Nuremberg
a city in the Bavarian province of Middle Franconia, Germany; on the Pegnitz river; 95 miles N. by W. of Munich. It is the quaintest and most interesting town of Germany, on account of the wealth of its mediæval architecture. The Burg or royal palace, built (1024-1158) by Conrad II. and Frederick Barbarossa, is rich in paintings and wood-carvings. Among eight fine churches the two finest are St. Lawrence (1274-1477), with two noble towers 233 feet high, exquisite stained glass, the famous stone tabernacle (1495-1500) by Adam Krafft, and the wood-carvings of Veit Stoss; and St. Sebald's (1225-1377), with the superb shrine of Peter Vischer.
Other noteworthy objects are the Italian Renaissance town hall (1622); the new law courts (1877); the gymnasium, founded by Melanchthon (1526); the Germanic museum (1852); Albert Dürer's house; and the statues of him, Hans Sachs, and Melanchthon, with the "Victoria" or Soldiers' monument (1876).
Nuremberg wares include specialties of metal, wood, and bone carvings, and dolls, and about 200 factories produce chemicals, ultramarine, type, lead-pencils, beer, etc., and the town besides does a vast export trade in hops.
First heard of in 1050, Nuremberg was raised to the rank of a free imperial city by Frederick II. in 1219. In 1417 the Hohenzollerns sold all their rights to the magistracy. This put an end to the feuds which had hitherto raged between the burgrave and the municipality; and Nuremberg for a time became the chief home in Germany of the arts and of inventions-watches or "Nuremberg eggs," air-guns, globes, etc. In consequence of disputes in the latter part of the 18th century with Prussia, it entered into the Rhenish Confederation, and in 1806 was transferred to Bavaria.
Pop. (1916) 330,142.