EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Only 60km northwest of Munich, AUGSBURG certainly doesn't suffer from any inferiority complexes, despite being no more than a quarter of its size. Founded in 15 BC as Augusta Vindelicorum by two stepsons of Augustus, the city is one of the oldest in Germany. A Free Imperial City from 1276 and a frequent choice for meetings of the Diet, Augsburg had its heyday between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the Fugger and Welser dynasties made it Europe's most important centre of high finance. As a result it grew into one of the largest cities on the continent. It was the one major city in Germany to take the Renaissance style to its heart, and the highly individualistic buildings of Elias Holl , who served as municipal architect from 1602 until 1635, still dominate the townscape.

Local people have gone to vast expense to restore the numerous palaces and civic buildings to their original splendour. In fact civilian municipal life is the key to Augsburg's history. Trade and banking riches spawned a social conscience - in 1514 Augsburg built the world's first housing estate for the poor, the Fuggerei , an institution still in use today. Here too the revolutionary reforms of Martin Luther found their earliest support, as the city played a pivotal role in the Reformation and its aftermath. It became the model example of how different faiths could co-exist, making this visible by the curious practice of building new Protestant churches alongside existing Catholic ones.

Despite these associations, Augsburg is far from being a museum-piece. It has long been a leading centre for new technologies : here, for example, Rudolf Diesel invented the engine which has put his name into languages all round the world. There's also a lively cultural scene ranging from Mozart festivals to jazz and cabaret, and the local university means you'll find plenty of student bars and a thriving alternative culture.