Augsburg, an historic city of Bavaria, capital of the province of Swabia, is situated in the angle between the rivers Wertach and Lech, 37 miles WNW. of Munich. Though presenting an antique and rather deserted appearance, Augsburg has numerous fine buildings, and one noble street, the Maximilian Strasse, adorned with three bronze fountains (1593–1602). The principal edifices are the Renaissance town-house (1620), with its splendid 'Golden Hall;' the Perlach Tower, dating from the 11th century; the former episcopal palace, where, on 25th June 1530, the Protestant princes presented the Augsburg Confession to Charles V.; the grand old mansion of the Fuggers; the 'Three Moors,' one of the most interesting hostelries in Germany; and the Gothicised Romanesque cathedral (994–1421), with its bronze doors and early glass-paintings. The industry of Augsburg is once more vigorous.
Cotton is now the staple manufacture; and there are also large factories for woollens, paper, tobacco, and machinery. The gold and silver wares retain their ancient reputation; and printing, lithography, and bookselling have taken a new start, though the Allgemeine Zeitung (1798), the best known of the German newspapers, was in 1882 transferred to Munich. There are in Augsburg a dozen printing establishments, thrice that number of bookshops, and more than 70 breweries. Banking and stock-jobbing are extensively carried on; and Augsburg is still the emporium of the trade with Italy and Southern Germany, being the centre of a system of railways that connect it with Nuremberg, Leipzig, Switzerland, Munich, &c. Pop. (1871) 51,270; (1890) 75,629—66 per cent. Catholics.
The foundation of Augsburg was the 'colony' planted by the Emperor Augustus, 12 B.C., after the conquest of the Vindelicii, probably on the site of a former city of that people. It was called Augusta Vindelicorum, and hence the present name. It became the capital of the province of Rætia, was laid waste by the Huns in the 5th century, and came next under the dominion of the Frankish kings. In the war of Charlemagne with Thassilo of Bavaria, it was again destroyed (788). After the division of Charlemagne's empire, it came under the Duke of Swabia; but having become already rich by commerce, was able to purchase gradually many privileges, and finally became in 1276 a free city of the empire. It now rose to greater consequence than ever, and had reached the summit of its prosperity by the latter half of the 14th century. In 1368 its aristocratic government was set aside for a democratic, which lasted till 1548, when the aristocracy, favoured by Charles V., regained the ascendancy. Augsburg continued in great eminence for its commerce, manufactures, and art, till the war between Charles V. and the Protestant league of Schmalkald (1540). Along with Nuremberg it formed the emporium of the trade between Northern Europe and the south, and its merchants were princes whose ships were in all seas (see FUGGER). It was also the centre of German art as represented by the Holbeins, Burgkmair, Altdorfer, and others. Many diets of the empire were held in Augsburg, and the leading events of the Reformation are associated with its name, as the Diet of Augsburg (1530), the Interim of Augsburg (1548), and the 'Religious Peace' of Augsburg (1555) by which the Protestants secured the full enjoyment of their rights and privileges (see REFORMATION). The discovery of the road to India by the Cape, and of America, turned the commerce of the world into new channels, and dried up the sources of Augsburg's prosperity. It ceased to be a free city on the abolition of the German empire in 1806, and was taken possession of by Bavaria.