Visiting a Water City

ASSIST Excursion to Augsburg on September 20, 2025

Hard to believe! Augsburg has more bridges than Venice — 530 in total! It’s no surprise that it’s known as the „Secret Capital of Fountains, Canals, and Power Plants“. You will find hundreds of waterwheels and bubbling drinking fountains, as well as 199 km of waterways that have flowed through the old town’s alleys for over 1,000 years. In 1414, Augsburg built the first water tower in Europe. The water in Augsburg is now of baby-food quality and is considered to be some of the best drinking water in Europe. It supplies 350,000 people.

An App as Tour Guide                             

The group used an app called ‘Lauschtour’. The literal translation of the brandname means ‚Listening Tour‘. The app provided step-by-step instructions on where to find the water dwellings of Augsburg. After a short tram ride and a walk through the Augsburg City Forest, the group reached the drinking water conservation area and the Hochablass dam. This is where the river water from the Lech is diverted and distributed throughout the city.

The students learnt about wildlife, water quality and nature by listening to the Lauschtour app. In between, they were given observation tasks with the prospect of a small reward. What is the water temperature? Or, ‘Who can spot a beaver or even a kingfisher in the city stream, or a woodpecker in the floodplain forest?’