Nürnberg

In 1968 I earned my BM degree and set sail on the SS Hanseatic for Germany in August of that year. I chose Nürnberg as the place to further my studies. Although I had been to Europe twice before, I had never been to Nürnberg. I suppose I chose it because it was a historic city, not too big or too small, and it had a Conservatory of Music. I was young and naive about a lot of things, but somehow everything worked out splendidly. I immediately found a job working in a music store and studied with a fine teacher at the Conservatory. I have always loved this city and have long wanted to return as a tourist and enjoy it from that perspective. My three years here were some of the happiest of my life, also the most transformative. During my time here I discovered that my true calling was to be a coach/accompanist (and don't ask me why I hadn't figured that out already). I was also introduced to the German tradition of hiking, thanks to an older colleague in Musikhaus Soldan, Herr Georg Wolff. He showed me all the best places to go and we spent many a happy weekend marching through the countryside. The region north of the city is known as Die fränkische Schweiz (the Franconian Switzerland). It is an ideal enviornment for hiking with its thickly forested hills, ruined castles and charming villages. Marked trails criss-cross the entire area.
I booked a hotel in the old city, just north of the St. Sebald church, at the foot of the Imperial Castle. (One of my readers will know exactly where that is.) Nürnberg still retains much of its medieval character. After the fire bombing of the city during WWII, many of the important buildings were painstakingly reconstructed, as were the old city walls. New structures had to adhere to a strict code to fit into the aesthetic scheme of the city. Nürnberg was founded in 1040 (known then as 'Nourenberc'). The site was chosen because of a high hill, a perfect place to erect a defensible castle. The city became the meeting place of the Holy Roman Emperors and their governments for centuries. In the early 1340's the city defences, the walls and moat surrounding the city, were built. For a brief period Nürnberg was on the overland trade route from the East. It became fabulously wealthy and a center for arts and crafts, mostly gold and silver smiths as well as wood and stone carving. Some of the greatest masters lived and worked here. This is also the birthplace of the great German Renaissance artist Albrect Dürer. (As a matter of fact, his house is just down the street from my hotel.)
The local stone used for building is happily a sandstone with a reddish, light brown hue. All of the old city was built out of this pretty sandstone. Nürnberg sports two exquisite Gothic churches, St. Lorenz and St. Sebald (both Protestant) as well as the smaller Catholic Frauenkirche. All are gems of Gothic style. Nürnbergers resent that their fine city was chosen by AH to be the the symbol of the Aryan German nation during the Nazi era. It has always been, and still is, a progressive left-leaning worker's city. Unfortunately, Nürnberg was a prime target for the most destructive of Allied bombings and the city was reduced to ashes in 1944/45.
The photos show the Hauptmarkt with Sankt Sebald and two other views of the same church. Nürnberg is so beautiful. I am thrilled to be here again. It is, however, very crowded and, shockingly for Germany, a bit dirty. I think the clean-up crew just can't keep up.