Leopold Mozart, the father and first music teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus and the man who discovered his son's musical genius, was born in Augsburg in 1719 inside what is now the Mozart House. Numerous buildings, monuments and memorial plaques in Augsburg recall the Mozarts, a family of architects, sculptors and bookbinders. The Mozart House, which was given a new look in 2006, has an exhibition of paintings, engravings and drawings relating to the Mozart family, as well as original period instruments such as an Andreas Stein fortepiano played by Leopold and Wolfgang Amadeus.

The Fuggerei, the world's first welfare housing project, was founded by the wealthy merchant Jakob Fugger in 1516. Hardworking, honest but poor citizens were taken in and given fully furnished homes that even included cutlery. Featuring eight lanes and three gates, the settlement is known as a 'town within a town' and comprises 67 two-storey houses and 147 apartments, its own church, fountains, town walls and gates, which are still closed every evening at 10pm by the nightwatchman. The annual basic rent for an apartment is, to this day, one Rhenish guilder – a nominal amount equivalent to just 88 euro cents.

The city has two outstanding modern art forums: the State Gallery of Modern Art in the Glaspalast, a light-filled building offering 1,500m² of exhibition space, and the H2 centre for contemporary art. Both bear the hallmark of modern industrial architecture and are located within close proximity of each other, enabling visitors to embark on an in-depth journey of discovery through the world of modern painting.

Captivating audiences for generations, the Augsburger Puppenkiste puppet theatre with its 6,000 marionettes and more than 60 years of history is without doubt one of the most famous puppet theatres in existence today. The theatre has been delighting viewers of all ages since 1953 with its TV shows starring characters such as Luke the Engine Driver and his friend Jim Button from Lummerland, Robber Hotzenplotz, Urmel the Dinosaur, Mikesch the Talking Tomcat, Aladdin and his magic lamp and Mother Hulda, not to mention Punch and Judy. What many people don't know is that the theatre also hosts puppet performances for grown-ups in the evening, which have older audiences rolling in the aisles with their biting satire.

The museum is housed in the Augsburg Synagogue, which was built between 1914 and 1917 and unites elements of art nouveau, Byzantian and modernist styles. The building was badly damaged during the 'Night of Broken Glass' in 1938 but was restored in 1985.

Opening times:

Tuesday-Thursday 9am-6pm, Friday 9am-4pm, Sunday & public holidays 10am-5pm

With its rich, gold-adorned ceremonial room in the Augsburg Town Hall, the Golden Hall is regarded as one of the most important cultural icons of Germany’s Late Renaissance. The ceiling of the 14-metre-high hall is clad with gold foil. It was completely destroyed in 1944 and reinstated in 1996 after 17 years of restoration. Since then, the Golden Hall is used as reception hall and meeting room for the city.

With its 62-metre-high towers and widely visible silhouette, the mighty Cathedral of Augsburg belongs to Augsburg’s most-visited attractions. This place of worship, consecrated in 807, has represented the spiritual centre of the city for over a millennium. In time, it was expanded and rebuilt several times. Numerous treasures are stored within the church. Of special importance are the romantic windows of the Prophets from the oldest glass painting series in the world, the illustrations by Hans Holbein the Elder, the impressive bronze portal from the 11th century and the delicate southern portal, to name a few.