One of our favourite places in the centre of Augsburg is the “Hofgarten”. Young and also old people love this garden as an oasis of calmness. It’s a hangout for many students, pupils and even business people. They often spend their lunch time there to relax, to study or just to read a book. You’ve got the possibility to pick up a book from the book case of the “Open library”.

In summer some people lie in the grass and enjoy the sunshine.
If you think there’s a lot of street noise, you are wrong. Although the “Hofgarten” is in the middle of Augsburg, there is hardly any traffic around it.

This quiet atmosphere is created by a pond with some cute goldfish and a spectacular fountain which especially younger children enjoy.

The Garden The garden was designed between 1739 and 1744 by Johann Caspar Bagnato. Up to secularisation of the cathedral chapter Augsburg the court garden was situated to the west of the bishop’s residence. The area served as a place for tournaments, and part of it was used as a cemetery of the Augsburg cathedral. In 1878 the “Hofgarten” was converted into a public park after it had become property of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

A renovation of the western part of the court garden took place in 1878, and 11 years later, in 1889, the eastern part was renovated, too.
After the Second World War the court garden was used as an orchard (up to reorganisation in 1964).
Since 1963 the city of Augsburg has rented the court garden and pays a monthly rent of 55 €.
In 1964/65 the whole arrangement was completely reshaped.
Then it was opened to all citizens of Augsburg. Indeed, every year 50,000 € are invested by the city of Augsburg for the maintenance of the garden.
Now, in the year 2008, disabled people can visit the court garden, too, because three ramps were built in the east-entrance.

Inside the Garden

With its strictly cut hedges the construction still reminds of the garden art of the baroque and the rococo age.
In the court garden you can admire tulip trees, Gingko trees, hibiscus shrubs, blue rains, patches with all kinds of flowers as well as rose hedges. There is also a water lily pond in which ornamental fish and European turtles live. Beside the water lily pond there is a basin which catches the stimulating fountain of a well.

The Statues of the Dwarfs

Alongside the pond there is a row of stone baroque dwarfs made by an unknown sculptor who used sketches from the book "Callotto resuscitato” as models. The book was published in 1710. The absurd figures come from the time of about 1720 and are in the style of the caricatures of Jacques Callot. Probably there were even more of these figures. It is assumed that there used to be 12 dwarfs which formed the ensemble. One Augsburg dwarf figure even made its way across the Atlantic and can be seen in Florida now. The statues show small-grown people. At the European prince's courts of the baroque time they served as entertainment of the noble society.

	The Open Library

The Open Library

First the “Open Library” was a project by Michael Clegg and Martin Guttmann, which had been planned only for the summer and autumn of 2001. On the 5th July the two artists placed a 3m high display case in the north-eastern corner of the “Hofgarten”.

Every visitor could put books of his own in this shelf and take others home. This project became very popular with the people. They had the chance to exchange books which they didn`t want any longer. The project was extended until 2002 and then the display case was taken away. But the people of Augsburg wanted to have it back. This wish was fulfilled on 22nd July 2003 by an Augsburg foundation.

The new display case was placed close to where the first one had been. As expected the library has become as popular as before. This can be seen at lunch-time, when there are lots of people who are reading books to spend their free time in this lovely park. And often they read books from this library.