The fountains of the Fugger family’s gardens in sixteenth-century Augsburg

This article focuses on the gardens laid out by the Fugger family of merchant-bankers in the Free Imperial City of Augsburg in the first half of the sixteenth century. These forgotten gardens have received little attention both by historians of Augsburg and the Fugger, and by scholars of garden history more generally. A close reading of contemporary descriptions of these gardens, and especially of their hydraulic infrastructure, allows this article to identify their precise location within the urban space and immediate surroundings of Augsburg, correcting earlier interpretations. Using published accounting sources, this article identifies the sculptors responsible for the fountain statuary, the hydraulic experts who designed the water-raising machinery and fountains, and the provenance of the water itself. Establishing a clear link with the municipal drinking water supply system in all three cases, this article argues that the urban gardens of the Fugger should be rescued from oblivion and reintegrated in histories of early modern gardens and hydraulics.