I'd LOVE to know if there's some particular 'shade' tolerant/hardy cultivars
All azaleas can tolerant some shade. Yet they do need at least 4 hours of sun. By and large their natural habitant is woodland edges. There are some notable cold hardy exceptions like the R. poukhanense, R. mucronatum, Robin Hill and Girard azaleas.
The more shade an azalea gets, the more leggy and the fewer flowers. The upside is the flowers last longer then those in more sun….
More sun yields more compact azaleas with abundant flowers.
The real question is ”What types of azalea are cold hardy enough to survive in Augsburg that will tolerate —- amounts of shade?”
That’s a good question for you to ask your local nurseries unless there is someone here from your specific area. For them, it’s sheer economics. If they buy azaleas that survive in their customer’s yard, they make money.
cheers
DSD sends