Mayer:Reichsstädtische Macht in Kupfer

Exactly 400 years ago, in time for the completion of the Augsburg Town Hall, which was finished by Elias Holl in 1620, the first series of images of the city administrators of Augsburg was published in the spring. In a thin booklet, published at the expense of the prominent Augsburg engraver Lucas Kilian, the city administrators who had been in office since 1548, corresponding to the role of today’s mayor, were introduced with elaborate portraits and short biographies. This virtual gallery of copper-engraved images featuring the personalities who shaped Augsburg's fate has been reissued multiple times and evolved into a kind of collector's album since the edition of 1657. Until the end of the Free Imperial City, portraits of each newly elected city administrator were continually added, totaling 43 portraits. This highly ambitious work of art and urban history presents itself as a kaleidoscope of the influential and internationally recognized Augsburg engravers of the time. Over the years, alongside members of the Kilian family, Elias Hainzelmann, the Klauber brothers, and others contributed. "Reichsstädtische Macht in Kupfer" showcases all the portraits as well as the majority of the book editions from this collection, the only verifiable drawn template to date, and several original copper plates.