Augsburg

Our intrepid German History professor Bernhard Lehmann led us on a nice walking tour of Augsburg on Saturday.  He met us at the train station (built in 1845 and essentially unchanged) with maps, handouts, and a lecture on the history of Augsburg.  

There is a monument in this little park that serves notice of all of the great things accomplished here in Augsburg over the centuries.  Things like the invention of the diesel engine, a stay by Martin Luther, the building of the Fuggeri (more on that later), and the peace between Protestants and Catholics forged here.

Augsburg is VERY old, as opposed to just plain "old" like most of Germany.  Pretty much Roman ruins are the order of the day when one digs in the city.  Outside of the cathedral, there is a wall with old Roman tombs and stone markers.  They are "guarded" by this Roman soldier.

A view of the "Dom" from outside.  The inside was dark, and our weather was quite overcast ... not such good lighting.
Downtown central Augsburg, with the bell tower on the left and the Rathaus (city hall) on the right.  We were treated to a special tour of the exhibition in the Rathaus on the Nazi rise to power in Augsburg by the city's historian. It was weird to see pictures of these buildings covered in Nazi swastikas from the 1930s.