Nuremberg

a city of Bavaria. It is situated on both sides of the Pegnitz, about ninety miles northwest of Munich. It is an important city commercially, and is one of the most interesting towns in Germany. It is mentioned in history as early as 1050. It was one of the free towns of the empire. A massive stone wall, strengthened at intervals by towers, still encircles the city. It crosses the river on stone arches and is pierced by ten gates. A dry ditch one hundred feet wide and thirty-five feet deep follows the outside. Before the invention of gunpowder and the use of cannon the city was impregnable to any ordinary assault. The river within is spanned by several bridges. A suspension bridge is said to be the first structure of the kind in Europe. Greater pains have been taken to preserve the medieval features of the city than elsewhere.

Nuremberg was celebrated for artists in glass, wood, bronze, and iron, as well as for its school of painting. Albrecht Durer and other noted artists have earned for the city the reputation of being the cradle of art in southern Germany. The private houses are remarkable for the richness of their woodwork. Tall, sharp gables turned toward the street are adorned with niches and statues, indicative of the wealth and artistic taste of their former inhabitants. The crookedness of the streets adds very much to the picturesqueness of the town. There are several notable Gothic churches, including St. Lawrence, Lady Church, and St. Sebaldus. They have magnificent portals, windows of rich stained glass, altar pieces, pulpits, and candelabra. A bronze sarcophagus of St. Sebald stands in the church which bears his name. It weighs 1,600 pounds. It was designed by Peter Vischer. It cost him and his sons thirteen years' labor. Statues of the twelve apostles occupy as many niches around the sarcophagus containing the relics of the saints. Twelve smaller figures of church fathers and prophets stand above these. Below are over seventy representatives of genii, mermaids, and animals. It is considered by the historian the most exquisite gem of German art.

The public squares are small, as might be expected in so compact a city. There are a number of notable statues. The fountain known as the Schone-Brunnen has the form of a Gothic pyramid sixty-three feet in height. It was executed 1385-96. It is adorned with statues of the seven electors of that time and with those of nine heroes: Charlemagne, Godfrey of Bouillon, Clovis, Judas Maccabaeus, Joshua, David, Caesar, Alexander, and Hector. Above these rise Moses and the seven prophets. It is considered the most artistic fountain in Europe. Another fountain, called the Goose Fountain, stands in the goose market. It represents a peasant holding a goose under each arm. A stream of water pours from the bill of each goose.

A town library of 80,000 volumes contains priceless specimens of early printing, illustrated with the wooden cuts for which Nuremberg was famous. The house in which Durer was born is marked by a suitable inscription. The Durer house, in which he lived, has been converted into a museum. The city hall dates from 1616. There are several museums. The most noted is the Germanic Museum founded in 1852. It occupies an old Carthusian monastery. The basements or cloisters, extensive vaulted apartments, contain a complete collection of medieval tombstones and architectural ornaments. Effigies in stone, for which that period was noted, have been gathered here from many an old churchyard. Others are represented by casts. In the rooms above there are numerous interesting collections, including flint and bronze weapons, tools, and trinkets, specimens of tiling, Nuremberg stoves, locks with keys so heavy that one is all that a man would wish to carry, the original model of Luther's monument at Worms, and a complete collection of armor, firearms, and weapons. Possibly the most interesting, though by no means the most pleasing, object of interest in the city is the old burg or castle. This castle stands on a sandstone rock at the north end of the town. It was the original stronghold about which the city was built. A linden tree in the court is thought to have been planted by the wife of Emperor Henry II about 1024. It marks the spot where the emperor used to hold his court.

A pentagonal tower contains a collection of the horrible instruments of torture with which the city fathers used to extort information from supposed criminals. All the stories one may have read of medieval torture seem credible in the presence of iron boots for crushing the foot, pulleys for stretching the joints, racks for torturing the body, funnels for filling the body with water to the verge of bursting, braziers to be filled with hot coals on which to roast unfortunate victims, hot pincers for tearing the flesh, and other instruments too numerous and even horrid to mention. The famous Iron Maiden is kept here. It has the form of a draped female figure of large size. The front is composed of two doors that meet at the middle and are hinged at the sides. The prisoner destined to the embrace of the iron maiden was placed inside. As the doors closed spikes placed in them penetrated the eyes and heart of the unfortunate victim. A trap door is shown in the tower beneath which is a well of great depth. Sharpened bars, like scythes, were set in its walls, so that a victim cast in from above would be cut literally to pieces ere his body reached the river flowing far below.

The railroad stations are without the old walls. Large suburbs have grown up. The manufacturing establishments for which the city is noted are located in these suburbs. Printing, lithographing, typefounding, and bookbinding are important industries. There are manufactures also of toys, colors, clocks, watches, railway carriages, machinery, electrical apparatus, musical instruments, scientific apparatus, etc. Like other cities of Bavaria, Nuremberg is noted for its beer. The immense lead-pencil factories of the Fabers are located in a village six miles away. The toys of Nuremberg are chiefly such as boys delight in-metal soldiers, swords, railway trains, etc. The German rival in this line is Sonnenberg, a center for dolls and toys coveted by girls. The first watches small enough for the pocket were made at Nuremberg.

Longfellow's poem of Nuremberg gives an excellent description of this quaint city.

See Toys; DURER; SACHS.