Nuremberg, part 1 – Germany Trip Blog Post #11

Tuesday, May 12 was our last day in Germany. Early the next morning we would board our coach bus for the two-hour drive to Frankfurt and the eight-hour flight home. Our time in Germany had flown by faster than that airplane we’d be on. But we had that one last day, and unfortunately, each day had become more of a blur. But I’ll try my best as this last city we visited packed a lot of punch.

We arrived in Nuremberg around ten o’clock and were greeted with wet, windy weather and a temperature of 44 degrees Fahrenheit. I’m gonna save those first two hours in the city until Friday and today share what we saw in the Old Town in the afternoon when the weather was a little bit better.

The walk to and around the Old Town was once again filled with ancient churches, fascinating architecture, and statues. 

St Lorenz church. Work on this Gothic church began in 1250 and was completed between 1370 and 1380. I’m disappointed that we didn’t go inside – pictures on the internet are beautiful, but then all the churches were – but we just ran out of time.

Frauenkirche. Called the Church of Our Lady in English, this Gothic Catholic Church was finished around 1362. 

From Wikipedia: Following an outbreak of the Black Death in 1349, a Christian program against the Jewish inhabitants of Nuremberg took place, and they were expelled from the city. Emperor Charles IV ordered the synagogue of Nuremberg to be destroyed to make way for the development of the grand market at which also a church was to be built on the rubble. This became the Frauenkirch.

It’s a shame that 90% of the building was destroyed in World War II, but also rather fitting considering its origins. The church was rebuilt by 1953 and extensively restored between 1989 and 1991. 

Sebalduskirche. St. Sebald Church is named after the hermit Sebaldus, who was thought to have lived near Nuremberg in the 8th century. It is the oldest Lutheran church in the city. Use of the altar is first documented on July 20, 1255.

 

Schöner Brunnen or Beautiful Fountain is a replica of a 14th-century fountain, built to resemble a Gothic spire.

Narrenschiffbrunnen or Fool’s Ship Fountain has never held water. It was created between 1984 and 1987, from drawings made by Albrecht Dürer based on the moral satire by Sebastian Brant, "The Ship of Fools", in 1497.

 

And what German medieval city would be complete without its castle overlooking the town below.