Dimmed street lights, shorter showers: Germany leads Europe energy savings drive

People walk near the unlit town hall, in Augsburg, Germany, July 21, 2022. The southern German municipality of Augsburg pledges to save energy by not illuminating touristic sites at night, warming public swimming pools or overheating public buildings REUTERS/Lukas Barth

BERLIN/AUGSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Summer nights in the wealthy Bavarian city of Augsburg this year are eerily dark and quiet: The facades of historic buildings are not illuminated, street lights are dimmed and most of the fountains are not operating.

Augsburg is among many cities around Germany to have rolled out a raft of energy savings measures since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent oil and gas prices soaring and sparked a cost of living crisis.