Augsburg

Augsburg, city in south central Germany, in Bavaria, at the confluence of the Lech and Wertach rivers. Manufactures include textiles, motor vehicles, machinery, and chemicals. The University of Augsburg (1970) is in the city. Augsburg's points of interest include the Church of Saint Ulrich and Saint Afra; the town hall (17th century), with the magnificent Golden Hall; Saint Mary's Cathedral, with altarpieces by the artist 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 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 2500 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 products and as a principal workplace of Hans Holbein the Elder and his son, Hans Holbein the Younger.

Many important diets (assemblies) of the Holy Roman Empire were held in Augsburg. During the Protestant Reformation, the Augsburg Confession, a basic statement of faith of the Lutheran church, was drawn up here in 1530, and the Peace of Augsburg, securing religious liberty for Germany, was signed at Augsburg in 1555. The city was badly damaged during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). In 1686, Holland, the Holy Roman emperor, the kings of Sweden and Spain, and the electors of Bavaria, Saxony (Sachsen), and the Palatinate formed the League of Augsburg, an alliance against France. In 1806 the city became part of Bavaria. During World War II (1939-1945), Allied bombing, directed at the Messerschmitt plant and the machine factory in Augsburg, caused much damage to the city. Population (2005 estimate) 260,400.