Nuremberg (Nürnberg)

The city with the castle

Nürnberg – hearing this name, one might think of culinary specialities such as “Bratwürstchen”, (fried pork sausages), Lebkuchen (a sweet Christmas bakery), or the Christkindls-market, an annual Christmas market in the month of December, or one might think of the city, that the Nazis abused for their political congregations, the “Reichsparteitag”, or of the city, where an international military court had to judge over the members of the Nazi terrorist regime in the “Nürnberg trials.”

Others might connect this name with the great figures of the history of art: Albrecht Dürer, Veit Stoß or Willibald Pirckheimer.

Whatever image you apply to Nürnberg: In reality it results in a very colourful mosaique. There is a metropolitan city of business, open to the world, with a very good infrastructure, power of innovation and with famous universities and research institutes. There is the cultural city with its museums and attractice events, the social city with model projects and institutions. There is the high standard of living, that its 500.000 inhabitants can enjoy. And there is a lively combination of different cultures, that mark this city, as well as a peaceful side by side of history and modern life.

First mentioning
Nürnberg enters historical documents witha pleasant event: On July 16th, 1050, the emperor Henry III releases a woman named Sigena from bondage. In this document, the name “Noremberc”, which means rocky mountain, is mentioned for the first time. The castlehill of sandstone overlooks the forestregion below, through which the river Pegnitz winds. The emperor`s castle is built on it.

The city grows. The part of town, named after the church St. Sebald, is getting too small, and another Gothic church, St.Lorenz , is built on the Southern banks of the river, giving its name to the developing new part of the city. A citywall, which is conserved in most parts up to today, surrounds the town. The city is granted more privileges in the 13th and 14thcentury by the German emperors. The emperor Charles IV in 1356 publishes a decree, called the “Goldene Bulle”, which obliges every future emperor to hold his first “Reichstag” in the city of Nürnberg.

Festivals, markets and specialities
Festivals and (culinary) specialities have a long tradition in Franken and Nürnberg. Each year, during the time when the asparagus is harvested, visitors may enjoy this noble vegetable at the asparagus-market. And in late summer , the oldtown-festival has another variety of these specialities.

Two million visitors from all over the world come each year for the famous Christkindlsmarket, for many the most beautiful Christmas market in the world.

The little ones find a huge variety of games and distraction at the Nürnberg children`s christmas.
And so, when Nürnberg once again turns into Germany`s Christmas town no. 1, it is the season for the famous “Lebkuchen”, a sweet Christmas bakery, while the “Bratwurst “ tastes good throughout the year, wether served in one of the historic guesthouses, in a beergarden, or as a take-away, called “Drei im Weckla”.