In an ambitious restoration, Augsburg recalls the glory of a moment

A cheerful Bavarian village, Augsburg has always had imperial connections. Augustus founded it around 14 B.C., and Holy Roman Emperors liked to visit the burg's great merchant families whenever they needed a loan. As medieval times gave way to the Renaissance, Augsburg was ideally situated to broker trade between the northern countries and Italy, never mind the vast economic opportunities opening up across the ocean. The Welser family once owned Venezuela, while the Fuggers were the preferred bankers of several popes and minted their coins, until the bankruptcy of one of their chief creditors, the Spanish Hapsburgs, brought down their financial empire. Left to posterity is the Fuggerei, the world's oldest public housing (1514-1523). Restored after WWII, the Fuggerei has kept its mandate—a rent of 0.88 euros annually, and daily prayers for the family.

Yet by far the most important imperial event in Augsburg in later centuries was the visit, in 1770, of the 14-year-old Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette, en route to France to marry the future King Louis XVI. She spent just one night in Augsburg, but the prospect of entertaining her hastened the completion of the town's finest private palace, known today as the Schaezler Palais. Erected on Maximilianstrasse, in view of the famous Baroque fountains, it is now part of the State Gallery. Remarkably, though the roof is unstable and the ballroom hasn't had a proper polishing in two centuries, the palace is little altered since its grandest night. Street-level rooms used to be open to the public for the banking services offered by the palace's wealthy owner. The grand staircase leads to a long file of comfortable rooms where the family once lived and entertained, and at the hall's far end, the doors open onto a magical Rococo ballroom resplendent with mirrors, stucco swirls, candelabras, and, hovering over it all, a ravishing ceiling fresco by the Italian master Gregorio Guglielmi. Here the future queen received the best wishes of the townspeople, proudly costumed in the brilliant candlelight. Perhaps to the relief of her standing admirers (she alone was permitted to sit), she did not stay long. But her presence suffused the great room with memories that linger to this day. Augsburg's city fathers are raising funds for the Schaezler's restoration so it may one day again be possible to dance by candlelight.

Schaezler Palais
Built: 1765-1770
Style: Rococo
Restoration of entire building: $5,731,949
Restoration of Banquet Hall: $2,713,791
Web site: www.hhog.de