Nuremberg

Overview

Nuremberg is a walled medieval city under a hilltop castle, home to Germany's best-known Christmas market and to a Franconian food and beer culture distinct from Bavaria's south.

Culture

Franconian cooking is its own tradition and locals distinguish it firmly from Bavarian. The Nürnberger Rostbratwurst is finger-sized and origin-protected, eaten three to a bread roll at street windows or by the six and twelve on pewter plates in the old taverns. Schäufele, roast pork shoulder with a crackling crust, is the winter plate. Lebkuchen gingerbread is a year-round craft here rather than a seasonal novelty, and is far better from the traditional bakers than from decorative tins. The beer runs darker and maltier than in southern Bavaria. Festivals: Christkindlesmarkt, through Advent, Bardentreffen open-air music festival, in summer, Blue Night, the city's museum night, in spring, Franconian beer festivals in early summer. Museums: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg Toy Museum, Albrecht Dürer's House, Documentation Centre, former rally grounds, Memorium Nuremberg Trials.

Practical Info

Safety: Nuremberg is a comfortable, low-crime city and ordinary care is enough — the usual attention to bags around the main station and in Christmas-market crowds, which are dense enough for pickpocketing to be the one realistic risk. The old town's cobbles and the climb to the castle are uneven underfoot and slippery when wet, which matters more than it sounds in December. Mulled wine at an outdoor market in freezing weather affects people faster than they expect; dress for standing still rather than for walking. Language: German, with a strong Franconian accent; English is widely spoken in hotels, museums and the centre, less so in traditional taverns and the outer districts. Currency: The euro. Cards are increasingly accepted but Germany remains more cash-oriented than its neighbours — carry notes for market stalls, small taverns and the Christmas market, where many stands are cash-only.

Travel

Nuremberg is Franconia's principal city and reads quite differently from Munich two hours south — smaller, older in its bones, and with a beer and food culture of its own that Franconians are quick to distinguish from Bavarian. The old town sits inside a largely intact ring of medieval walls with the imperial castle on the rock above it, and although much of what stands was rebuilt after the war, it was rebuilt to the medieval street plan, so the effect at ground level is coherent rather than pastiche. The essentials cluster tightly: the castle and its views over the roofs, the market square with its ornate fountain and the Frauenkirche's mechanical clock, the half-timbered houses along the Pegnitz, and the artist Dürer's house on the slope below the castle. Nuremberg also holds two museums of real weight — the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, the largest museum of German cultural history anywhere, and a toy museum that reflects centuries of the city's trade in tin, dolls and model railways. Then there is the food: the finger-sized Nürnberger Rostbratwurst, sold three in a roll from stands and by the dozen on pewter in the old taverns, Lebkuchen gingerbread with its own protected tradition, and dark Franconian beer. In December the Christkindlesmarkt fills the main square and the city is at its busiest and most atmospheric. Spring and early autumn are the calmer seasons, and the city is compact enough to see in two days.

Frequently asked questions

Diplomatic missions in Nuremberg

2 embassies based in this city, grouped by region.