Augsburg (Civ5)/Civilopedia

Located in southwest Bavaria, Augsburg was founded in 15 BC by Tiberius, soon becoming the military and economic capital of the Roman province of Raetia. Although sacked by Attila in the 5th Century AD, by Charlemagne in the 8th, and by Welf of Bavaria in the 11th, each time the city rose to greater prosperity due to its location astride many of the trade routes over the Alps. Augsburg, because of its strategic location, was decreed an Imperial Free City under the auspices of the Holy Roman Empire in March 1276. That put it at the center of the Catholic-Protestant wars of the 1600s. Augsburg's golden age spanned the 15th and 16th centuries under the great mercantile houses of the Fuggers and the Welsers; its wealth attracted artists seeking patrons, and it became a center for music, literature, painting and architecture. In 1806 when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by Napoleon, Augsburg lost its free-city status and became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. The next century saw the city quickly converted to textile, steel and military manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution as part of a unified and expansive Germany. Although devastated during World War II, Augsburg has rebounded to again become one of the great cities of Europe.