Augsburg around 1500 (1493) The quintessential German Renaissance city and one of Germany’s oldest, Augsburg was a rival to Nuremberg, just 75 miles to the north. During the sixteenth century, Augsburg hosted many Imperial Diets and surpassed Nuremberg as the largest German-speaking city and financial hub of the Empire. Woodcut by Michael Wohlgemut, Liber Chronicarum, 1493, pp. 91b-92a.