Editing Fuggerei

{{Short description|World's oldest public housing complex still in use, in Germany}}
[[File:Fugger Fuggerei Herrengasse.jpg|thumb|Herrengasse in the Fuggerei]]
The '''Fuggerei''' is the world's oldest [[public housing]] complex still in use. It is a walled [[Enclave and exclave|enclave]] within the city of [[Augsburg]], [[Bavaria]]. It takes its name from the [[Fugger family]] and was founded in 1516 by [[Jakob Fugger|Jakob Fugger the Younger]] (known as "Jakob Fugger the Rich") as a place where the needy citizens of Augsburg could be housed.  By 1523, 52 houses had been built, and in the coming years the area expanded with various streets, small squares and a church. The gates were locked at night, so the Fuggerei was, in its own right, very similar to a small independent medieval town. It is still inhabited today, affording it the status of being the oldest public housing project in the world.

==Description==

The rent was and still is one [[Rhenish gulden|Rhenish ''gulden'']] per year (equivalent to 0.88 euros<ref>{{cite web |title=Official website of the Fugger - Fuggerei |website=Wayback Machine |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250209175529/https://www.fugger.de/fuggerei |access-date=9 February 2025}}</ref> (not adjusted for inflation)), as well as to make three daily prayers for the current owners of the {{lang|de|Fuggerei}} – the [[Lord's Prayer]], [[Hail Mary]], and the [[Nicene Creed]] – and to work a part-time job in the community.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Billock |first1=Jennifer |title=After Almost 500 Years, the World's Oldest Social Housing Complex Is Still Going Strong |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/after-almost-500-years-german-utopia-is-still-going-strong-180973787/ |access-date=19 December 2019 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |date=19 December 2019}}</ref> The conditions to live there remain the same as they were 500 years ago: one must have lived at least two years in Augsburg, be of the Catholic faith and have become [[indigent]] without debt. The five gates are still locked every day at 10 PM.

Housing units in the area consist of 45 to 65 square metre (500–700 square foot) [[apartment]]s, but because each unit has its own street entrance it simulates living in a house. There is no shared accommodation; each family has its own apartment, which includes a kitchen, a parlour, a bedroom and a tiny spare room, altogether totalling about 60 square metres (600 sq. ft.). Ground-floor apartments all have a small garden and garden shed, while upper-floor apartments have an attic. All apartments have modern conveniences such as television and running water. One ground-floor apartment is uninhabited, serving as a museum open to the public. The doorbells have elaborate shapes, each being unique, dating back to before the installation of streetlights when residents could identify their door by feeling the handle in the dark.<ref name="Esterl">{{cite news |first=Mike |last=Esterl |title=In This Picturesque Village, the Rent Hasn't Been Raised Since 1520 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=26 December 2008}}</ref>

==History==
The Fugger family initially established their wealth in weaving and merchandising. Jakob the Rich expanded their interests into silver mining and trading with [[History of the Republic of Venice|Venice]]. Additionally he was a financier and counted the [[Holy See|Vatican]] as a notable client. The family became financial backers of the [[Habsburg]] family, and he financed the successful election of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] as Emperor of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in 1519.<ref name="Esterl" />

The Fuggerei was first built between 1514 and 1523 under the supervision of the architect Thomas Krebs, and in 1582, Hans Holl added St. Mark's Church to the settlement. Expanded further in 1880 and 1938, the Fuggerei today comprises 67 houses with 147 apartments, a well and an administrative building.

[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]'s great-grandfather, the mason [[Franz Mozart]], lived in the Fuggerei between 1681 and 1694 and is commemorated today by a stone plaque.

The Fuggerei was heavily damaged by the bombings of Augsburg during World War II but has been rebuilt in its original style.

==Upkeep==
The Fuggerei is supported by a charitable trust established in 1520 which Jakob Fugger funded with an initial deposit of 10,000 guilders.<ref name="Esterl" /> According to ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', the trust has been carefully managed with most of its income coming from forestry holdings, which the Fugger family favoured since the 17th century after losing money on higher yielding investments. The annual return on the trust has ranged from an after-inflation rate of 0.5% to 2%. The Fugger family foundation is currently headed by Maria-Elisabeth Gräfin [[Thun und Hohenstein|Thun]]-Fugger, ''née'' Gräfin Fugger von Kirchberg, who lives at [[Illerkirchberg|Kirchberg]] Castle. Other members of the foundations's board are Alexander Graf Fugger-Babenhausen and Maria-Theresia Gräfin Fugger-Glött. All three still existing branches of the Fugger family are thus represented.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fugger.de/en/singleview/article/honorary-leadership-for-the-foundations/1.html |title=Princely and Comital Fugger Family Seniorat |access-date=2019-09-19 |archive-date=2021-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711170014/https://www.fugger.de/en/singleview/article/honorary-leadership-for-the-foundations/1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The trust is administered by Wolf-Dietrich Graf von Hundt.<ref name="Esterl" />

As of 2020, the fee for a tour into the Fuggerei is 6.50 euro, over seven times the annual rent.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fugger.de/en/2_sozialsiedlung.htm | title=Opening hours and admission fees | access-date=November 2, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212012202/http://www.fugger.de/en/2_sozialsiedlung.htm | archive-date=February 12, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

<gallery caption="Gallery">
File:Fugger_Fuggerei-Markuskirche+Herrengasse.jpg|St. Mark's Church and Herrengasse
File:Augsburg - Herrengasse.jpg|Herrengasse
File:Fugger_viertel_brunnen.jpg|Mittlere Gasse and well
File:Fugger Fuggerei Schauwohnung.jpg|Exhibition apartment
File:Fugger Fuggerei wkbunkermuseum.jpg|Exhibition in World War II air raid shelter
File:Fugger_Fuggerei_Gorbatschow.jpg|Countess Elisabeth Thun-Fugger with Mikhail Gorbachev, 2005
</gallery>

== See also ==

* [[Beguinage]] - housing complex created to house lay religious women who have not taken vows.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Fuggerei}}
*[http://www.fuggerei.de/ Official site]

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[[Category:Affordable housing]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Augsburg]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures associated with the Fugger family]]
[[Category:1516 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Museums in Bavaria]]
[[Category:History museums in Germany]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1516]]