Augsburg: A City of History
After being introduced to the University of Augsburg in the morning, the rest of the afternoon was spent on a “city fun contest” – a sort of scavenger hunt taking place in the middle of Augsburg, touring through the major tourist highlights of the city. If I were to coin Augsburg a nickname (and in fact, I feel like Germany as a country could share this name), it would be “the updated site of history”. While the city boasts a history extending back to the time of the Romans (deriving its name from Emperor Augistine), with churches from the Medieval ages and buildings of culture and age, its technologies are up-to-date and people modernized. On a whole, Germany is a good example of keeping a strong historical background and culture, but updating itself to the latest technologies and modernizing itself as the rest of the world progresses.
Yet it is important to note how the Germans are respectful of their environment – they use the latest in technologies to save energy by turning off lights automatically until somebody enters the room (with a motion detector). Augsburg’s main transportation system, the light rail, is popular, on time, easy to use, and entirely electric – a clean form of transportation.
As a student who just completed an honors political science course known as “Global Environmental Politics”, it is amazing to see just how differently another country treats their environment. Here in Germany, there are humongous differences with the attitudes people have towards their surroundings and what they feel is their global impact on nature.