Hi all! Sorry for the long delay in posts! I actually did write two last week, then my laptop froze on me and when I rebooted it, they weren’t saved!! Clearly, it was such a traumatic experience that I couldn’t face it for a week. So, I apologize if this isn’t as fantastic as the one I wrote previously.
I wasn’t actually planning to go to Augsburg, but two events coincided, leading me there.
The first of which is that I was reading this one website about different Christmas markets in Germany (and Europe in general, but we all know that Germany has the best ones around!). I read there (I wish I remember which site, but I have looked through so many posts on Christmas markets in the last month or two so I have no idea, but it was a good list) about how the one in Augsburg is lovely and it has this performance of musical angels every night on weekends. I became intrigued, looked Augsburg up on a map, and saw that it is located very close to Munich.
The second of which was when I went to book my hostel to stay in Munich for the weekend, only to find out that every. single. hostel. was booked on Saturday.
I got to thinking, and then I looked up hostels in Augsburg and saw that they had one available on Saturday night. It was a little inconvenient, considering that would mean me staying in three different hostels over three nights, but I managed. Especially considering I was wearing all the clothes I had with me, so my backpack was pretty light.
Actually, I’m sure that it was quite comical. I felt (and probably looked) like a marshmallow. I wore: tights, 2 leggings, jeans, 3 shirts, 3 cardigans, my Northface sweatshirt, my winter jacket, and 2 pairs of thick and 1 pair of thin socks (I tried a third thick pair, but my foot wouldn’t fit into my boots!).
And I was still frozen after a couple of hours out in the cold.
One last tangent before getting on with Augsburg! Augsburg is only 45 minutes away from Munich by train. If you are with a group and split the Bayern Ticket, you might just manage yourself a cheap(er) place to stay during Oktoberfest! I don’t know if the prices rise in Augsburg as much as they do in Munich during Oktoberfest, but it would be at least worth looking into around that time.
I actually ended up liking Augsburg more than I thought that I would. It’s a cute OLD town. As in the oldest in Bavaria and one of the oldest in Germany as a whole. I read 15BC somewhere, but don’t quote me on that. Granted, much of the old town was destroyed during bombings in WWII, but most of it has been restored to its former glory.
The cathedral (Dom Unserer Lieben Frau) is an obvious point of interest. It sits at one end of the main street and is both Roman Catholic and Protestant. So, the main cathedral (the back tower) is Catholic and then this “side-but-connected-church” (with the tower up front) is Protestant. Both of which are fantastic to peak inside, but the main cathedral is obviously more impressive, especially because it is home to some of the oldest stained glass windows in the world.
Another major site is the Town Hall (Rathaus). It’s built in a Renaissance style, and is one of the most important Renaissance buildings in Europe. Inside (which I didn’t get to go into because it closed early to set up for the musical angel performance but still got to see lit up from the outside), there is this room called the Goldener Saal which – even if you don’t speak German, you can probably guess – means “Golden Hall.” It looked spectacular from the outside, so I can only imagine that it would be more so from the inside.
I also had the chance to visit the projects. Called the Fuggerei, it is the oldest social settlement still in use. Built in the 1500’s, it became a city within a city with their own walls and church. You pay a small entrance fee which covers the renovations necessary to maintain the housing complex, because the poor, Catholic residents pay 88 cents/year (plus the cost of heating) and pray 3 times/day for the Fuggers. Is it worth the entrance fee? Honestly, probably not (although you can think of it as helping the poor of Augsburg, which is better), but they do have a museum and an apartment maintained in its original form.
To top off my day in Augsburg, I visited the Christmas Market (Christkindlesmarkt) in the evening. The setting was perfect in the huge plaza in front of the Rathaus with stalls selling foods and goods lined up around you and a huge Christmas tree and Christmas pyramid lit.
Then, at 6pm, the Rathaus waits for the clock’s chiming to stop before it has angels “step out” from the windows into their spotlights. Some of them are just for looks, but the center ones each have instruments that they begin to “play” Christmas tunes.
Was it cheesy?
A little bit, but I didn’t care.
They play for 10 minutes and then recede to their previous dwellings in the dark Golden Hall. Then everyone claps and goes back to their glühwein and shopping for Christmas decor.
It wasn’t my favorite Christmas market…I just didn’t love their shops compared to others that I have been to, but I would say that it’s certainly worth a visit. Plus they had some great food!!
Into Uncertainty 