Nu′remberg or Nürn′berg, a city in Middle Franconia, a province of Bavaria, stands on the River Pegnitz, 95 miles from Munich. It is one of the most interesting cities of Germany, with its old walls, gates, bridges and fountains. The castle, built by Conrad II and Frederick Barbarossa, is famed for its paintings and wood carvings. The most notable buildings are St. Lawrence church (1274), St. Sebald’s church (1225), the Italian Renaissance town hall (1622), the gymnasium (1526), the new law courts, the Germanic Museum and the library of 70,000 volumes. The city has no foreign commerce outside of that in toys, known as Nuremberg wares, but has a large home trade in metal and wood specialties, bone carvings, type, lead pencils and chemicals. Nuremberg was first heard of in 1050, and became a free city in 1219. The Hohenzollerns sold their rights to it in 1417, and it immediately began to rise as the German home of arts and inventions and became a center of commerce. The discovery of the Cape passage to India and the Thirty Years’ War proved the city’s ruin, and although it retained its independence until 1803, it entered the Rhenish Confederation, and in 1806 became one of the cities of Bavaria. Population 332,651.
