Old Town Public Guided Walking Tour, Nuremberg

Hauptmarkt: the heart of Nuremberg

The Hauptmarkt is Nuremberg's main square, a market since the 14th century and the stage for the famous Christmas market in Advent. The tour starts at 14:00 in front of the Tourist Information under the arcades at number 18, and the guide begins with the two landmarks of the square: the Schöner Brunnen, a 19-metre Gothic fountain of painted and gilded figures with a brass ring in its railing that visitors turn for luck, and the Frauenkirche, the Gothic church whose mechanical clock, the Männleinlaufen, performs every day at noon.

The square is a ten-minute walk from Nuremberg main station, which makes it easy to join the walk on a day trip from Munich, about an hour away by fast train. The guide uses the market to explain how the city grew rich as a free imperial city on the trade routes between Italy and the north, and how the Pegnitz river just south of the square divides the Old Town into two halves.

The Old City Hall and St. Sebaldus Church

A short walk uphill brings you to the Altes Rathaus, the Old City Hall, whose long Renaissance facade of 1616 to 1622 with its three great portals faces the church. Beneath it lie the medieval dungeons where prisoners awaited trial, and the guide tells of the councils, courts and festivities that took place here when the city governed itself under the emperor.

Opposite stands St. Sebaldus Church, the oldest parish church in Nuremberg, begun in the 13th century and named after the hermit who became the city's patron saint. Its two towers, the brass shrine of the saint inside and the sandstone sculptures on the outside are highlights of any Nuremberg sightseeing tour. Entrance tickets to churches are not included, so the guide describes the interior from the doorway and you can return afterwards on your own.

Tiergärtnertorplatz and the Imperial Castle

The route continues up the hill to Tiergärtnertorplatz, the most photographed square in Nuremberg, where half-timbered houses, a tower of the city wall and the old gate frame a cobbled space beneath the walls of the Kaiserburg, the Imperial Castle. The castle was one of the residences of the medieval emperors, and every ruler of the Holy Roman Empire was expected to hold a court here. The guide explains the castle's history and shows you where to look for the best panorama.

From the castle quarter you see the red tiled roofs, the church towers and the ring of walls with their towers that still enclose the Old Town, one of the longest surviving medieval wall circuits in Germany. This view is the moment many visitors on a Nuremberg walking tour remember best, and it is the natural place for photos before heading down toward the river.

The Albrecht Dürer House

Beside the square stands the Albrecht Dürer House, a tall half-timbered house of the 15th century where the Renaissance painter and printmaker lived and worked from 1509 until his death in 1528. It is one of the few artists' houses of the period to survive in Northern Europe, and today it is a museum with a reconstructed workshop. The guide stops outside to explain the painter's role in making Nuremberg a centre of art and printing.

Entry to the house is not included in the walk, but it is open to visitors most days and worth a visit after the tour if you have time; the guide tells you the opening hours and what to see inside. From here the route descends through quiet lanes toward the Pegnitz.

Weissgerbergasse, the lane of the tanners

Weissgerbergasse is a gently curving lane of about twenty half-timbered houses where the white tanners once worked leather, using the water of the river nearby. It survived the bombing of 1945 that destroyed most of the Old Town, which makes it the best place in Nuremberg to see what the medieval city really looked like, with painted facades, carved beams and courtyards behind the doors.

The guide explains the crafts and guilds of the old city and points out the hidden corners that most visitors walk past. The tour ends here or nearby after about 1.5 hours, a few minutes from the river bridges and the Hauptmarkt, so you can continue to a cafe, the castle or the museums on your own.