Nurnberger

Interior of St. Lorenz Church

Joe says Nurnberger a lot now, similar to the character in 30 Rock who repeatedly says his own last name, Hornberger. This show is funny and weird, if you haven’t seen it, get on it, because it routinely cracks me up. Alright moving on . . . . to Nurnberg, Germany. This is yet another city that English speakers decided to translate, you may know it as Nuremburg, and while this confusing, I checked, and they are in fact the same city.

(Joe’s) Work brought us to the city at 10am. To make it there at this time we had to wake up at 5:30am, leaving ample time to accomplish various preparatory steps before we left. When we arrived we were quite tired, a little hungry (since we breakfasted at 6), and VERY cold because it was -7 degrees Celsius outside. Our attitudes coupled with the fact that we had visited the city in December during the Christkindlmarkt made us reluctant to tour around the city. We agreed to have lunch and then go back to Regensburg.

Destruction from WWII Bombing at St. Sebaldus

En route to lunch we popped into the first of 3 churches we would visit that day, St. Lorenz. This was necessary as it was not even 11:30 yet, and most places were not yet open for lunch. Inside the church, we discovered that giant cathedrals built hundreds of years ago tend not to have heat. So being inside the building shaves maybe 2 degrees off the temperature, making it a balmy -5 degrees Celsius. After lunch, we visited 2 more churches, Frauenkirche Nurnberg and St. Sebaldus.

St. Sebaldus inside St. Sebaldus Church

Each of these churches has managed to rebuild their glory following the destruction of World War II. Nurnberg was a hotbed of Nazi activity and it is estimated that some 6,000 were killed during the air raids, which leveled parts of the city. St. Sebaldus has a series of photograph posters, detailing the how the church rose from the ashes. Also inside St. Sebaldus church is St. Sebaldus, inside a richly detailed reliquary. I love reliquaries and pilgrimage churches, and there are 2 high on my list; Canterbury and Santiago de Compostela. More fun facts, Johann Pachelbel, as in Pachelbel’s Canon, as in I walked down the aisle to that song, was an organist in St. Sebaldus for over a decade.

Frauenkirche Nurnberg

Frauenkirche Nurnberg had a contentious history long before parts of it were destroyed by the Allies. It was built on the site of a Jewish synagogue following a pogrom in 1349. This parallels further treatment of Jews, during the Nazi regime, as Nurnberg was where all their rights as German citizens were revoked in 1935. To make amends for this treatment, the first of many war trials were held in Nurnberg (The Nuremberg Trials). I digress, back to Fraunkirche  . . . . It was designed to be the holding place of the Holy Roman Emperor’s crown and scepter, and was designed to appear as a giant case. Inside, it is small, further evidence indicating it wasn’t designed to be a large parish church, but a place for housing the symbols of the Holy Roman Emperor’s power.

Moving away from churches, Nurnberg has other tourist attractions. The city is famous for their Nurnberger Rostbrautwurst, which can only be produced in the city of Nurnberg (to earn the name). Joe ordered his to go in a bun, like a sandwich.

Nurnberg Castle

Nurnberg is a medieval city, still surrounded by the old fortifications. The wall is open to the public, with many places to walk along or through it. On top of a hill stands the old medieval castle, still protected by the walls. It is very quaint looking, and has a pleasant panoramic view of the city. The castle is now a museum and for a moderate price you can spend a couple hours following a guide around the castle tour.

And finally, Nurnberg is the home of Albrecht Durer. Unless your name is Megan Fox, you may be wondering who this guy is, and the answer is complicated. I knew of him from his prints, made by applying ink to wood or metal carvings and making copies. However, if you judge him only on these works, you will be missing huge facets of his other works. He painted and made altar pieces, and made star charts, and wrote treatises on mathematics and anatomy. Truly, a renaissance man, though I guess that is only funny if you know he is from the renaissance. Regardless, check it out for yourself, here is a link to a complete collection of his work http://www.albrecht-durer.org/