Photo: museums and exhibitions, other places, Fuggerei , Bavaria

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Fuggerei – a present to the poor from bankers

Museums and Exhibitions • Other places

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Fuggerei is a famous town quarter built on the money of the Fugger family and named after them. It is not only a monument of architecture but also a unique evidence of medieval social charity. In 1514 banker Jacob Fugger Jr. ordered architect Thomas Krebs a project of a town quarter where impoverished craftsmen would be able to live. Fugger did not pursue any commercial profit – the price of the accommodation in the quarter was purely symbolic.

Fuggerei was walled. There was a church, a school, a café here. Those who lost their accommodation would come to live here. Thus, in 1681 the family of the bankrupt Franz Mozart, the great grandfather of the great composer, came to live in the quarter. Today there is a Fuggerei museum in the house where he used to live. The quarter is still residential and still belongs to the Fugger family. Similar to the medieval ages, tenants pay a purely nominal rent (less than 1 euro per year for one person). Moreover, they receive subsidies for utilities payment. The only condition is that tenants must be catholic and read prayers in honour of Fuggerei founders three times a day.

Fuggerei – a present to the poor from bankers

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