WELCOME TO AUGSBURG (GERMANY) AND THE REGION

Augsburg, the third-largest city in Bavaria with around 300,000 inhabitants, is one of Germany’s most historically significant urban centres. Founded by the Romans in 15 BC, it is considered the oldest city in Bavaria and the second oldest in Germany. Today, Augsburg presents itself as a vibrant Renaissance city that seamlessly blends rich history with a lively cultural atmosphere.

The city has been home to many influential figures, including Jacob Fugger the Rich, Leopold Mozart (father of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart), the playwright Bertolt Brecht, and engineer Rudolf Diesel. Their legacy continues to shape Augsburg’s cultural identity.

Augsburg’s aviation heritage reaches far back into the 19th century, when the early foundations of flight were already being laid. One milestone was the establishment of the Ballonfabrik Augsburg in 1897. In 1931, Auguste Piccard launched from Augsburg on the first successful flight into the stratosphere. Just a few years earlier, in 1927, the groundwork was laid for what would later become Messerschmitt AG, where the first jet aircraft was developed in 1939.

Today, Augsburg remains one of Germany’s key aerospace hubs, where advanced components for aircraft and spacecraft are designed and manufactured. The region is a centre of innovation in hydrogen technologies, lightweight construction, resource-efficient engineering, automation, and the use of artificial intelligence in production processes. Around 25,000 people are currently employed in the aerospace sector in the region, contributing to numerous high-profile projects that continue to shape the industry.

The ecosystem of stakeholders is broad and highly interconnected. On the industrial side, it includes companies such as MT Aerospace, Premium AEROTEC, Airbus Helicopters, KUKA, Liebherr, SGL, and many others. Equally important is the strong research landscape, featuring institutions such as the Applied Materials and Environmental Research Center (AMU), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology (IGCV), the Institute for Materials Resource Management (MRM) at the University of Augsburg, and the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences.