Nuremberg

Introducing Nuremberg

Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Bavaria’s second-largest city, is a vibrant place where the nightlife is intense and the beer is as dark as coffee. The city is one of Bavaria’s biggest draws and is alive with visitors during summer and the spectacular Christmas market.

For centuries Nuremberg was the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire and the preferred residence of German kings, who kept their crown jewels here. Rich and stuffed with comely architecture, it was also a magnet for famous artists like Albrecht Dürer, a native son. ‘Nuremberg shines throughout Germany like a sun among the moon and stars, ’ gushed Martin Luther. In the 19th century the city was at the heart of the industrial revolution in Germany.

The Nazis saw in Nuremberg a perfect stage for their activities. It was here that the fanatical party rallies were held, the boycott of Jewish businesses began and the infamous Nuremberg Laws outlawing Jewish citizenship were enacted. On 2 January 1945, Allied bombers reduced the city to rubble and 6000 people were killed.

After WWII the city was chosen as the site of the War Crimes Tribunal, now known as the Nuremberg Trials. Later, the painstaking reconstruction – using the original stone – of almost all the city’s main buildings, including the castle and old churches in the Altstadt, have returned the city to some of its former glory.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009