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AUGSBURG

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 902 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AUGSBURG , a See also:

city and episcopal see of See also:Germany, in the See also:kingdom of See also:Bavaria, See also:chief See also:town of the See also:district of See also:Swabia. Pop. (1885) 65,905; (1900) 89,109; (1905) 93,882. It lies on a high See also:plateau, 1500 ft. above the See also:sea, between the See also:rivers Wertach and See also:Lech, which unite below the city, 39 M. W.N.W. from See also:Munich, with which, as with See also:Regensburg, See also:Ingolstadt and See also:Ulm, it is connected by See also:main lines of railway. It consists of an upper and a See also:lower town, the old See also:Jakob suburb and various See also:modern suburbs. Its fortifications were dismantled in 1703 and have since been converted into public promenades. See also:Maximilian See also:Street is remarkable for its breadth and architectural beauty. One of its most interesting edifices is the See also:Fugger Hans, of which the entire front is painted in See also:fresco. Among the public buildings of Augsburg most worthy of See also:notice is the town-See also:hall in See also:Renaissance See also:style, one of the finest in Germany, built by See also:Elias See also:Holl in 1616-1620. One of its rooms, called the " See also:Golden Hall," from the profusion of its See also:gilding, is 113 ft. See also:long, 59 broad and 53 high. The See also:palace of the bishops, where the memorable See also:Confession of Faith was presented to See also:Charles V., is now used for See also:government offices.

Among the seventeen See also:

Roman See also:Catholic churches and chapels, the See also:cathedral, a See also:basilica with two Romanesque towers, See also:dates in its See also:oldest portions from the loth See also:century. The See also:church of St See also:Ulrich and St Afra, built 1474-1500, is a See also:Late See also:Gothic edifice, with a See also:nave of magnificent proportions and a See also:tower 300 ft. high. The church stands on the spot where the first Christians of the district suffered martyrdom, and where a See also:chapel was erected in the 6th century over the See also:grave of St Afra. There are also a See also:Protestant church, St See also:Anne's, a school of arts, a See also:polytechnic institution, a picture See also:gallery in the former monastery of St See also:Catherine, a museum, See also:observatory, botanical gardens, an See also:exchange, gymnasium, See also:deaf-See also:mute institution, See also:orphan See also:asylum, several remarkable fountains dating from the 16th century, &c. Augsburg is particularly well provided with See also:special and technical See also:schools. The newer buildings, all in the modern See also:west See also:quarter of the city, include See also:law courts, a See also:theatre, and a municipal library with 200,000 volumes. The " Fuggerei," built in 1519 by the See also:brothers Fugger, is a See also:miniature town, with six streets or alleys, three See also:gates and a church, and consists of a See also:hundred and six small houses let to indigent Roman Catholic citizens at a nominal See also:rent. The manufactures of Augsburg are of See also:great importance. It is the chief seat of the textile See also:industry in See also:south Germany, and its See also:cloth, See also:cotton goods and See also:linen manufactories employ about 10,000 hands. It is also noted for its bleach and dye See also:works, its See also:engine works, foundries, See also:paper factories, and See also:production of See also:silk goods, watches, See also:jewelry, mathematical See also:instruments, See also:leather, chemicals, &c. Augsburg is also the centre of the See also:acetylene See also:gas industry of Germany. See also:Copper-See also:engraving, for which it was formerly noted, is no longer carried on; but See also:printing, See also:lithography and See also:publishing have acquired a considerable development, one of the best-known See also:Continental See also:newspapers being the Allgemeine Zeitung or Augsburg See also:Gazette.

On the opposite See also:

side of the See also:river, which is here crossed by a See also:bridge, lies the township of Lechhausen. Augsburg (the See also:Augusta Vindelicorum of the See also:Romans) derives its name from the Roman See also:emperor See also:Augustus, who, on the See also:conquest of Rhaetia by See also:Drusus, established here a Roman See also:colony-AUGSBURG about 14 B.C. In the 5th century it was sacked by the See also:Huns, and afterwards came under the See also:power of the Frankish See also:kings. It was almost entirely destroyed in the See also:war of See also:Charlemagne against Tassilo III., See also:duke of Bavaria; and after the See also:dissolution and See also:division of that See also:empire, it See also:fell into the hands of the See also:dukes of Swabia. After this it See also:rose rapidly into importance as a manufacturing and commercial town, becoming, after See also:Nuremberg, the centre of the See also:trade between See also:Italy and the See also:north of See also:Europe; its See also:merchant princes, the Fuggers and Welsers, rivalled the See also:Medici of See also:Florence; but the alterations produced in the currents of trade by the discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries occasioned a great decline. In 1276 it was raised to the See also:rank of a See also:free imperial city, which it retained, with many changes in its See also:internal constitution, till 18o6, when it was annexed to the kingdom of Bavaria. Meanwhile, it was the See also:scene of numerous events of See also:historical importance. It was besieged and taken by Gustavus See also:Adolphus in 1632, and in 1635 it surrendered to the imperial forces; in 1703 it was bombarded by the electoral See also:prince of Bavaria, and forced to pay a contribution of 400,000 dollars; and in the war of 1803 it suffered severely. Of its conventions the most memorable are those which gave See also:birth to the Augsburg confession (1530) and to the Augsburg See also:alliance (1686). See Wagenseil, Geschichte der Stadt Augsburg (Augs., 182o-1822) ; See also:Werner, Geschichte der Stadt Augsburg (1899); See also:Roth, Augsburg's Ref ormationsgeschichte (1902).

End of Article: AUGSBURG

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