Things to Do in Nuremberg

With a lacy rose window and delicate religious statuary, the fancy Gothic façade of St Lorenz Church dominates Nuremberg’s Altstadt (Old Town) with its landmark copper-topped twin spires and began life as a Catholic church. When the Reformation came in the early 16th century, St Lorenz soon became one of the most important Lutheran churches in Bavaria and also one of the very few with its rich hoard of treasures still intact.

Construction began on the church in 1270 and lasted for more than two centuries; its interior is a mass of pale-gray marble with a net-vaulted ceiling and soaring columns, with three aisles liberally stacked with masterly artworks. Light floods in behind the choir through the delicate stained-glass windows and the pulpits gleam with gold and gilt, but of most note are the intricate sculpture of the Annunciation above the altar by 16th-century artist Veit Stoss, who also created the figure of Archangel Michael standing proud in the nave. The painted panels on the choir are the work of Michael Wolgemut, a printmaker whose most famous pupil was Albrecht Dürer.

Badly damaged during WWII bombing raids by the Allies, the church was restored and re-consecrated in 1952. Midday organ and choir recitals are often held here and tours of the towers are available.

The ornate Schöner Brunnen is a landmark fountain in the cobbled Market Square (Hauptmarkt) of Nuremberg’s medieval Altstadt (Old Town). Created by local stonemason Heinrich Beheimby, it is a highly decorative, three-tiered masterpiece of religious imagery, adorned with 40 gaily colored, sculpted figures representing characters from the Holy Roman Empire.

At 62 feet (19 meters) high, the fountain has been restored several times over the centuries, and most of its original stone carvings are now preserved in the German National Museum (Germanisches Nationalmuseum). The wrought-iron fence that surrounds the Gothic fountain was designed by Paulus Kühn of Augsburg in 1587 and has a famous golden handle that must be twisted for good luck.

The Market Square itself is lined with multi-gabled townhouses and the ornate façade of the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche), the site of a daily food market, as well as the famous Nuremberg Christmas Market (Christkindlesmarkt), which sees visitors pour in from all over Europe.

The site of six of Hitler’s infamous Nazi Party rallies sits southeast of Nuremberg city center, a vast tract of land covering 4.2 square miles (11 square kilometers) lying virtually untended a short, lakeside walk from the Nazi Documentation Center. The massive parade grounds and mammoth Modernist stadium, with its central focus on the stern, austere Zeppelin Grandstand, are slowly crumbling into dilapidation, and the German government is torn between knocking them down or preserving them as a reminder of the horrors of the Third Reich.

Built by Nazi architect Albert Speer in 1933, the stadium was designed as a “cathedral of light” with floodlight reaching up to the sky. It became a backdrop for some of Adolf Hitler’s most notorious speeches, when millions of Hitler youth and Nazi sympathizers attended his political rallies and were whipped into a frenzy of hatred against the Jews, leading to the passing of the notorious Nuremberg Laws and ultimately to the Holocaust. Today the colonnaded flanks to the Zeppelin Grandstand may be destroyed, but it is easy to conjure up the terrifying power of Hitler’s fanatical oratory. Visitors only need to look at the photographs and flickering black-and-white films displayed in the Nazi Documentation Center at the adjacent Congress Hall to relive the strength of his twisted charisma.

The transformer station that supplied the electricity for Hitler’s “cathedral of light” is on nearby Regensburger Strasse, with the Nazi party’s symbolic eagle still emblazoned on its flank. Nowadays it is a fast-food restaurant, while much of the land around the Zeppelin Grandstand has been given over to cyclists, joggers and picnicking families.

Towering over the Altstadt (Old Town) north of the River Pegnitz, Nuremberg Castle was once the most important in Germany, as it was the seat of the Holy Roman Emperors who virtually ruled over Europe for hundreds of years from medieval times. Begun in 1120, the castle has been extended, abandoned, remodeled and blown to pieces over the centuries before being completely restored to its original Romanesque and Gothic grandeur following Allied bombing in World War II.

The castle complex straddles the top of a low hill and resembles a small city behind its fortified walls, comprising several separate half-timbered palaces, towers, stables, chapels, underground cellars and courtyards all built of mellow sandstone and topped with red brick tiles. Of these, the Romanesque chapel and Imperial Apartments should be visited first as they are ornately decorated and contain a permanent exhibition on the Holy Roman Empire. Other structures open to the public include the Sinwell Tower (Sinwellturm), which has a viewing platform for fine city panoramas, and the Bower, where the Kaiserburg Museum showcases the castle’s eventful history and displays an arsenal of weaponry and armor; this is an offshoot of the German National Museum (Germanisches Nationalmuseum).

The gardens that fan out in front of the Kaiserburg were originally created in the 15th century; much replanted, today they are laid out in formal parterres amid smartly clipped maple trees.

The Hauptmarkt in Nuremberg, Germany is the city's main square, and it is located near the Frauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady. Crowds gather here at noon to witness the clock's figures performing Männleinlaufen, or Little Men Dancing, up in the clock tower. One of the main features of the square is the Schönen Brunnen fountain with intricately detailed sculptures carved onto the sides. The church and the fountain were built in the 14th century and are important pieces of the square, although the fountain you see today is a replica. The original is held in the German National Museum for safekeeping.

This is the city's main outdoor market where you can find fruit, vegetables, meats, cheeses, bread, flowers, crafts, and other local goods. Several cafes and restaurants are located on and near the square, and several pedestrian streets lined with stores connect with the square, making this a nice area to go shopping. In December you'll find Christmas markets set up in this square.

Founded in 1852, the home of the German National Museum has extended over the years as the collection has increased; it was originally housed in a 14th-century former monastery, to which a Neo-Gothic extension was added in the 1900s. Extensive bomb damage in World War II led to architect Sep Ruf designing glass-and-brick replacements for demolished galleries in the 1960s and the last addition was the glass entrance foyer, which is approached via thought-provoking sculptures in the Avenue of Human Rights by Jewish artist Dani Karavan.

Today the multi-story museum contains some 1.3 million artifacts showcasing Germanic culture and art, all on show in light, airy galleries and divided into 23 collections encompassing – among others – prehistory, prints and drawings, textiles, decorative arts, musical instruments and 20th-century art.

Thanks to the museum’s immense size, some cherry picking is vital, so the highlights of the chronological exhibitions include a handsome display of Baroque porcelain, the fabulously over-the-top decoration in the wood-paneled Aachen Room and a cluster of wacky work by Joseph Beuys. Also worth catching are the Stone Age tools, the scary-looking 18th-century dolls and ancient suits of armor in the Weapons Room – and don’t miss the circumcision clamps or tools for staffing sausages.