Augsburg.

Augsburg began as a Roman settlement, founded under Emperor Augustus and named Augusta Vindelicorum. This makes it one of Germany's oldest cities. Its medieval and Renaissance core grew on the banking fortunes of the Fugger family, whose wealth shaped much of the city's architecture. The Fuggerei, a walled housing quarter built by the Fuggers in 1516 for the city's poor, still shelters residents today under its original charitable terms. Augsburg's historic water towers and canal network, built to manage and distribute water across the city, remain part of its distinctive character. The old town centers on Rathausplatz, where the Renaissance town hall's Golden Hall and the nearby Perlachturm tower rise above narrow streets, fountains, and old guild houses. Augsburg Cathedral stands at the edge of the historic quarter. The Augsburger Puppenkiste, a puppet theatre founded after the Second World War, remains part of the city's cultural life. Swabian cooking — dumplings and spätzle — fills traditional taverns around the old town, giving the city's long history a lived-in, everyday feel.