Nuremberg

Nuremberg, Germany

Nuremberg Castle's sandstone towers glow at sunset above a dry moat, with a gravel path leading up toward them.

Nuremberg pairs a sandstone imperial castle, Dürer's home and Franconian sausages with a frank, well-kept record of the darker chapters of Germany's modern history.

The place

Nuremberg sits on the Pegnitz river in northern Bavaria, about 209 m above sea level, and is the main city of Franconia, a region with its own dialect, beer and cooking that locals are quick to distinguish from the Munich-style Bavaria of postcards. Just over half a million people live in the city proper (531,159 in the facts), and its suburbs run without a break into Fürth, Erlangen and Schwabach, so the wider urban area is several times larger. The old town is compact and easy to cross on foot. A sandstone wall and a moat ring it, and the imperial castle stands on a rock at its northern edge. Below the castle, lanes of stone and half-timbered houses drop to the river, which is crossed by small bridges and footbridges. Much of what looks medieval was rebuilt after wartime bombing, and that is worth knowing before expecting an unbroken survival. The rebuilding was careful, and the street pattern and many church interiors follow the old plan. Beyond the walls Nuremberg is a working city of rail yards, universities, a trade-fair ground and tall nineteenth-century apartment districts. The centre is calm in the early morning, crowded around the castle and main square at midday in summer, and busiest of all in the weeks before Christmas, when the market draws visitors from across Germany and beyond. The climate is oceanic with a continental touch: cold, sometimes snowy winters, hot summers, and rain spread fairly evenly through the year.

Its story

Nuremberg enters the written record in 1050 as the site of an imperial castle on the border between eastern Franconia and the Bavarian Nordgau. The rock made a sound stronghold, and the roads and rivers around it made the settlement a natural stop for traders. Merchants gathered under the castle's protection, and the town grew into a self-governing community answering directly to the emperor rather than to a local lord. Control of the castle was split. A burgrave held the title, passing in 1193 to Frederick of the Hohenzollern family, while an imperial official took over courts and city administration, and the citizens gradually gained a say of their own. From 1424 the Imperial Regalia were kept in the city, and emperors convened assemblies there often. Trade income paid for churches, workshops and a dense community of metalworkers, instrument makers, printers and painters. Albrecht Dürer, the poet Hans Sachs, the globe-maker Martin Behaim and the composer Johann Pachelbel are all tied to the city. The modern chapter is darker. The Nazi party staged its mass rallies on ground at the south-eastern edge of the city, and after the war the main trial of its leaders was held in the city's law courts. Bombing destroyed most of the old centre, and the patient rebuilding that followed explains why the castle, churches and lanes look as they do now. A single day's walk takes in both the medieval and the modern halves of that story.

What to see

Culture

Nuremberg built its name on making things and passing on ideas. In the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, mathematicians, instrument makers, mapmakers and printers all found work here. Regiomontanus set up an observatory and published star charts, Dürer produced printed maps of the heavens, and Anton Koberger ran a print shop that turned out books as handsome objects. Hans Sachs, a shoemaker and poet, later became the model for a character in Wagner's opera about the mastersingers. Franconian identity matters locally. People take pride in their dialect, their beer and their sausages, and they will gently correct the idea that Nuremberg is simply a Bavarian city. Christmas is a major cultural moment, with a market that opens each year with a speech from a young woman playing the Christkind, and with gingerbread (Lebkuchen) sold in tins that people post around the world. The city is also open about its recent past. The former rally grounds hold a documentation centre, and the courtroom where the post-war trials were held is now a museum. Germans treat these as places of study and reflection rather than curiosity. At the former rally grounds and the trial courtroom, keep your voice low, do not pose for jokey photographs, and never make a Nazi salute, which is a criminal offence in Germany.

What to wear

Nuremberg's traditional dress belongs to Franconia rather than to the Alpine dirndl-and-lederhosen look associated with Munich. Regional Tracht uses wool, linen and heavy felt, with embroidered bodices, aprons and silver buttons for women and waistcoats and dark jackets for men. It is worn mainly at festivals, folk-music events and church occasions in the surrounding villages, rather than in the city on an ordinary day. One exception is the Christkind at the Christmas market, who wears a gold-and-white robe and crown. Everyday dress in the city is practical and understated: dark jeans, plain jackets, trainers or leather boots, and a rain shell in a bag. People dress up a little for the opera house and for dinner, but rarely very formally. A visitor should plan for layers. Winters are cold, so bring a proper coat, hat and gloves, and in summer light cotton or linen with a sun hat for the open castle ramparts. Shoes matter more than clothes, because the old town is paved in cobbles and slopes steeply near the castle, so choose comfortable soles with a grip. Churches do not enforce strict dress, but covered shoulders and a hat taken off inside are appreciated.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. May and September–October, when days are mild, the light is long and the castle and walls are pleasant to walk. December is cold but the Christmas market is a draw; July and August can be very hot, with daytime highs of 37–38 °C, and busy.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Fly to Nuremberg Airport, which has links to German hubs such as Frankfurt and Munich, and to London and other European cities, then take the underground to the main station. Nuremberg is also a major rail junction, with long-distance trains from across Germany.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

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