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Maximilianstraße in Augsburg on a sunny day, with tram tracks, cafe terraces and the tall Perlach Tower at the end of the street

Studying in Bavaria, Germany

Augsburg

A 2,000-year-old Roman city of canals and Renaissance streets, with two universities and Munich close by.

8

8 English-taught programmes open for applications in Augsburg

Next deadline: 01 Dec 2026. Every entry links to its official source.

See the programmes ↓

Augsburg was founded by the Romans in 15 BC, and you can still read it in the streets. The old town runs on canals that carried drinking water and power for centuries; since 2019 that water system is UNESCO World Heritage. The Fuggerei, the world's oldest social housing settlement, is still lived in. Brecht and Leopold Mozart were born here. For a student the appeal is different and practical: a city of about 302,000 people where almost half of the residents have a migration background, a green university campus on its southern edge, a technical university of applied sciences close to the old town, a semester ticket that covers the city's trams and buses, and a big city (Munich) only 60 km away when you want one. The university itself describes rents as moderate compared with Munich, and forest, river and swimming lakes are inside the city boundary.

Population
301,786 (31 December 2025)
State
Bavaria, in the administrative region of Swabia; the third-largest city in Bavaria
People from abroad
Almost 50% of residents have a migration background; people from 162 countries live in the city
Munich
60 km away, according to the University of Augsburg; Munich and Memmingen airports are about an hour's drive
Students
19,057 at the University of Augsburg; THA admits more than 2,600 new students a semester
Semester contribution at the University of Augsburg
181.95 euros, including the Studierendenwerk fee and the semester ticket
Climate
Annual mean temperature about 8.4 degrees Celsius, where Atlantic and continental weather meet
Rivers
Lech (19.9 km inside the city), Wertach and Singold

Part 1

Living in Augsburg

A Roman city that lives on water

The Romans set up a military camp here in 15 BC, at the meeting of the Lech and Wertach, and the later provincial capital was called Augusta Vindelicorum. The name Augsburg still carries the emperor Augustus in it. For most of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance it was a rich trading city and the home of the Fugger banking family, and in 1548 it hosted an imperial Diet (Reichstag).

Augsburg's most unusual feature is its water. Over about eight centuries the city built canals, towers and pumping systems that separated drinking water from water for craftsmen and power. The city's water management system, with 22 objects, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 6 July 2019. The Lech and Wertach canals run right through the old town, and the city drains parts of them each autumn for maintenance.

Religion shaped the town as well. The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 gave Catholics and Lutherans equal standing, and until 1805 Catholics and Protestants shared the city's offices by an exact formula. Each year on 8 August, the Hohes Friedensfest (Peace Festival) remembers this, and it is a public holiday that exists only in Augsburg.

The Renaissance front of the Augsburg town hall seen from below against a deep blue sky, with a green copper dome and the golden eagle of the city
The Renaissance town hall on Rathausplatz.

What to see and do

Most of it is in the old town and walkable from the main station.

  • Fuggerei ↗

    Jakob Fugger founded the Fuggerei in 1521 as the oldest social housing settlement in the world, and about 150 people still live in it. You can visit by paying an entrance fee: 8 euros for adults and 7 euros for students, including the museum, an air-raid bunker and a show apartment. It is open daily, 9:00 to 20:00 from April to September and 9:00 to 18:00 from October to March.

  • UNESCO water management system ↗

    The city's website for the World Heritage site lists 22 objects, including the water towers at the Rotes Tor, and a World Heritage information centre. Walking the canals and bridges of the old town is free.

  • Town hall, Perlach Tower and the Maximilianstraße ↗

    The tourism office presents Augsburg as the city of the Renaissance, with the town hall and Perlach Tower at its centre. The Maximilianstraße, the main street, runs past the Basilica of St Ulrich and Afra towards the town hall.

  • Brecht House and Leopold Mozart House ↗

    The birthplaces of the playwright Bertolt Brecht and of Leopold Mozart, father of Wolfgang Amadeus, are now museums. The Augsburger Puppenkiste, the famous marionette theatre, is in the former Holy Spirit hospital.

  • Eiskanal, the Olympic whitewater course ↗

    Canoe slalom for the 1972 Olympics took place on this artificial river, and canoeists still train there. The University of Augsburg names it as one of the attractions for its elite athletes.

Old town and water

A quiet lane in the Fuggerei, lined with ochre houses with green shutters and ivy on the walls
The Fuggerei, the walled social housing settlement founded in 1521.
The Rotes Tor gate in the old town wall with its red and white tower, seen over the open-air stage in the moat on an autumn day
The Rotes Tor, with the open-air stage in the old moat in front of it.
The brick arches of the aqueduct at the Rotes Tor beside a gravel path and trees
The brick aqueduct at the Rotes Tor, one of the objects of the water management system.

Weekends, nature and festivals

About one fifth of the city area is forest. The Stadtwald covers roughly 21.5 square kilometres and is the largest floodplain forest in Bavaria. The Siebentischwald on the southern edge has running paths and the Botanical Garden at its northern end, and the Lech floodplain has the Kuhsee lake. The Westliche Wälder nature park, which reaches into the south-west of the city, has more than 2,500 km of marked cycling and hiking routes.

The University of Augsburg counts four swimming lakes, five outdoor pools and four indoor pools run by the city, about 170 sports clubs and more than 80 kinds of sport. Events through the year include the Augsburger Plärrer, a funfair held twice a year that draws about 1.2 million visitors, the Modular youth festival, the Christkindlesmarkt in December and an open-air film summer, the Lechflimmern, at the Plärrer outdoor pool.

Bike use is high: according to the city's own survey, cycling made up 22 percent of all trips in 2024, up from 17 percent in 2018.

Pines and bare birches in the Siebentischwald beside a rail track curving across dry winter grass
The Siebentischwald, the city forest on the southern edge of Augsburg.
An aerial view of the Augsburg Botanical Garden with its lawns, paths and glasshouses surrounded by dense woodland
The Botanical Garden at the northern end of the Siebentischwald, seen from above.
The point where the Eiskanal leaves the river Lech, with a long still basin, a walkway and bare trees in early spring
Where the Eiskanal, the 1972 Olympic whitewater course, branches off the Lech.

Getting around

Your student card, the CAMPUS CARD AUGSBURG, doubles as a semester ticket for the trams and buses of the Augsburger Verkehrsgesellschaft and its Gersthofen sister company in tariff zones 10 and 20, including the night buses. It stops at the city limit of Königsbrunn. You can upgrade it to a Deutschlandticket with a Bavarian reduced-fare ticket bought through the swa Mobil app, which the university prices at 24.89 euros a month, cancellable monthly.

The Hauptbahnhof, opened in 1846, is the oldest railway station building still in use in a large German city. The University of Augsburg lists Munich as 60 km, Ulm 80 km, Nuremberg 140 km and Stuttgart 160 km away.

What it costs

Semester contribution, University of Augsburg
181.95 euros per semester, including the Studierendenwerk fee and the semester ticketsource
Semester ticket (part of that fee)
96.95 euros per semester for students of both Augsburg universitiessource
Studierendenwerk dorm room, all costs included
281 to 444 euros per month, according to the University of Augsburgsource
Average student spending in Germany (2021 survey)
842 euros per month, quoted by the University of Augsburgsource
Fuggerei entrance, student rate
7 eurossource

Official figures; read the date on each page, because fees change each year.

Jobs and employers

Augsburg is one of Germany's industrial cities, and the city's own history is part of it: Rudolf Diesel developed the diesel engine at the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (today's MAN, now operating under the name Everllence for large engines) between 1893 and 1897. Other large employers named on the city's German Wikipedia page include the robot maker Kuka, Premium Aerotec (an Airbus subsidiary), the gearbox maker Renk, MT Aerospace, UPM paper and a Siemens technology park. The University Hospital Augsburg joined the university in 2019.

That means engineering, mechanical, aerospace and software students find internships close to campus, and the Technical University of Applied Sciences runs its own career fair, the Pyramid, by students for students. The city says that skilled workers are in short supply and that it is working to recruit qualified people from outside the EU.

Where to get help in Augsburg

Part 2

Student life in Augsburg

Where you can study

Research university

University of Augsburg ↗

Founded in 1970 and the only university in Bavarian Swabia, with 19,057 students, 307 professors and 93 degree programmes in eight faculties: Catholic Theology, Business and Economics, Law, Philosophy and Social Sciences, Philology and History, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Engineering, Applied Computer Science, and Medicine (added in 2016; the university hospital followed in 2019). The main campus, with its own lake, is in the Universitätsviertel on the southern edge of the city. Most programmes need very good German; the International Office says only a few are purely in English, so check each programme page before you apply. It also hosts the Leopold Mozart College of Music for music degrees.

International office ↗
University of applied sciences

Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg (THA) ↗

A practice-oriented university with faculties of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Design, Computer Science, Mechanical and Process Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences, plus a School of Business. It has more than 25 bachelor programmes, and its website marks the International Master of Research and Innovation (business psychology and business informatics) and the Business Psychology bachelor as offered in German and English. The campuses at the Rotes Tor and the Brunnenlech are in central Augsburg, address An der Hochschule 1. THA's international pages are called Internationals and International Campus Life.

International office ↗
Private university

FOM Hochschule für Oekonomie und Management, Hochschulzentrum Augsburg ↗

A private university for working students. Its Augsburg page says no new degree programmes start at the Augsburg campus any more; students already enrolled finish there, and new applicants are pointed to Munich, Stuttgart, Nuremberg or the digital live studies.

Student unions, services and groups

  • AStA and Studentischer Konvent, University of Augsburg ↗

    The university's student representation has the Studentischer Konvent as its decision-making body and the AStA as the executive committee, plus a student council (StuRa) for each faculty. The AStA office is next to the Staatsarchiv and opposite the Unikum, with weekday opening hours, and it publishes a semester brochure.

  • Student Government, THA ↗

    The THA student council sits on the university's main committees, runs events and projects and can be reached in room C1.23, by e-mail at sv@tha.de or on +49 821 5586-3203.

  • Studierendenwerk Augsburg ↗

    The student services organisation runs the dorms, canteens, cafeterias, counselling (social and study finance, psychological, legal), a job board and a housing agency for both universities. Its pages are in German only.

  • Hochschulsport Augsburg ↗

    University sport for students of the University of Augsburg and the Technical University: more than thirty courses from badminton and yoga to quidditch, plus a fitness room. Registration for the winter semester 2026/27 opened on 15 October 2026 and courses are in demand, so register early.

  • ESN Augsburg (Erasmus Student Network) ↗

    ESN runs social and cultural events for international students; the University of Augsburg links to it from its intercultural offers, and its registered student initiatives include the Erasmus Student Network Auxchange Augsburg e.V.

  • SWOP, the THA welcome team ↗

    The Students Welcome and Orientation Project, run by THA students with the International Office. Each exchange student gets a buddy, and the team organises international dinners, city tours, hikes and day trips such as to Munich, Salzburg, Regensburg and Neuschwanstein.

  • Buddy Programme, University of Augsburg ↗

    The International Office pairs incoming degree students with a local student for their first semester. Registration for the winter semester 2026/27 went through the Mobility Online portal from 1 July 2026.

  • Katholische Hochschulgemeinde (KHG), im leben ↗

    The Catholic student community is for students and staff of all Augsburg universities, whatever their faith. It lists hikes, Sunday evening services, music and counselling, and the university's Cultural Nights, where students present their home countries with food and dance, are usually held there.

  • Evangelische Studierendengemeinde (ESG) Augsburg ↗

    The Protestant student community, which THA links from its campus-life page and which also runs a shared flat for students.

  • Starkstrom e.V. ↗

    The THA Formula Student Electric team, which builds an electric race car; one of the student initiatives THA lists on its campus-life page.

  • Auxspace e.V. ↗

    A THA student initiative for rockets and space projects, presented on THA's campus-life page as "Space Made in Augsburg".

  • Amnesty International student group ↗

    A registered student group at the University of Augsburg for human rights work.

Campus life and how study works

The University of Augsburg has a green campus city on the former airfield in the south, with its own lake and its own tram stop; THA is closer to the old town. Campus life includes the collegium musicum, the Uni:versum Musik programme ClangCampus, the AnglistenTheater, Augsburg OnStage and a chess club.

Most degrees are taught in German. At the University of Augsburg, international applicants need a very good command of German for most programmes, and a few degree programmes are purely in English. If you need a preparatory year you can apply through the Studienkolleg, for which the university asks for proof of a German B2 course by 15 July for the winter semester or 15 January for the summer semester. The Studierendenwerk's Hochschulbetreuungsstelle supports non-EU students with residence matters on campus.

The pond on the University of Augsburg campus on a sunny day, with a red torii gate standing in the water and the concrete university buildings behind the trees
The pond on the University of Augsburg campus.
A street corner at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg with an orange sign pillar, trees and university buildings
The Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg, Rotes Tor campus.

Housing

The Studierendenwerk offers more than 2,000 rooms in eight residences across Augsburg, Kempten and Neu-Ulm. Six of them are in Augsburg: Kurt-Schumacher-Straße (for construction students), Bürgermeister-Ulrich-Straße, Göggingen, Lechbrücke, Prinz-Karl-Viertel and Universitätsviertel (Salomon-Idler-Straße 4). Room types include single rooms, apartments, shared flats of three to six people and rooms for parents with a child. The University of Augsburg quotes rents between 281 and 444 euros including utilities.

Places are in demand and there can be waiting times, so apply as soon as you have an admission letter. Other providers run halls of residence too, and the Studierendenwerk lists the BLLV hall, ESG shared flat, Kolping halls, IGEWO, the Parsevalhalle and Studentenwohnheim Z53. For private rooms, the Studierendenwerk runs a free agency and an online board of private offers, and the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper publishes ads on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Its housing service can be reached on +49 821 99965-400.

Food, sport and evenings out

  • Mensas and cafeterias ↗

    The Studierendenwerk runs a Mensa at the University (Universitätsstraße 4), a SnackBox at the central library, the MensaMobil at the Medical Campus and a Mensa at THA (Friedberger Straße 4). Everything is paid with the CAMPUS CARD at the student price, and a reusable-container system is available. Children's lunches are free for student parents.

  • Hochschulsport ↗

    Courses run during the lecture period, and the sports centre is open Monday to Friday 8:00 to 22:30 and Sunday 17:00 to 21:00 in the winter semester 2026/27. There are tournaments such as the HSA Indoor-Trophy in badminton and volleyball.

  • Outdoors ↗

    The Lech floodplain, the Siebentischwald and the Westliche Wälder nature park are all inside or at the edge of the city, and canoeists use the Eiskanal.

  • Festivals and nights out ↗

    The Plärrer funfair, the Modular festival, the Christkindlesmarkt and the Peace Festival on 8 August set the year. Cinemas such as Liliom, Mephisto, Savoy and Thalia and the summer open-air cinema Lechflimmern are listed on the city's Wikipedia page.

Your first weeks

  1. 1

    Before you arrive

    Apply for your visa and show proof of funds; non-EU students need a financing proof for the visa application. Apply for a dorm room early. Register for the university's Buddy Programme or THA's SWOP team.

  2. 2

    First days

    Register your address at one of Augsburg's five Bürgerbüros. The main one, Bürgerbüro Stadtmitte, is at An der Blauen Kappe 18, 86152 Augsburg, reachable by tram line 4 to Curt-Frenzel-Stadion, and you book a slot online or on 0821 324-9999. You will need your landlord's confirmation of residence.

  3. 3

    Within your first weeks

    If you come from outside the EU, make your residence permit appointment at the Hochschulbetreuungsstelle, a branch of the city's migration and residence office for students of both universities at Eichleitnerstraße 30 (Alte Universität), building F2, 1st floor, 86159 Augsburg. Visits are only by appointment; write to aufenthalt.uni@augsburg.de or call 0821 324-2418, and expect that an answer can take several weeks. For advice before you register, the counselling office at the University's International Office answers on hbst@aaa.uni-augsburg.de.

  4. 4

    Enrolment

    Pay your semester contribution, then validate your CAMPUS CARD at one of the machines on campus in each semester before it counts as a ticket.

  5. 5

    Health insurance, bank and tax ID

    The University's immigration-office pages list health insurance, tax ID and other first steps for international students.

  6. 6

    Soon after

    Go to a Cultural Night, join ESN or SWOP, sign up for a Hochschulsport course and take the free Deutsch-Café at Café Tür an Tür, Wertachstr. 29, if you want to practise German.

Part-time jobs and the work rules

Students from non-EU countries may work 120 full days or 240 half days a year; for residence permits issued after 1 March 2024 the limit is 140 full or 280 half days. You may not be self-employed or freelance without permission, work as a student assistant (HiWi) does not count against your days, and neither do internships that your curriculum requires. Other internships count, paid or not. If you plan to write your thesis in a company, talk to the foreigners' office and bring the contract.

The Studierendenwerk has a job board for students and its social and legal counselling will answer questions about jobs, insurance and taxes. If you need emergency money, the association f.au.st e.V. has supported about 200 international students since 1999 who got into financial difficulty through no fault of their own.

Where you come from matters here

Pick your home country: food, faith, community groups and the consulate that serves you, checked 21 October 2026.

🇮🇳 Living in Augsburg as an Indian student

Augsburg has no Indian consulate. The Consulate General of India for Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg is in Munich.

  • Consulate General of India, Munich ↗

    Widenmayerstraße 15, 80538 Munich. The Bavarian State Chancellery lists the consular district as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and the hours as Monday to Friday 9:00 to 12:30.

  • Indien-Institut e.V., Munich ↗

    Founded in 1929, a society for German-Indian cultural exchange that says it works closely with the Indian consulate; it holds talks and events in Munich.

English-taught programmes in Augsburg

Soonest open deadline first. Every entry links to its official source.

Technical University of Applied Sciences AugsburgUniversity of Augsburg

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