Nürnberg
English conventional Nuremberg
second city (after Munich) of the Land (state) of Bavaria in southern Germany. The city is located on the Pegnitz River, where it emerges from the uplands of Franken (Franconia).
The city was first mentioned in official records as Noremberg, in 1050, but had its origin in a castle built about 10 years earlier by the German emperor Henry III, duke of Bavaria. A settlement developed around the castle, and in 1219 the city was granted its first charter. The city soon gained full independence, becoming a free imperial city.
By the latter part of the 13th century Nürnberg was no longer solely a fortified settlement; it had developed into a city of craftsmen and patricians, and manufacturing and commerce had became the foremost sources of income. In 1471 the painter Albrecht Dürer was born in Nürnberg. During the age of Dürer and his contemporaries—the painter Michael Wohlgemuth (his teacher), the wood sculptor Veit Stoss, the brass founder Peter Vischer, the stonecutter and sculptor Adam Kraft, as well as the cobbler-poet Hans Sachs—the arts flourished in Nürnberg as never before or since. In 1525 the tenets of the Reformation were adopted by the city, and in 1526 the scholar and Protestant leader Philipp Melanchthon founded one of Germany's first Gymnasiums, an institution that continues to bear his name. Together with the humanist Willibald Pirkheimer, the astronomer Regiomontanus, and the cosmographer Martin Behaim, the designer of the first globe, Melanchthon laid the foundation for Nürnberg's reputation as a centre of learning in the developing Western world.
In the early 17th century Nürnberg was at the height of its economic and cultural development; yet by 1806 it had lost its status as a free imperial city and, much indebted, became part of the kingdom of Bavaria. The shift of world trade routes from the land to the sea, following the discovery of America and of the seaway to India, and the devastations of the Thirty Years' War were the initial causes of this decline. Not until the dawn of the industrial age, when the first German railway (linking Nürnberg and Fürth) was opened, on Dec. 7, 1835, did the city begin to flourish again as a modern industrial centre.
In the 1930s Nürnberg became a centre of the Nazi Party and in 1935 gave its name to the anti-Semitic Nürnberg decrees. The city was severely damaged during World War II. It was captured by U.S. troops and was the scene of the Allied trials of German war criminals. Since then, much of the city has been redeveloped.
The inner city, divided into two parts by the Pegnitz, is encircled by a wall completed in 1452, and the older, inner, line of fortifications, dating from 1140 and 1320, can still be traced. Unfortunately, only a few historic buildings survived the massive bomb damage wrought toward the end of World War II, although some have been restored. The most important are the Gothic churches of St. Sebald and St. Lorenz, and, adjoining the market place, the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). The Heilig Geist Spital (Hospital Church of the Holy Ghost), rising above the Pegnitz, is now home for the elderly. In addition, there are the Mauthalle (customs house) on the Königstrasse, the Weinstadel (wine storage house), the Renaissance city hall, the Schöne Brunnen (a fountain), the Fembohaus (museum of the old city), and towering above them all, the imperial castle and its stables and granary, the latter now a youth hostel.
Nürnberg is a major producer of fine mechanical and optical goods and electrical apparatus. Also important are the motor vehicle, printing, chemical, wood and paper, and textile industries. When the International Toy Fair was established after World War II, the city became the world centre for this industry.
Nürnberg is a focal point for numerous highways and is connected to the Munich–Berlin and Frankfurt–Cologne autobahns. It is situated on the old Ludwigs-Danube-Main Canal, but there is also a modern harbour linked with the Main-Danube-Canal, which, when completed in the early 1990s, will join the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers. Nürnberg's airport, north of the city, provides connections, particularly to the international airport in Frankfurt am Main.
There are a number of institutions of higher learning in and around the city, including the Ohm Polytechnic Institute for Applied Technology and part of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. The Academy of Arts, founded in 1662, is the oldest in Germany. Other institutions are the Pegnesische Blumenorden, a literary society founded in 1644, and the city's public library, which is more than 600 years old. The city is the home of the unique Germanisches Nationalmuseum, chartered in 1852. It features a complete collection of Dürer's printed graphic works. Pop. (1989 est.) 480,078.
Copyright © 1994-2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Sources
- Encylopedia Britannica 2002, Expanded Edition DVD
Web