Experiencing Germany

Augsburg is the third-largest city in Bavaria and has been home to the most famous German puppet theatre for sixty years. Klaus Marschall, Director of the Augsburg Puppenkiste, tell us why he likes the city so much – and why the people of Augsburg refuse to let others pull their strings.

Mr Marschall, do you and your puppets like living in Augsburg?

Yes!

What is it about this city that you like so much?

Although it’s a city, it’s not too big. Augsburg is a pleasant, manageable size.

What is a must-see for visitors to Augsburg?

Our Puppet Theatre Museum and the Augsburg Puppenkiste of course! (laughs). The Golden Hall in the town hall and the Fuggerei are also fantastic – unique places definitely worth visiting. And of course there’s also Augsburg’s old town with the Handwerkerweg (craftsmen’s lane) and the many old town houses.

Can you briefly explain what the Fuggerei is?

It is the oldest social settlement in existence in the world. It’s like a small town within a town – with a church, a wall surrounding it, three entrance gates and eight narrow streets.

Apart from the Puppenkiste, what other place reminds you personally that you are in Augsburg?

The town hall square.

Is there anything that Augsburg doesn’t have? Is the city lacking anything?

No. (thinks)

Really, nothing at all?

No! Of course, there are always things one can criticise, but these are mostly every-day things. No, I feel at home here.

Is it mostly people from Augsburg that visit your theater?

Last year 150,000 people visited the theatre and the museum. With about 440 performances per year, the Puppenkiste theatre has a capacity utilisation of 98.7 percent. 35 percent of these visitors come from the Augsburg city area, 17 percent from the surrounding region, and another 30 percent from the rest of Bavaria. The rest came from the other German states and one percent of the visitors came from abroad.

Which of your puppet figures would you say had earned the title of honorary citizen of Augsburg – Punch, Jim Knopf, Kalle Wirsch, Kater Mikesch, Urmel …?

Punch. He opened the Puppenkiste 60 years ago and has been on the road for many years promoting his home town, Augsburg. This year he has already been to Atlanta in the USA. We should also note that Punch has been keeping the traditional Augsburg dialect alive everywhere he goes.

With the Peace of Augsburg, in 1555 for the first time the coexistence of two different faiths in the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation was recognised. Do you perceive Augsburg as a tolerant city?

I don’t think Augsburg is so very different to other cities in that regard. But it is true that Augsburg is a very tolerant city. We also have very worthwhile and interesting projects here, for example with the Jewish Cultural Museum, as well as good projects on alternative culture. Especially in the area of integration there’s a lot going on here.

Rudolf Diesel developed the diesel engine from 1893 in the machine works in Augsburg. Does Augsburg still have the right climate for such pioneering achievements today?

Hm. Yes, I think so. The people of Augsburg are very active – especially when the politicians aren’t doing what the citizens want. In the last few years we’ve more or less become the city of the referendum. Not all of them were carried out in the end, but in some cases it wasn’t even necessary because the politicians had already yielded to the will of the people.

But the citizens of Augsburg have their own minds and that allows their inventive talent to thrive.

What were the referenda about?

Oh, anything and everything. The citizens prevented the conversion of some buildings. The last referendum threatened concerned the planned sale of the Augsburg drinking water protected area. It was supposed to be sold to one of the city’s own limited companies in order to bring money into the public coffers. But the people of Augsburg resisted. They wanted the protected area to stay in the hands of the municipality. And they succeeded.

In the Middle Ages the Fuggers, the legendary merchants family, were influential In Augsburg. Do the people of Augsburg have a special relationship to money?

I think the native Augsburg people are pretty thrifty – that’s when the Swabian in them comes through.

Can you recommend a local culinary speciality?

Of course: Augsburg‘s famous ‘Zwetschgendatschi’ - plum pie. It’s absolutely unique in the Augsburg region. Plums pressed into pastry.

Augsburg’s most famous son is Bertolt Brecht. He can’t have thought much of his home town: he is reputed to have said once that the best thing about Augsburg is the train to Munich. What is the best thing about your home town for you?

The Puppenkiste of course! In defence of the poet I would say that the theatre didn’t exist when Bertolt Brecht lived in Augsburg.