Tura Michele Fair

Tura Michele Fair (Augsburg Day)

September 29On St. Michael's Day in Augsburg, Bavaria, there is an annual autumn fair that attracts visitors from all over Germany. One of the fair's chief attractions is the hourly appearance of figures representing the Archangel Michael and the Devil that are built into the foundation of Perlach Turm, or Tower, called Tura in local dialect. The slender structure, 225 feet high, standing next to Peter's Kirche (church) was originally a watch tower, but it was heightened in 1615 and converted into a belfry. Whenever the tower bell strikes on St. Michael's Day, the armor-clad figure of the Archangel appears and stabs with his pointed spear at the Devil writhing at his feet.
Although the figures were destroyed during World War II, they were later replaced. For over four centuries spectators have gathered around the Tura to watch the symbolic drama reenacted on St. Michael's Day.
CONTACTS:
Augsburg Tourist Information
Schiessgrabenstrasse 14
Augsburg, 86150 Germany
49-821-502-07-0; fax: 49-821-502-07-45
www.regio-augsburg.de
SOURCES:
FestWestEur-1958, p. 71