Between 1954 and 1958 he played in eight matches for the Germany national football team and scored two goals....
, a former German footballer, part of the Team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup
1954 FIFA World Cup

The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. As the year saw the 50th anniversary of FIFA, it was appropriate for football's premier competition to be played in the home of its governing body, and Switzerland was chosen as FIFA World Cup hosts#1954 FIFA World Cup in July 1946....
.
1939 Helmut Haller
Helmut Haller

Helmut Haller was a association football who represented Germany national football team at three Football World Cup.A playmaker and striker who made his international debut at age 19 in 1958, he played at the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile, the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England and the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, earning a total of 33 caps a...
, a footballer
Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world....
who represented West Germany
Germany national football team

The German national football team is the association football team representing the country of Germany in international competition since 1908....
at three World Cups.
1957 Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer

Bernhard Langer is a Germany professional golfer....
, famous Professional Golfer.
1959 Bernd Schuster
Bernd Schuster

Bernhard Schuster is a Germany association football coach and former player.Schuster was an important part of the FC Barcelona team during the 1980s, leading the game from midfield and scoring many goals....
, a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
football coach and former player.

Miscellaneous

The patron saint
Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
s of Augsburg are Saint Ulrich
Ulrich of Augsburg

Saint Ulrich , sometimes spelled Uodalric or Odalrici, was Bishop of Augsburg and a leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany. He was the first saint to be Canonization....
and Saint Afra
Saint Afra

Saint Afra was a Christianity martyr....
. Saint Afra was killed (either beheaded or burned at the stake, accounts differ) by the Romans at Augsburg in 304. An earlier patroness was Zisa
Zisa (goddess)

Zisa or Cisa is a goddess in Germanic paganism associated with the Suebi in the area of Augsburg, Germany. Zisa is mentioned in manuscripts from the 12th to 14th centuries which reference a victory against the Roman Empire attributed to the goddess....
, referenced in the 11th century, feast day September 28), possibly an early Germanic goddess and originally the consort of Tyr
Tyr

File:T?r by Fr?lich.jpgT?r is the god of single combat, victory and heroic glory in Norse mythology, portrayed as a one-handed man. In the late Icelandic Eddas, he is portrayed, alternately, as the son of Odin or of Hymir , while the origins of his name and his possible relationship to Tuisto suggest he was once considered the father of...
.

Every year on 29 September (Michaelmas or St. Michael's Day) the Turamichele
Turamichele

Turamichele is the name of a moving mechanical figure on the Perlach Tower next to Perlach church in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. It shows the Michael fighting with the devil....
(Archangel Michael
Michael (archangel)

Saint Michael is an archangel in Christian and Islamic tradition. He is viewed as the field commander of the Army of God.He is mentioned by name in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation....
) appears in a window on the west side of the citytower (Perlachturm
Perlachturm

The 70m tall Perlachturm is a tower in the central district of Augsburg, Germany. Originally built as a watchtower in the 10th century, it is nowadays part of an ensemble with the City Hall of Augsburg, a landmark of the Free imperial city....
) and fights with the devil
Devil

The Devil is the title given to the supernatural being, who, in mainstream Christianity, Islam, and some other religions, is believed to be a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind....
. The day is also marked by a big children's party.

The White Water Canoeing events for the 1972 Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, in what was then West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
were held on the Lech River
Lech River

The Lech is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and 264 km in length, with a drainage basin of 2,550 sq. miles....
, in Augsburg. The facilities are still open to the public.

Sports

The city is home to a DEL
Deutsche Eishockey-Liga

The Deutsche Eishockey Liga is a Germany high-calibre ice hockey league, and has the highest number of American and Canadian players overseas. It was formed as a replacement for the Ice hockey Bundesliga and is also called DEL - Die 1....
(first-division) ice hockey team, the Augsburger Panther
Augsburger Panther

The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey-Liga. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion....
. The original club, AEV, was formed in 1878 and is the oldest ice sport club in Germany. The team regularly draws around 4000 spectators, which is quite reasonable for German ice hockey. The club plays its homegames at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. It is not actually an indoor ring in the proper sense since the sides are open. A new stadium is in the process of planning.

For the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
, a canal which diverted river ice away from a Lech River
Lech River

The Lech is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and 264 km in length, with a drainage basin of 2,550 sq. miles....
dam south of Augsburg was converted into the world's first artificial whitewater
Artificial whitewater

An artificial whitewater course is a site for whitewater canoeing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater racing, whitewater rafting, playboating and slalom canoeing with artificially generated rapids....
slalom course, named the Eiskanal
Eiskanal

The Eiskanal is an artificial Artificial whitewater feature in the city of Augsburg that was constructed as the whitewater canoeing and whitewater kayaking venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics that were hosted in Munich, Germany....
. It remains a world-class venue for whitewater competition, as well as a tourist attraction, and was the prototype for two dozen such courses which now exist around the world.

The FC Augsburg
FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg is a Germany football List of football clubs in Germany based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fu?ball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg from 1921 to 1969....
is a 2nd Bundesliga football team based in Augsburg and plays in the Rosenaustadion
Rosenaustadion

Rosenaustadion is a multi-use stadium in Augsburg, Germany. It is the largest stadium in Augsburg.The stadium is currently used mostly for football matches by the football club ?FC Augsburg?....
. A new stadium called Impuls Arena is scheduled to open in 2009 and it is planned to host games of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Nicknames
While commonly known as Fuggerstadt due to Fuggers residing there, within Swabia it's also often referred to as Datschiburg. The name, which originated sometime in the 19th century, refers to Augsburgs favorite sweet, the Datschi made from fruit, preferably prunes, and thin cake dough. From this nickname also derives the name of the Datschiburger Kickers, a charity football team, founded in 1965, made up of former local players.

External links

Official site (English version)
An interactive set of pictures which allows you to explore Augsburg

Augsburg

History

Politics

Municipality

Town Council

Members of the Bundestag

Main sights

Incorporations

Historical population development:

Partner cities

Commerce and infrastructure

Transport

Public transport

Rail services

Economy

Education

Media

Notable citizens

Miscellaneous

Sports

Nicknames

See also

External links