Nuremberg

Nuremberg (German, Niirnberg), a picturesque old city of Bavaria, on the Pegnitz, in the province of Central Franconia, 95 miles N.N.W. of Munich. Most of the houses date from the 16th century, and the mediaeval appearance of the town has been preserved by imitating the old style of architecture, with its red-tiled roofs, oriel windows, and high sharp-pointed gables facing the street. The old double wall retains nearly 100 of its turrets, besides several gateways; the fosse has been converted into gardens. The fine old Burg or royal palace, originally built by Conrad II. (circa 1024) has been little changed since the reign of Frederick Barbarossa (circa 1158). Of the churches the most notable are those of St. Lorenz, St. Sebald, and Our Lady, dating from the 13th to the 15th century. The town hall (1616-19), in Renaissance style, has frescoes by Durer. The modern buildings include a Germanic National Museum (1852), a Bavarian Industrial Museum (1877), and a library of 70,000 volumes. The houses of Albert Durer, Hans Sachs, and many families of mediaeval renown are still in existence. Nuremberg was made a free imperial city in 1219, and, owing both to its native manufactures and its position in the great commercial highway from the Levant to western Europe through Italy, became an extremely wealthy town, reaching the height of its prosperity in the 16th century. It was one of the first places N. of the Alps to come under the stimulating influence of the Renaissance, and it occupies an important position in the history both of art and of literature.