After breakfast we headed out and started our tour of Nuremberg. The weather was good, but rain forecast so we decided to concentrate on the walking bits first!
Our first stop was close to the hotel where we saw two large churches across the square from each other – the Josef and Elizabeth churches
We walked on and soon came to the river the bisects the old town in Nuremberg. Here we first saw the 19th Century Kettensteg chain bridge, the oldest in Europe.
We walked along the river and next came to the Maxbrucke.
Next we came to the Hauptmarkt, the main square.
The Frauenkirche was largely damaged in the second world war, but has been extensively rebuilt.
Next, we headed off the square and onto Burgstrasse, the uphill road that leads up to the castle. On the left, is St Sebaldus kirche and the right is the Rathaus.
We went into St Sebaldus Kirche. St Sebald is the patron saint of the city. The church dates from the 14th century church and is the oldest in city. It has been Protestant since 1525.
We continued up the hill to the Imperial castle, the Kaiser berg, where we went in and had a self guided tour of the imperial castle.
Outside of the castle is a ‘secret’ building which contains the deep well. We waited for the tour and went in to see the well. The guide used a jug of water to prove how deep the well was…it took 5 seconds for the water to hit the bottom of the well and the displays showed that the well is 45m deep.
We stopped for a quick drink and then walked below the castle to the Albrecht Durer Haus. Albert Durer is, apparently, one of the most famous painters from Germany, although neither Ed nor I had heard of him! (Heatherns!) His house is one of the oldest in the city.
By the time we came out, it had started raining and was time for lunch so we ducked into one of the pubs on the square for a light bite! Once we’d eaten, we walked down the hill and caught a tram to the Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds. The museum here is based on the old Nazi buildings and the guided tour was fascinating and frightening in equal measure. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the museum until it closed at 6pm!
Nazi party grounds
We caught the tram and metro back to the centre and headed back to the hotel. After a beer and a quick freshen up we went out for some food in the city.
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