"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.
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."
We drove to Nuremberg and did a walking tour of the city. We started out at the
Handwerkerhof (Craftsman Court).
A miniature medieval city in the typical artisan Franconian half-timbered style, old Nuremberg guilds show their skills: you can see the Lebküchnern (Gingerbread Maker), the Töpferin (Pottery Maker) , the Zinngießer (Pewter Maker), Glasschleifer (Glass Blower), Ledermacherin (leather maker) , the Goldschmied (goldsmith) or a Puppenmacherin (Puppet-maker) at work.
This is the Glass-blower's shop.
In the window:
As we walk up the Konigstrasse on a gorgeous March afternoon:
After that was the St-Lorenz-Kirche (St. Lawrence Church)which was built between the 13th and 15th Centuries.
We continued along Königstrasse to the Museum Bridge.
If you look close up, it says:
"Gaststätte heilig geist spital wein stuben"which according to Babelfish means:
"Restaurant holy spirit hospital wine rooms"
blink...blink...
Anyway, continuing on we saw "Rub a dub dub, a skeleton, a dog and naked people in a tub"
Next we arrive at the Hauptmarkt (Central Market). At Christmas time they have a Christkindlmarkt but today it is a farmer's market.
With many flowers and fruits and whatnot....
You can see the Schonner Bronnen (Beautiful Fountain) in the background of the picture above.
Here is a close up:
Closeup of a church in the Hauptmarkt:
I wanted to take the girls to a museum, but they are not real keen on that idea...so I took them to the
Spielzueg Museum (Toy Museum). I figured that would get the least resistance. There I found out if you buy a ticket to one of the museums, you get free entry to many of the others. However, our parking "meter" was running out so we just did this museum. My favorite was the miniature kitchens they had.
"Nuremberg has always been a toy city of world renown, its tradition stretching from the "Dockenmacher" (doll makers) of mediaeval times to outstanding tin figure manufacturers and numerous tin toy producers in the industrial age, up to the International Toy Fair, the world's most important trade fair of its kind. Nuremberg Toy Museum in the very heart of the Old Town is part of this rich cultural heritage. Its comprehensive and exceptionally high quality collection spans the time from antiquity to the present day, with a strong focus on the past two centuries. Since opening in 1971, the museum, which is based on the collection of Lydia and Paul Bayer, has attracted more than four million visitors from all over the world.
The four floors behind the Renaissance façade of a Nuremberg town residence encompass the entire variety of historic toys. Wooden toys await visitors on the ground floor. On the first floor, dolls and exquisite dolls' houses allow a glimpse of life in centuries past. The world's most comprehensive collection of E. P. Lehmann toys tells the fascinating history of this famous German family company. A "Tin World" is presented on the second floor. Vehicles, toy train sets and steam engines are testimony to the exceptional role played by Nuremberg toy producers in the field of technical toys.
Recent toy history may be found on the top floor, in an attractively designed new exhibition space. Exhibits go from the makeshift toys of the immediate post-war years to the high-tech toys of today: Barbie, Lego and Playmobil, as well as Schuco cars (displayed in a fifties exhibition stand), train sets, fantasy figures and computer games on CD-ROM."
We liked the Retro Robots and bought this reproduction:
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