Top Historic Sights in Nuremberg, Germany
Explore the historic highlights of Nuremberg
Church of Our Lady
The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) stands on the eastern side of the main market. An example of brick Gothic architecture, it was built on the initiative of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor between 1352 and 1362. The church contains many sculptures, some of them heavily restored. Numerous works of art from the Middle Ages are kept in the church, such as the so-called Tucher Altar (c. 1440, originally the high altar of th ...Nuremberg Castle
The Imperial Castle is the symbol of Nuremberg. Since the Middle Ages its silhouette has represented the power and importance of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and the outstanding role of the imperial city of Nuremberg. Nuremberg, which was first mentioned in a document as a royal property in 1050, played an important part in the imperial and domestic policy of the Salian and Hohenstaufen kings and emperors. ...St. Sebaldus Church
St. Sebaldus Church is one of the most important and oldest churches of Nuremberg. It takes its name from Sebaldus, an 8th-century hermit and missionary and patron saint of Nuremberg. It has been a Lutheran parish church since the Reformation. The construction of the building began in 1225. the church achieved parish church status in 1255 and was completed by 1273-75. It was originally built as a Romanesque basilica with ...St. Lorenz Church
St. Lorenz (St. Lawrence) is a medieval church of the former free imperial city of Nuremberg. The nave of the church was completed by around . In 1439, work began on the choir in the form of a hall church in the late German sondergotik style of gothic architecture. The choir was largely completed by 1477 by Konrad Roriczer, although Jakob Grimm completed the intricate vaults. In the choir one can find the carving of the ...Albrecht Dürer's House
Albrecht Dürer's House was the home of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer from 1509 to his death in 1528. The House lies in the extreme north-west of Nuremberg"s Altstadt, near the Kaiserburg section of the Nuremberg Castle and the Tiergärtnertor of Nuremberg"s city walls. The house was built around 1420. It has five stories; the bottom two have sandstone walls, while the upper stories are t ...Hospital of the Holy Spirit
Established from 1332 to 1339 as a foundation endowed by the wealthy patrician Konrad Groß for the elderly and needy. Considered the largest private endowment by any individual before 1500. The Hospital of the Holy Spirit was established in 1332–39 by Konrad Gross, a wealthy patrician, for the care for the elderly and needy. It was the largest private endowment in the Holy Roman Empire up to 1500. After 1500 ...Germanisches Nationalmuseum
The Germanisches Nationalmuseum, founded in 1852, houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. With current holdings of about 1.2 million objects, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum is Germany's largest museum of cultural history. Particular highlights include works of Albrecht Dürer, Veit Stoß and Rembrandt, the earliest surviving terre ...St. Elizabeth Church
St. Elizabeth's church was dedicated to Elizabeth of Hungary in 1235. After the Reformation, this was the only Roman Catholic church in the Protestant city of Nuremberg. It soon became inadequate for its congregation, and the church entered into protracted negotiations with the city magistrate, which lasted from 1718 to 1780. Finally agreement was reached for a new church, and the old one was demolished in 1784. Franz Ig ...St. James Church
St. Jakob (St James the Greater) church was founded in 1209 by Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor. The small Romanesque chapel was demolished about 80 years later and the church rebuilt. The church soon came into the possession of the Knights of St John. By Frederick II, the order was equipped with more and more possessions. The church still contains the reredos on the high altar which dates from 1360-1370. During the Reformati ...Nazi Party Rally Grounds
The Nazi party rally grounds (Reichsparteitagsgelände) covered about 11 square kilometres in the southeast of Nuremberg. Six Nazi party rallies were held there between 1933 and 1938. Only Zeppelinfeld, Luitpoldarena and Große Straße were finished. The Kongresshalle, Zeppelinfeld and the Große Straße have been under monument protection since 1973 as significant examples for NS architecture. Th ...St. Catherine Church Ruins
Katharinenkirche (St. Catherine"s Church) was an important mediaeval church, destroyed during the Second World War and preserved as a ruin. St. Catherine"s was the church of a former Dominican convent, in the Diocese of Bamberg, famous for its Medieval Library. It was founded in 1295 by Konrad von Neumarkt and his wife Adelheid, patricians of the Pfinzig family. In the Middle Ages it had an important medieval l ...St. Rochus Cemetery
St. Rochus Cemetery (Rochusfriedhof) was created in late 1510s to bury the victims of the plague epidemic of 1517-18. To avoid spreading the disease, city authorities decided to build the cemetery at some distance from the city, so St. Rochus is located outside the old city wall. The cemetery was finally consecrated on 21 March 1519. St. Rochus Chapel was built in 1520–21. The architect was Hans Beheim the Elder, wh ...St. Egidien Church
St. Egidien is considered a significant contribution to the baroque church architecture of Middle Franconia. The first church building was probably built in the years 1120/1130 on the site of the second, northern Nuremberg royal court. The royal courts administered royal possessions, agriculture and forestry. Thus, it had the status of a royal church. Around the year 1140 Emperor Conrad III and his wife Gertrud raised t ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Les Invalides
Les Invalides is a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building"s original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l"Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d"Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial site for some of France"s war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte.
Louis XIV initiated the project in 1670, as a home and hospital for aged and unwell soldiers: the name is a shortened form of hôpital des invalides. The architect of Les Invalides was Libéral Bruant. The enlarged project was completed in 1676, the river front measured 196 metres and the complex had fifteen courtyards. Jules Hardouin Mansart assisted the aged Bruant, and the chapel was finished in 1679 to Bruant"s designs after the elder architect"s death.
Shortly after the veterans" chapel was completed, Louis XIV commissioned Mansart to construct a separate private royal chapel referred to as the Église du Dôme from its most striking feature. Inspired by St. Peter"s Basilica in Rome, the original for all Baroque domes, it is one of the triumphs of French Baroque architecture. The domed chapel is centrally placed to dominate the court of honour. It was finished in 1708.
Because of its location and significance, the Invalides served as the scene for several key events in French history. On 14 July 1789 it was stormed by Parisian rioters who seized the cannons and muskets stored in its cellars to use against the Bastille later the same day. Napoleon was entombed under the dome of the Invalides with great ceremony in 1840. In December 1894 the degradation of Captain Alfred Dreyfus was held before the main building, while his subsequent rehabilitation ceremony took place in a courtyard of the complex in 1906.
The building retained its primary function of a retirement home and hospital for military veterans until the early twentieth century. In 1872 the musée d"artillerie (Artillery Museum) was located within the building to be joined by the Historical Museum of the Armies in 1896. The two institutions were merged to form the present musée de l"armée in 1905. At the same time the veterans in residence were dispersed to smaller centres outside Paris. The reason was that the adoption of a mainly conscript army, after 1872, meant a substantial reduction in the numbers of veterans having the twenty or more years of military service formerly required to enter the Hôpital des Invalides. The building accordingly became too large for its original purpose. The modern complex does however still include the facilities detailed below for about a hundred elderly or incapacitated former soldiers.