ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Timeline of Augsburg

So, a long long time ago, there was a town called Augsburg in Germany. It was founded by some really old Romans, and they built some cool buildings and roads there. But then, lots of other groups of people came and went throughout history, like the Celts, the Germans, and the Swabians.

Now, in the 16th century, there was a big problem in Europe called the Reformation. It was when some people wanted to change the way the Christian Church was run, and others wanted to keep it the same as it had been for a long time. The town of Augsburg was right in the middle of this problem, because there were both Protestants and Catholics living there.

So, in 1555, the rulers of Germany decided to have a big meeting in Augsburg to try and figure out a solution. They made an agreement called the Peace of Augsburg, which said that people could choose to be either Protestant or Catholic. This helped to calm things down for a while.

But then, in the 1800s, Augsburg became a big center for industry and trade. Lots of factories were built, making machines and textiles and other things that people needed. There was also a big train station built, which made it easy for goods to be transported all over Germany.

Then in the 20th century, some really bad things happened in Germany. There was a man named Adolf Hitler who came to power and started a war that killed millions of people. Augsburg was heavily bombed during that war, but it was rebuilt afterwards.

Today, Augsburg is a modern city with lots of shops, museums, and parks. It still has some really old buildings that you can visit, like the Augsburg Cathedral and the Fuggerei housing complex. And if you look closely, you can see the traces of all the different groups of people who have called this town home throughout history.