View from the town hall of the roof tops of Augsburg.
City Hall:
With so much to learn and see I barley had time for the wonderful photos of rooftops, squares and churches. Our first stop was City Hall. You will think you are in Italy when you enter the Golden Hall and try to admire the endless paintings, gold covered ornate ceiling and wall murals. You could spend hours learning the history behind the building, how it was used when Maximilian von Hapsburg visited.
The main square on a Saturday was busy with shoppers and a gathering place for young people.
We took a quick stop across the square at a ‘secret’ place my guide suggested when I asked what her favorite places were. The cafe in the gift shop was quiet and a good place to take a break from siteseeing, The glass covered courtyard is used during the winter market each year. A good place for a solo traveler.
Augsburg is a great waling city. There are wide avenues lined with shops and serviced by the tram system. After a quick stop to see a street market we were off to see a one of a kind housing project.
Fuggerei: The wealthy Fugger family established and built the oldest social welfare settlement in the world (Regio Augsburg Tourismus) in 1521. There is one 3 room apartment you can visit. There are now modern updates in the other apartments but you can view this original apartment during visiting hours. www.fugger.de. The rent is only 1 eruo.
There are 78 houses and a total of 142 apartments as well as a church in the
village.
Interested in places solo travelers might enjoy beyond the many museums and wonderful churches I asked about any craftsmen (or women) in town. Regina immediately suggested we visit a bookbinder in a part of town near a canal.
A side street took us to a neighborhood where there had been factories years ago: machines run by water power.
The bookbinder was closed on Saturday but we had the great fortune to find Mr. Klaus Wengenmayr in his cafe next door. The cafe/bar is also a music venue and an art studio.
Klaus makes hand made paper with a water mark. He was kind enough to give me a short interview on his ‘paper’ history. Today he was drying paper that was infused with flower seeds, I believe they were daisy seeds. After the paper is used and discarded it will bio degrade and the seeds can germinate. He kindly gave me a sample and I shall try ‘planting’ my paper and look for the results.
Klaus and my tour guide Regina
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| Can you see the watermark? |
The paper pulp resembled oatmeal
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| A finished page of hand made paper. |
For more information: www.papiermanufaktur-wengenmayr.de
Augsburg has many places for a solo traveler to visit and enjoy. Regina suggested a solo friendly restaurant in the large ‘department’ store in town. A perfect solo friendly restaurant and also a fresh fish restaurant.
On Sunday, before I left for the train station I stopped in at the Dom. Most stores in Germany are closed on Sunday so the streets were quiet but I did notice several other international ‘travelers’.
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| Before I reached the church I found this humorous artwork |
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| One of the rare times I have captured sun rays in a photo. |
This is a beautiful, massive church. However services were going on and they asked for no ‘visitors’.
I was only able to take a quick look at the older part of the building.
I want to thank Augsburg Touruism who hosted my visit. The photos (except where noted) and the opinions are my own.
