Augsburg: the Cathedral, the Fuggerei, and a swim

Do we look spoiled and well fed?  Susi's mom baked us all sorts of cakes and kept feeding us delicious meals.  She also provided all sorts of art materials and a cool puzzle for the girls.  It was very nice to be so well taken care of.

Roman ruins in front of the Cathedral.  There were also some good monkey bars nearby!

Susi served as our Augsberg tour guide and super nanny.  We began our first day at Augsburg Cathedral

Lovely side chapel

Recently, someone walked inside of the cathedral and threw about ten stones at the ancient stained glass windows, causing much damage.  Susi and her mom were both very upset by this and so were we.

Intricately carved pews

Ancient Madonna

On 25 August 1615, the foundation stone of the building was laid by then Stadtbaumeister Elias Holl. The exterior of the building was completed in March 1620, and the interior in 1624. Technologically, the Augsburger Rathaus was a pioneering performance; upon its completion it was the first building in the world with more than six storeys.   The self-image of the Free Imperial City of Augsburg is represented by two conspicuous ornaments on the large gable at the front of the building: the first is the Reichsadler, or Imperial Eagle of the Holy Roman Empire, representing the town's importance; the second is the large copper pine cone, or Zirbelnuss, which is the symbol of Augsburg.

The view of the Rathaus was almost completely blocked by the stock exchange building built in 1828, until British bombing on the night of 25 February 1944 destroyed the latter. The removal of the remains of the stock exchange in the 1960s finally made it possible to view the Rathaus properly from the town square.

The Goldener Saal, or Golden Hall, is the most impressive of the Rathaus's rooms, and one of the most important cultural monuments of the late German Renaissance. The Hall covers an area of 552 square metres (5,940 sq ft) with a ceiling height of 14 metres (46 ft), and is richly adorned with large doorways, magnificent murals and a coffered ceiling. The interior of the Hall was designed by Johann Matthias Kager, and was not completed until 1643 (the rest of the building was completed in 1624).

The Hall was badly damaged by bombing during the war. When the Rathaus was restored after the war, the Goldener Saal was not repaired to its original state, but left with a wooden ceiling, small doors and white plastered walls. It was used until the 1980s as an exhibition space. In the early 1980s, the council decided to renovate the Goldener Saal for the upcoming 2000th anniversary of the city in 1985. The room was redecorated according to historical drawings and photographs, starting with the basic reconstruction of the coffered ceiling, together with the painted ceilings, the floor and the doors. On 9 January 1985, the Hall was re-opened close to its former glory. Supported by numerous donations and the active interest of Augsburg, the murals and extensive gold jewellery that had once decorated the Hall were reinstated over subsequent years, and the hall was reopened a second time in 1996.

 

Next, we visited the Fuggerei.

The Fuggerei is the world's oldest social housing complex still in use. It is a walled enclave within the city of Augsburg, Bavaria. It takes it name from the Fugger family and was founded in 1516 by Jakob Fugger the Younger (known as "Jakob Fugger the Rich") as a place where the needy citizens of Augsburg could be housed. By 1523, 52 houses had been built, and in the coming years the area expanded with various streets, small squares and a church. The gates were locked at night, so the Fuggerei was, in its own right, very similar to a small independent medieval town. It is still inhabited today, affording it the status of being the oldest social housing project in the world.

Furnished bedroom in a Fuggerei apartment.

 The Fugger family was immensely weathly.  They funded kings, were bankers for Popes, and built a social housing complex for the needy of Augsburg.  People still live here.  The pay for their heat and less than a Euro for rent each year, and say three prayers a day for the Fugger family.  Mozart's great-grandfather lived here.

 The streets of the Fuggerei are clean, everything is newly painted, and there is a nice fountain.  Each apartment has a lovely pull for the door bell.  Pierre noticed that the doors are not too tall!

Our tour guide showed us much more of Augburg and many other ancient and fascinating churches.  After our first day in Augsburg we headed to a nearby lake.  There were lots of Swans with many babies.  A great end to a great day!