Memmingen, Germany

Memmingen is a town of roughly 44,000 residents in Swabia, Bavaria, sitting about 100 kilometers southwest of Augsburg and first documented in 1128. From 1268 until 1803 it served as a Free Imperial City, and in 1525 it was here that the Twelve Articles of the Black Forest peasants were drawn up, regarded as Europe's first written demand for human rights. The 1417 Marktplatz anchors the old town with the 1485 town hall, whose gilded Rococo facade was added in 1580, and the 1425 Steuerhaus. Nearby stand the 1425 Siebendächerhaus, or Seven Gables House, and the 1181 Siebentürme gate system, the best-preserved of its kind in southern Germany.