Nürnberg Opens its Doors
In 1685, Nürnberg was already a very old
city. Many Salzburgers arrived here with
broken hearts, some with a small circle of
friends and fellow exiles. They faced a major
culture shock having to have left their
lifelong homes in the mountains for a busy
city where they immediately had to find
lodging, a new occupation and make new
friends. Some, like Joseph Schaitberger,
arrived penniless and had to come to grips
with the loss of their children as well.
Barbarossa himself had built an imperial castle in Nürnberg, adjoining the old castle of the burgraves
whose power waned at the end of the eleventh century. In their capacity as imperial officials, they
had grown wealthy and exercised jurisdiction in all judicial and military matters. In 1062, Heinrich IV
gave to Nürnberg the right to hold a fair and coin money. From its beginning, Nürnberg was civilized
and conducive to creative thinking with an atmosphere in which great minds flourished.
The emperors of the twelfth century then took over the administration of the imperial possessions
and installed a castellan, or overseer, in the imperial castle who not only administered the imperial
lands surrounding Nürnberg, but levied taxes and constituted the highest judicial court in matters
relating to poaching and forestry. The strained relations between the old burgraves and the castellan
evolved into hostility. Friedrich II presented a charter freeing the city from all authority excepting that
of the emperor himself in 1219, and Nürnberg became a free imperial city. Since the middle of the
thirteenth century, its administration was entrusted to a council which became more and more
independent, and in 1320, it was invested by Ludwig the Bavarian with supreme jurisdiction. This
accumulation of rights and privileges made the power of the council equal to that of the sovereign
or territorial lords and, with their acquisition of the imperial forest near Nürnberg, a basis for future
development was laid. The members of the council were chosen by the people, usually from the
wealthier class; this custom led to a circle of "favorites," which artisan class resented. With the
increasing importance of handicraft, the artisians became determined to have a voice in the city
government. In 1349, the members of the trade unions unsuccessfully rebelled against the patricians.
Their unions were then dissolved, and the oligarchic element remained in power.
Nürnberg had become wonderfully developed at the beginning of the 14th century. Karl IV conferred
upon it the right to conclude alliances independently, thereby placing it upon a politically equal footing
with the princes of the empire. The city protected itself from hostile attacks by a wall.  After the
castle was destroyed by fire in 1420 during a feud with the Burgraves, the ruins and the forest
belonging to the castle were purchased by the city in 1427, and Nürnberg soon became master of all
that lay within.
The imperial castle had been ceded to the city by Emperor Sigismund in 1422, and with this and
other purchases the city accumulated considerable territory. In 1431, the population was about
22,800, reduced to 20,800 in 1450 due to wars and plague. The war of succession in Landshut at
the beginning of the 16th century brought new possessions to Nürnberg until it owned more than any
imperial free city and, along with its political importance, its industrial power and superior culture, it
became known as the "Empire's Treasure Box." By the middle of the sixteenth century, the city had
become almost completely Protestant.  The Diet of Nürnberg, 1532, gave religious freedom to all and
remained neutral in foreign affairs.
A Meistersinger was a German lyric poet of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, who carried on and developed the
traditions of the medieval Minnesingers. Hans Sachs of Nürnberg was the most famous of all. The Meistersinger
school had spread all over south and central Germany. Each guild numbered various classes of members, ranging
from beginners to a master, being a poet who was not merely able to write new verses to existing melodies but
had himself invented a new melody. The poem was known as a Bar or Gesetz, the melody as a Ton or Weis. The
songs were sung in schools without accompaniment. The rules of the art were set down in the Tabulatur, the
law-book of the guild. Meetings took place either in the Rathaus, or on Sunday in the church, and at Easter,
Pentecost and Christmas. Special festivals and  competitions were instituted. The Meister singers  played a huge
role in the life of 15th and 16th century German towns
The forthright Meistersinger poetry reflected the values of the German burger, his  good sense and honesty. In this
respect, it was an important factor in the rise of that middle class literature. The Meistergesang reached its highest point in
the 16th century, and it lingered in south German towns even as late as the 19th century. The art of the Meistersingers has
beer immortalized by Hans Sachs, a shoemaker of Nürnberg and Sach's work was immortalized by Wagner.
The city also contributed much to the science of astronomy. In 1471, Johannes Mueller built an
astronomical observatory in Nürnberg and published many important astronomical charts. In 1515, artist
Albrecht Durer, left, a native of Nürnberg, mapped the stars of the northern and southern hemispheres,
producing the first printed star charts. Durer also published the Stabiussche 'Weltkarte', the first
perspective reproduction  of the terrestrial globe. The main part of Copernicus' work was published in
Nürnberg in 1543. Hans Tucher invented the compass.
Printers and publishers have a long history in Nürnberg. Many of these publishers worked with
well-known artists of the day to produce books that are considered works of art. Others furthered
geographical knowledge and travel by map making. Navigator and geographer Martin Behaim made
the first world globe, and Hartmann Schedel wrote his World Chronicles (Schedelsche Weltchronik)
in the local dialect
Great masters thrived in Nürnberg's creative environment.
Adam Krafft, sculptor, Viet Stoss with his intricate wood
carving, and Peter Vischer, master of bronze, were among
the best artisans in the world and they left an indelible imprint
on the city. A city of music and song, even the musical
instruments were superior in detail. Nürnberg was known for its
beautiful workmanship and objects of fine quality.
During the revolution of the princes against Karl V in 1552, Nürnberg struggled to purchase its
neutrality but Margrave Albert Alcibiades, one of the leaders of the revolt, attacked the city without
and forced it to conclude a disadvantageous peace, and at the Religious Peace of Augsburg the
possessions of the Protestants were confirmed by the emperor, their religious privileges extended. By
in the first half of the sixteenth century, the revolution in commerce and trade due to the discovery of
new trade routes and the difficulties caused by bickering sovereigns helped the city declined in wealth
and influence.
Nürnberg was always known for its highly sophisticated and impeccable craftsmanship. In a register
from 1363, fifty different crafts are mentioned, along with the names of over twelve hundred masters.
Nürnberg remained aloof from the quarrels and affairs of the world at large until contributions were
demanded for the Austrian War of Succession and the Seven Years' War. Restrictions of imports
and exports deprived the city of many markets for its manufactures, especially in Austria, Prussia
and Bavaria, and the eastern and northern countries of Europe. The Bavarian elector, Karl
Theodore, appropriated part of the land and Prussia also claimed part of the territory of Nürnberg.
Nürnberg was handed over to Bavaria in 1808. Its population was then 25,200 and its public debt
twelve and a half million guldens. Nürnberg made a brief comeback after the fall of Napoleon. Its
trade and commerce revived, its public debt had been acknowledged as a part of the Bavarian
national debt, and the establishment of railways joining of Bavaria to the German Customs Union
(Zollverein) opened the way to great prosperity. In 1852, there were 53,638 inhabitants. However,
it never regained its ancient importance and stature. All the same, it was a historical mecca, full of
charm and antiquities, a time capsule of past glories and great minds, full of sublime art treasures,
superb craftsmanship and a showcase of a marvelous old culture.
Nürnberg contained several interesting churches, the finest of which were St Lorenz, St Sebald and of Frauenkirche, and
all three enshrined valuable treasures of art. St Lorenz was built in. the 13th and 14th centuries and it held the masterpiece
of the sculptor Adam Krafft, consisting of a ciborium in the form of an exquisitely minute and delicate 65 foot high Gothic
spire. The west front contained a magnificent rose-window, and some of the stained glass dated from the 15th and 16th
centuries. In front of the altar hung a wood-carving by Veit Stoss. St Sebald contained a bronze sarcophagus and canopy
in rich Gothic, adorned with numerous statues and reliefs by Peter Vischer and was looked upon as one of the greatest
achievements of German art.
The old castle (Kaiserschloss) sets high upon a rock on the north side of the town and received its modern form mainly
during the reign of the emperor Friedrich I.  It was carefully restored to its original appearance in 1854-1856, and part of
the interior was fitted up as a royal residence with apartments for the families of the German emperor and of the king of
Bavaria. It contained two late Romanesque chapels. The castle was a favorite residence of German sovereigns in the late
middle ages, and the imperial regalia were kept here from 1424 to 1796. Near it are the remains of the burg of the
Hohenzollerns, the principal existing part of which was the chapel of St Walpurgis. Not far away stood the Luginsland, a
stronghold with four corner turrets, said to have been built by the burghers in 1367 as a watch-tower .
The Germanic national museum was established in an old Carthusian monastery and had developed into one of the largest
and most important cultural institutions in Germany. It included a gallery which mainly housed German works of the 15th
and 16th centuries, including masterpieces by Holbein, Wohlgemuth, Dürer and others. The municipal library contained
about 2000 manuscripts and 80,000 printed books, some of which were of great rarity.
The town Rathaus was erected in 1616-1619 but incorporated parts of a 14th century building. It contained frescoes by
Durer and other ancient treasures. The fascinating buildings in town included the houses of the old patrician families as
well as the dwellings of Albert Durer, Hans Sachs, the cobbler-poet, and Johann Palm, the patriotic bookseller who was
shot by order of Napoleon in 1806.
There were statues of Durer, Sachs, Melanchthon, founder of the grammar- school, navigator Martin Behaim, and Peter
Henlein, the inventor of the watch; The streets were enriched with several fountains, including the famous Schone Brunnen
(from 1385-1396 and in the form of a large Gothic pyramid adorned with statues of the seven electors, the nine worthies,
and Moses and the prophets), and the Gansemenenchen or goose-mannikin, a bronze figure by Pankratz Labenwolf. On
the way to the St John cemetery, which contains the graves of Durer, Sachs, Behaim and other Nürnbergers, were the
famous Krafft's Stations, seven pillars bearing stone reliefs of the Passion which ranked among his finest works.
During the Thirty Years' War it did not always succeed in preserving its policy of neutrality.
Frequent quartering of Imperial, Swedish and League soldiers, war-contributions, demands for arms,
semi-compulsory presents to commanders of the warring armies and the cessation of trade all caused
irreparable damage to the city. The population, which in 1620 had been over 45,000, sank to 25,000.
The Frauenkirche possessed fine old stained-glass windows, paintings by Michael Wohlgemuth and the Tuchersche altar,
one of the finest works of the Nuremberg school about the middle of the 15th century. The church was restored in
1878-1881. Other churches were those of St Jacob, founded about 1,200 and of St Aegidius.
Nürnberg was destroyed in the Allied bombing of World War II. In just one 53 minute raid, over 6000 “blockbuster”
high explosive bombs and over a million firebombs were dropped on  Nürnberg, destroying over six centuries of history in
less than an hour.