Augsburg

Augsburg, city in Bavaria, central southern Germany, at the confluence of the Lech and Wertach rivers. Manufactures include textiles, motor vehicles, machinery, and chemicals. Educational institutions include the University of Augsburg (1970). Augsburg's points of interest include the Church of St Ulrich and St Afra; the town hall (17th century), with the magnificent Golden Hall; St Mary's Cathedral, with altarpieces by Hans Holbein the Elder and the world's oldest examples of stained glass; the Schaezler Palace, with several galleries of German masters and other works; and the Mozart Museum, birthplace of Leopold, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Other natives of Augsburg include painter Hans Burgkmair the Elder, engineer Rudolf Diesel, aircraft designer and builder Willi Messerschmitt, and playwright Bertolt Brecht.

The city takes its name from the Roman emperor Augustus, who founded it in about 15 bc and called it Augusta Vindelicorum. Augsburg became a free city in 1276. As the seat of the Fugger and Welser families, powerful financiers of the 15th and 16th centuries, Augsburg became one of the leading money markets of Europe. The city's 2,500 weaving shops produced vast quantities of linen and fustian (a blend of cotton and linen) for export. It was also prominent in the arts, noted for fine gold- and silver-work and as the studio of the artist Hans Holbein the Elder and his son. In the early 15th century, Augsburg artisans created the first dolls commercially produced as children’s playthings. Two centuries later, the astronomer Johann Bayer published the first star atlas in Augsburg in 1603.

Many important diets (assemblies) of the Holy Roman Empire were held here. During the Protestant Reformation, the Augsburg Confession of 1530, a basic statement of faith of the Lutheran Church, was drawn up here, as was the Treaty of Passau (1552), which secured religious toleration for Germany. The city was badly damaged during the Thirty Years' War. In 1686, Holland, the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, Spain, and the electors of Bavaria, Saxony, and the Palatinate formed the League of Augsburg, an alliance against France. In 1806 the city became part of Bavaria. During World War II, Allied bombing directed at the Messerschmitt plant and the machine factory in Augsburg caused much damage to the city. Population 260,400 (2005 estimate).