WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SPRING 2015

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Augsburg's Fuggerei TOURING THE WORLD'S OLDEST SOCIAL HOUSING COMPLEX STILL IN USE | STORY BY SHARON WHITLEY LARSEN | magine paying only one dollar per Iyear in rent! That's what some 150 residents are charged to live at the Fuggerei in Augsburg, Germany, the world's oldest charitable social housing complex. It was established in 1520 by visionary Jakob Fugger “The Rich” as low-income housing for needy Roman Catholics who were required to be upstanding citizens--and Augsburg residents for at least two years. Nearly 500 years ago they were charged one Rhenish gulden, today converted to .88 euro cents, or about $1! The rent has stayed the same over five centuries! And Fuggerei residents can live here (in this city of 260,000) indefinitely—with no rent increase! One of the city’s most popular tourist destinations, the charming, carmel-colored Fuggerei is a living museum, managed by the Fugger Family Council trust. Some 200,000 annual visitors (who—with the exception of school children--each pay 4 euros, more than four times the annual rent!) tour the bucolic grounds of this interesting, historic, walled complex. The Fuggerei, built between 1514 and 1523, originally had 52 cottages with 106 apartments—“a city within a city.” At one time it also had a school. Today the complex has been expanded to 67 two-story buildings with 140 apartments, each with private entrances, ranging from 500 to 700 square feet, with a modest sitting room, bedroom, kitchen,and bathroom. The downstairs 62 Wine Dine & Travel Winter <strong>2015</strong>
units have gardens, the upstairs have attics. The Fuggerei was expanded in 1880, then again in 1938. During World War II— on the night of February 25-26, 1944--it was heavily damaged; 200 residents escaped into the underground bunker (today a museum) that had been built the year before. The attractive garden complex was rebuilt in the original style, completed in 1955. In early years residents were poor families of day laborers and candlemakers or other artisans. Today many are elderly widows. Two furnished, vacant flats are open for viewing. One at 13 Mittlere Gasse shows how it looked circa 16th century—and a museum in one room displays historic photos, films, and artifacts. The other flat at Ochsengasse 51 is contemporary, with a television in the living room running a documentary film about the Fugger family (in German). “All the flats allow for the privacy of the families or individuals who live here,” pointed out my guide, Kristen Gast. “It is not a 'poor' house with less than adequate facilities. This is why I believe it can still function as it was conceived almost 500 years ago.” Portrait of Jakob Fugger by Albrecht Dürer, 1518 Bottom: Illustration of Augsburg in 1493. And the man who conceived this successful compound was Augsburg native Jakob Fugger (known as “Jakob Fugger the Rich”), born into a wealthy weaving-merchant Roman Catholic family on March 6, 1459, the 10th of eleven children. An astute, savvy businessman, Fugger (with two of his brothers and nephews) expanded the family fortunes by investing in silver and copper mining, banking, the lucrative international spice trade, real estate, weaving mills. The former theology student, a controversial wheeler-dealer (who was criticized by Martin Luther) became one of the wealthiest financiers in history, rubbing shoulders with powerful politicians, royalty, and even the pope. Fugger was financier to the Papal See, minted coins for the Vatican, helped bankroll the Swiss Guards, was the chief financial backer of the Hapsburg family, made loans to the Medicis from Florence, and had a special relationship with Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor. His “most dramatic act was the financing of the election of the Emperor Charles V,” notes the book “Jacob Fugger the Rich” by Jacob Strieder. He “was one of the links between the Italian Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation.” Clemens Sender, a Benedictine monk and chronicler, wrote about the energetic, entrepreneur Fugger: “The pope greeted him like a dear son. The Cardinals stood up in his presence—and even the non-Christians admired him greatly.” Music composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's great-grandfather, Franz, a master builder, resided at number 14 Mittlere Gasse, upstairs, for 13 years, until his death in 1694; a plaque commemorates this. Number 13 downstairs houses the Fuggerei Museum. One of the more infamous residents was Dorothea Braun, who lived at Ochsengasse 52, the upper level. The first victim of early 17th-century witch-hunting in Augsburg, she was accused of sorcery by her daughter, 11, and, at age 48, was beheaded and burned. Wine Dine & Travel Winter <strong>2015</strong> 63
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RON JAMES publisher/executive edito
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WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SPRING 2015

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