Nürnberg, Bayern, Deutschland

Similar to Munich, you can see that no skyscrapers dominate the skyline of Nuremberg. The tallest buildings are the churches. This is a city of over half a million. It boasts culture and history like the famous Renaissance painter Albrecht Dürer (painter of Praying Hands/Betende Hände, Adam and Eve) was born here. It was considered the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire (Heiliges Römisches Reich), holds beautiful medieval architecture, and was the site of the Nuremberg Trials, obviously.

The first place I saw was the Handwerkerhof, or Artisan Quarters. This is exactly what it sounds like. But as soon as you walk through the gates, you notice that it’s very medieval-themed. It’s like a more authentic Renaissance festival, but smaller. There’s woodworking, metalworking, ceramics, and food shops. This is the perfect place to buy souvenirs because they weren’t quickly and cheaply made by a factory — they were made with quality by actual German hands.

As you can see by the door, everything is set in a medieval style — the door actually has the Nuremberg colors. There is also a small well behind me from where I stood in this picture where people threw coins in to have wishes granted. Nothing reminds you more that you’re in the country of the Grimms’ Brothers than that.

Walking outside of the doors, you’ll take a quick right then a left onto Konigstraße (king street). Walking down the street, you’ll arrive at the St. Lorenz Kirche Nürnberg (a church, of course). This church is special, though. According to my German professors, depending on attendance, this church will be considered either Catholic or Protestant (when filing taxes and the claim which church they are, etc.). This was a beautiful church, which provided me with a surprisingly spiritual experience that I wasn’t expecting.

Inside was my favorite part because there was a circular basin filled with sand and for only €1, you could buy a little candle, make a shape in the sand, and place the candle there. It was truly beautiful. The calm, stillness of the church set the vibe and walking towards the front, you’ll see a case showing and discussing the carnage that took place during WWII. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, Nuremberg was bombed during the war.

Nuremberg saw its fair share of the Protestant Reformation. Although Nuremberg is in the south of Germany, historically Catholic, the Protestant movement had a strong foothold here. I had a great time soaking up this environment until I was rushed by the professors, that is. To this day, I still look back at that time, saddened that I was torn away from my experience — especially because immediately after being in that church, we were told we had a free hour for lunch… But, I’m appreciative for supportive friends from the trip Megan Barrett, Chey Smith, and Michaela Wells (shoutout to the “German fam”).

The next location further north is the Nürnberger Hauptmarkt or Nuremberg Main Market. This is the site of many a famous Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market). There are Christmas markets all over Germany, but Nuremberg usually boasts the iconic pictures when people think of Christmas markets in Germany. We spent an hour here for lunch where I interacted with the Schöner Brunnen fountain.

After this, we walked up to the only elevated spot in Nuremberg, the Nürnberger Burg (Nuremberg Castle). The first fortified buildings appeared around the year 1000 A.D and was continually fortified and bolstered until WWII when it was left in ruins and took over 30 years to return it to its current state. It’s an impressive fortification similar to the Schloss Neuschwanstein in Füssen — this isn’t a palace of luxury, it’s a fortification, which you can tell by it’s name. In German, it isn’t called “Schloss,” but “Burg,” which means castle, not palace.

The bottom left image is the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire and fits perfectly for this massive structure. Going inside the visitor center, you can watch a great video that plays over a brief history of the castle with each of its additions throughout the ages.

Going down the hill led us to our next stop, the Lochgefängnis, medieval prison, which lies underneath the Nuremberg City Hall. The dungeons had been used since the 14 century — they hold the torture chambers, which is the stuff of nightmares. No windows, small spaces, various torture tools in a room. The only “windows” were tiny air shafts. Above, where the city hall rested, was the site for the famous Nuremberg Trails.

By time I got out, I was relieved to go to Albrecht Dürer’s house to see art. It wasn’t necessarily his house as he built it himself and passed it down to family members, but he bought it during his adulthood and lived there. This is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Nuremberg in the Altstadt (“old city,” and where the old city is, the cool things will be). It was, of course, bombed and needed some repairs after the war to reopen in 1971, Dürer’s 500 birthday.

Hopefully, some of the paintings will ring a bell and maybe you saw them in an art history class? I greatly enjoyed seeing his house with reconstructed press where he made prints and also an interactive screen that looked just like glass where you could select certain objects and learn about them. At the end, you could sign a ledger to say where you came from + date.

Are you noticing a trend here, though? Because I do. After visiting several big cities in Germany, I keep seeing: Heavily bombed, badly damaged by Allied air raids, etc., which breaks our perception a little. When we think of WWII bombings, we usually only think about the London Blitzkrieg, which was devastating and most of the UK saw bombings, too. But, many German cities were the targets of air raids, sometimes those raids weren’t even targeting military locations. It’s just another reminder that in WWII, innocents in Germany died as much as Great Britain. Actually, somewhere around 67,000 British civilians died, while between 1,500,000 and 3,000,000 German civilians died.

So, popular culture loves to show the destruction the Allies received, which is fair. But visiting these German cities, you see just how much they suffered, which is why they are very, very adamant about learning from their past.

And this leads us to Ehron’s Takeaways

• A Must-See: There’s a two-for here, the Nürnberger Burg is an absolute must because it’s iconic and you’ll get the perfect skyline view of the city. But, at the same time, you’d be an idiot to be in Nuremberg and not see Albrecht Dürer’s house. Many art teachers would hold their hearts in disbelief if you visit the city and not see his artwork.

• What I Recommend: I would say going to the Handwerkerhof area or Artisan Quarters of Nuremberg would be the perfect way to buy a trinket to remember your visit and you can also see local artwork of varying styles here and grab a bite to eat. Because food is obviously the most important part of trips, right?

• My Favorite Place: Obviously, the St. Lorenz Kriche has my heart. You don’t need to be a religious person to visit and at least draw something in the sand, sit, reflect, meditate, whatever — but sit there and just soak in the atmosphere. I know I loved it.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time, lovelies,

Ehron