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117-1012: Würzburg is situated approximately 110 km west-northwest of Nuremberg and 120 km east-southeast of Frankfurt am Main . The population as of 2019 is approximately 130,000 residents. Würzburg is famous for its partly rebuilt and reconstructed old town and its Würzburger Residenz , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The regional dialect is East Franconian German .   Duchy of Franconia (to 1168) [REDACTED] Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg , 1168–1803 [REDACTED] Electorate of Bavaria , 1803–1805 [REDACTED] Grand Duchy of Würzburg , 1805–1814 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Bavaria , 1814–1871 [REDACTED] German Empire , ( Kingdom of Bavaria ), 1871–1918 [REDACTED] German Reich , 1918–1919 [REDACTED] Würzburg Soviet Republic , 1919 [REDACTED] German Reich , 1919–1945 [REDACTED] American-occupied zone , 1945–1949 [REDACTED]   Germany , 1949–present A Bronze Age ( Urnfield culture ) refuge castle ,

234-427: A pogrom . They were burned at the stake or expelled, and a marketplace was built over the former Jewish quarter. The plague returned to the city in 1405, 1435, 1437, 1482, 1494, 1520, and 1534. The largest growth of Nuremberg occurred in the 14th century. Charles IV 's Golden Bull of 1356 , naming Nuremberg as the city where newly elected kings of Germany must hold their first Imperial Diet, made Nuremberg one of

351-521: A university hospital in Erlangen (Universitätsklinikum Erlangen), Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm , Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg and the newly founded University of Technology Nuremberg . The Nuremberg exhibition centre ( Messe Nürnberg ) is one of the biggest convention center companies in Germany and operates worldwide. Nuremberg Castle , its medieval old town and

468-433: A bit drier whereas July tends to have more rainfall. Nuremberg has been a destination for immigrants. 50.1% of the residents had an immigrant background in 2022 (counted with MigraPro). Nuremberg for many people is still associated with its traditional gingerbread ( Lebkuchen ) products, sausages, and handmade toys. Pocket watches — Nuremberg eggs — were made here in the 16th century by Peter Henlein . Only one of

585-595: A centre of Nazi ideals. The 1934 rally was filmed by Leni Riefenstahl , and made into a propaganda film called Triumph des Willens ( Triumph of the Will ). At the 1935 rally, Hitler specifically ordered the Reichstag to convene at Nuremberg to pass the Nuremberg Laws which revoked German citizenship for all Jews and other non-Aryans. The Nazi Oberbürgermeister of the city, Willy Liebel , embarked upon

702-502: A considerable time, even though no formal right to independence existed. These cities were typically located in small territories where the ruler was weak. They were the exception among the multitude of territorial towns and cities. Cities of both latter categories normally had representation in territorial diets , but not in the Imperial Diet. Free imperial cities were not officially admitted as individual Imperial Estates to

819-604: A few cases, such as in Cologne, the former ecclesiastical lord continued to claim the right to exercise some residual feudal privileges over the Free City, a claim that gave rise to constant litigation almost until the end of the Empire. Over time, the difference between Imperial Cities and Free Cities became increasingly blurred, so that they became collectively known as "Free Imperial Cities", or "Free and Imperial Cities", and by

936-418: A good third of German market research agencies are also located in the city. The Nuremberg International Toy Fair , held at the city's exhibition centre , is the largest of its kind in the world. Nuremberg is Bavaria 's second largest city after Munich , and a popular tourist destination for foreigners and Germans alike. It was a leading city 500 years ago, but 90% of the town was destroyed in 1945 during

1053-414: A larger extent than was Dresden in a firebombing the previous month. Today the whole of the old town is sited as a cultural heritage site after decades of rebuilding and reconstructions. On 3 April 1945, Würzburg was occupied by the U.S. 12th Armored Division and the U.S. 42nd Infantry Division in a series of frontal assaults masked by smokescreens. The battle continued until the last German resistance

1170-494: A native of Nuremberg, created woodcuts of the first maps of the stars of the northern and southern hemispheres, producing the first printed star charts, which had been ordered by Johannes Stabius . Around 1515 Dürer also published the "Stabiussche Weltkarte", the first perspective drawing of the terrestrial globe. Printers and publishers have a long history in Nuremberg. Many of these publishers worked with well-known artists of

1287-481: A program of urban architectural renewal that he felt befitted one of the centers of Nazi pageantry. The aim was to restore the city center to the medieval look of centuries past by eliminating late nineteenth-century styling. Among the buildings he slated for demolition was the Grand Synagogue of Nuremberg . He felt that this "foreign" building with its Moorish revival architecture could not be reconciled with

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1404-425: A say in the government of the city, were the citizens or burghers, the smaller, privileged section of the city's permanent population whose number varied according to the rule of citizenship of each city. There were exceptions, such as Nuremberg , where the patriciate ruled alone. To the common town dweller – whether he lived in a prestigious Free Imperial City like Frankfurt, Augsburg or Nuremberg, or in

1521-438: A small market town such as there were hundreds throughout Germany – attaining burgher status ( Bürgerrecht ) could be his greatest aim in life. The burgher status was usually an inherited privilege renewed pro-forma in each generation of the family concerned but it could also be purchased. At times, the sale of burgher status could be a significant item of town income as fiscal records show. The Bürgerrecht

1638-606: A state after the war due to its special position in divided post-war Germany. Regensburg was, apart from hosting the Imperial Diet , a most peculiar city: an officially Lutheran city that was the seat of the Catholic prince-bishopric of Regensburg, its prince-bishop and cathedral chapter. The Imperial City also housed three Imperial abbeys: St. Emmeram , Niedermünster and Obermünster . They were five immediate entities fully independent of each other existing in

1755-414: A strong standing in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Items manufactured in the area include electrical equipment, mechanical and optical products, motor vehicles, writing and drawing paraphernalia, stationery products and printed materials. The city is also strong in the fields of automation, energy and medical technology. Siemens is still the largest industrial employer in the Nuremberg region but

1872-505: A two Michelin Star -rated restaurant, Essigbrätlein. Like many European cities, Nuremberg offers a pedestrian-only zone covering a large portion of the old town, which is a main destination for shopping and specialty retail, including year-round Christmas stores where tourists and locals alike can purchase Christmas ornaments , gifts, decorations, and additions to their toy Christmas villages . The Craftsmen's Courtyard, or Handwerkerhof,

1989-536: Is Bavaria's second-largest opera orchestra after the Bavarian State Opera 's Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich. Nuremberg is the birthplace of Albrecht Dürer and Johann Pachelbel . 1. FC Nürnberg is the most famous football club of the city and one of the most successful football clubs in Germany . Nuremberg was one of the host cities of the 2006 FIFA World Cup . The first documentary mention of

2106-471: Is another tourist shopping destination in the style of a medieval village. It houses several local family-run businesses which sell handcrafted items from glass , wood , leather , pottery , and precious metals . The Handwerkerhof is also home to traditional German restaurants and beer gardens. The Pedestrian zones of Nuremberg host festivals and markets throughout the year, the best known being Christkindlesmarkt , Germany's largest Christmas market and

2223-417: Is influenced by its inland position and higher altitude. Winters are changeable, with either mild or cold weather: the average temperature is around −3 °C (27 °F) to 4 °C (39 °F), while summers are generally warm, mostly around 13 °C (55 °F) at night to 25 °C (77 °F) in the afternoon. Precipitation is evenly spread throughout the year, although February and April tend to be

2340-462: Is mentioned in a donation by Duke Hedan II to bishop Willibrord , dated 1 May 704, in castellum Virteburch . The Ravenna Cosmography lists the city as Uburzis at about the same time. The name is presumably of Celtic origin, but based on a folk etymological connection to the German word Würze "herb, spice", the name was Latinized as Herbipolis in the medieval period. The first diocese

2457-427: Is now Switzerland with cities like Bern, Zürich and Luzern, but also cities like Ulm, Nuremberg and Hamburg in what is now Germany possessed substantial hinterlands or fiefs that comprised dozens of villages and thousands of subject peasants who did not enjoy the same rights as the urban population. At the opposite end, the authority of Cologne, Aachen, Worms, Goslar, Wetzlar, Augsburg and Regensburg barely extended beyond

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2574-508: Is now estimated at 126,033. Würzburg is mainly known as an administrative centre. Its largest employers are the Julius-Maximilians-University and the municipality. The largest private employers are Brose Fahrzeugteile followed by Koenig & Bauer , a maker of printing machines. Würzburg is also the capital of the German wine region Franconia which is famous for its mineral-rich dry white wines, especially from

2691-705: Is surrounded by hills. To the west lies the 266-meter Marienberg and the Nikolausberg (359 m) to the south of it. The Main flows through Würzburg from the southeast to the northwest. Würzburg is divided into 13 Stadtbezirke which are additionally structured into 25 boroughs . The following overview shows the boroughs and their numbers allocated to the 13 municipalities. 01 Altstadt 02 Zellerau 03 Dürrbachtal 04 Grombühl 05 Lindleinsmühle 06 Frauenland 07 Sanderau 08 Heidingsfeld 09 Heuchelhof 10 Steinbachtal 11 Versbach 12 Lengfeld 13 Rottenbauer Wurzburg's 2023 population

2808-513: Is surrounded on three sides by the Nürnberger Reichswald  [ de ] , a large forest, and in the north lies Knoblauchsland  [ de ] ( garlic land ), an extensive vegetable growing area and cultural landscape. The city forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring cities of Fürth , Erlangen and Schwabach , which is the heart of an urban area region with around 1.4 million inhabitants, while

2925-529: The Großen Freiheitsbrief ('Great Charter of Freedom'), including town rights , Imperial immediacy ( Reichsfreiheit ), the privilege to mint coins, and an independent customs policy – almost wholly removing the city from the purview of the burgraves. Nuremberg soon became, with Augsburg , one of the two great trade-centers on the route from Italy to Northern Europe. In 1298, the Jews of

3042-706: The Kristallnacht pogroms in 1938, many Jewish houses and shops were raided, looted, or destroyed. The contents of two synagogues were stolen or destroyed. Many Jews were imprisoned and tortured by the Gestapo . Between November 1941 and June 1943, Jews from the city were sent to the Nazi concentration camps in Eastern Europe. From April 1943 to March 1945 a subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp

3159-843: The Africa Festival in May, the Mozart Festival in June/July, and the Kiliani Volksfest in mid-July. NBA Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki was born and grew up in Würzburg. Nowitzki and numerous other German national team players started their careers at the local Baskets Würzburg club that plays in the Basketball Bundesliga as of 2016. In the past, the club played in international competitions such as

3276-575: The Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The three other Free Cities became constituent states of the new German Empire in 1871 and consequently were no longer fully sovereign as they lost control over defence, foreign affairs and a few other fields. They retained that status in the Weimar Republic and into Nazi Germany , although under Hitler it became purely notional. Due to Hitler's distaste for Lübeck and its liberal tradition,

3393-748: The Eurocup . Würzburg is also home to the football teams Würzburger Kickers and Würzburger FV playing in the Fußball-Bayernliga . SV Würzburg 05 is a swimming and water polo club in the German Water Polo League . Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia . The administration of the Landkreis Würzburg (district) is also located in

3510-520: The Fugger and Welser families from Augsburg , although on a slightly smaller scale. The state of affairs in the early 16th century , increased trade routes elsewhere and the ossification of the social hierarchy and legal structures contributed to the decline in trade. During the Thirty Years' War , frequent quartering of Imperial, Swedish and League soldiers, the financial costs of the war and

3627-628: The German Peasants' War . Richard Wagner obtained the position of chorusmaster at the city’s theater in 1833 through his brother, Albert, and finished his first opera, Die Feen (The Fairies), there that year (see Misplaced Pages article on Richard Wagner). Some of the city's "100 churches" survived intact. In style they range from Romanesque ( Würzburg Cathedral ), Gothic ( Marienkapelle ), Renaissance ( Neubaukirche  [ de ] ), Baroque ( Stift Haug Kirche  [ de ] ) to modern (St. Andreas). Major festivals include

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3744-487: The Holy Roman Empire , the collective term free and imperial cities (German: Freie und Reichsstädte ), briefly worded free imperial city ( Freie Reichsstadt , Latin : urbs imperialis libera ), was used from the 15th century to denote a self-ruling city that had a certain amount of autonomy and was represented in the Imperial Diet . An imperial city held the status of imperial immediacy , and

3861-574: The Imperial Diet until 1489, and even then their votes were usually considered only advisory ( votum consultativum ) compared to the benches of the electors and princes. The cities divided themselves into two groups, or benches, in the Imperial Diet, the Rhenish and the Swabian benches. These same cities were among the 85 free imperial cities listed on the Reichsmatrikel of 1521,

3978-551: The Nuremberg rallies . The rallies were held in 1927, 1929 and annually from 1933 through 1938. A number of buildings and large gathering areas known collectively as the Nazi Party Rally Grounds , some of which were not finished, were designed by Albert Speer and were constructed solely for these assemblies. After Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933 the Nuremberg rallies became huge Nazi propaganda events,

4095-809: The Pegnitz , which carries the name Regnitz from its confluence with the Rednitz in Fürth onwards ( Pegnitz → Regnitz → Main → Rhine → North Sea ), and on the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal , that connects the North Sea to the Black Sea . Lying in the Bavarian administrative region of Middle Franconia , it is the largest city and unofficial capital of the entire cultural region of Franconia . The city

4212-680: The Perpetual Imperial Diet was located, were represented by various Regensburg lawyers and officials who often represented several cities simultaneously. Instead, many cities found it more profitable to maintain agents at the Aulic Council in Vienna, where the risk of an adverse judgment posed a greater risk to city treasuries and independence. The territory of most Free Imperial Cities was generally quite small but there were exceptions. The largest territories formed in what

4329-718: The Silvaner grape. Würzburger Hofbräu brewery also locally produces a well-known pilsner beer. Würzburg is home to the oldest pizzeria in Germany. Nick di Camillo opened his restaurant named Bier- und Speisewirtschaft Capri on 24 March 1952. Camillo received the honour of the Italian Order of Merit . In 2017, the GDP per inhabitant was €62,229, placing the district 13th out of 96 districts (rural and urban) in Bavaria (overall average: €46,698). Following World War II, Würzburg

4446-643: The War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War and restrictions of imports and exports deprived the city of many markets for its manufactures. The Bavarian elector, Charles Theodore , appropriated part of the land obtained by the city during the Landshut War of Succession , to which Bavaria had maintained its claim; Prussia also claimed part of the territory. Realising its weakness,

4563-562: The Würzburg Conference is a name given to the meeting of representatives of the smaller German states in 1859 to devise some means of mutual support. The conference, however, had no result. Würzburg was bombarded and taken by the Prussians in 1866 when it ceased to be a fortress. In the early 1930s, around 2,000 Jews lived in Würzburg, which was also a rabbinic centre. The Nazi Party in 1933 achieved total control . During

4680-469: The advance of French troops required their removal to Regensburg and thence to Vienna . In 1349 the members of the guilds unsuccessfully rebelled against the patricians in a Handwerkeraufstand ('Craftsmen's Uprising'), supported by merchants and some by councillors, leading to a ban on any self-organisation of the artisans in the city, abolishing the guilds that were customary elsewhere in Europe;

4797-537: The second Black Death pandemic in 1437, and the First Margrave War (1449–1450) led to a severe fall in population in the mid-15th century. Siding with Albert IV , Duke of Bavaria-Munich , in the War of the Succession of Landshut of 1503–1505, led the city to gain substantial territory, resulting in lands of 25 sq mi (64.7 km ), making it one of the largest imperial cities. During

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4914-508: The 50 free imperial cities that took part in the Imperial Diet of 1792. They are listed according to their voting order on the Rhenish and Swabian benches. By the time of the Peace of Westphalia, the cities constituted a formal third "college" and their full vote ( votum decisivum ) was confirmed, although they failed to secure parity of representation with the two other colleges. To avoid

5031-659: The Austrian House of Raabs . With the extinction of their male line around 1189, the last Raabs count's son-in-law, Frederick I of the House of Hohenzollern , inherited the burgraviate in 1193. From the late 12th century to the Interregnum (1254–1573), however, the power of the burgraves diminished as the Hohenstaufen emperors transferred most non-military powers to a castellan, with the city administration and

5148-599: The Celtic Segodunum , and later a Roman fort, stood on the hill known as the Leistenberg, the site of the present Fortress Marienberg . The former Celtic territory was settled by Alamanni in the 4th or 5th century later by the Franks in the 6th to 7th. Würzburg was the seat of a Merovingian duke from about 650. It was Christianized in 686 by Irish missionaries Kilian , Kolonat and Totnan . The city

5265-597: The Diet could vote a second and a third simplum , in which case each member's contribution was doubled or tripled. At the time, the free imperial cities were considered wealthy and the monetary contribution of Nuremberg, Ulm and Cologne for instance were as high as that of the Electors ( Mainz , Trier , Cologne , Palatinate , Saxony , Brandenburg ) and the Dukes of Württemberg and of Lorraine . The following list contains

5382-524: The Empire was slower than that of the secular and ecclesiastical princes. In the course of the 13th and 14th centuries, some cities were promoted by the emperor to the status of Imperial Cities ( Reichsstädte ; Urbes imperiales ), essentially for fiscal reasons. Those cities, which had been founded by the German kings and emperors in the 10th through 13th centuries and had initially been administered by royal/imperial stewards ( Vögte ), gradually gained independence as their city magistrates assumed

5499-737: The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806. By 1811, all of the Imperial Cities had lost their independence – Augsburg and Nuremberg had been annexed by Bavaria , Frankfurt had become the center of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt , a Napoleonic puppet state , and the three Hanseatic cities had been directly annexed by France as part of its effort to enforce the Continental Blockade against Britain. Hamburg and Lübeck with surrounding territories formed

5616-697: The Kingdom of Bavaria, during the period of Jewish emancipation in the German Confederation . The antisemitic communal violence began on August 2, 1819, in Würzburg and soon reached the outer regions of the German Confederation. Many Jews were killed, and much Jewish property was destroyed. In 1848, Catholic bishops held the Würzburg Bishops' Conference , a forerunner of later German and Austrian conferences. By distinction,

5733-865: The Middle Ages, Nuremberg fostered a rich, varied, and influential literary culture. The cultural flowering of Nuremberg in the 15th and 16th centuries made it the centre of the German Renaissance . In 1525 Nuremberg accepted the Protestant Reformation , and in 1532 the Nuremberg Religious Peace was signed there, preventing war between Lutherans and Catholics for 15 years. During the Princes' 1552 revolution against Charles V , Nuremberg tried to purchase its neutrality, but Margrave Albert Alcibiades , one of

5850-578: The Nurnberg Card which allows for free use of public transportation and free entry to all museums and attractions in Nuremberg for a two-day period. Notable foods available in the city include lebkuchen , gingerbread , local beer , Schäufele , and Nürnberger Rostbratwürstchen , or Nuremberg grilled sausages. There are hundreds of restaurants for all tastes, including traditional Franconian restaurants and beer gardens . It also has vegan , vegetarian and organic restaurants. Nuremberg boasts

5967-640: The Reformation, and of the sixty Free Imperial Cities that remained at the Peace of Westphalia , all but the ten Alsatian cities which were annexed by France during the late 17th century continued to exist until the mediatization of 1803. The Empire had approximately 4000 towns and cities, although fewer than 400 of these had more than a thousand inhabitants around the year 1600. During the Late Middle Ages, fewer than 200 of these places ever enjoyed

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6084-497: The anti-Jewish pogrom known as Kristallnacht on 10 November 1938, the two remaining synagogues and numerous Jewish-owned shops were burned to the ground. Of the 91 Jews in Germany who met their deaths as a result of Kristallnacht , 26 (including ten suicides) were in Nuremberg. Between 2,000 and 3,000 of Nuremberg's Jews fled from Germany. By 1941, only about 1.800 remained, over 1,600 of whom were rounded-up and transported to various extermination camps where they were killed. At

6201-528: The areas west of the Rhine were annexed to France by the revolutionary armies, suppressing the independence of Imperial Cities as diverse as Cologne, Aachen, Speyer and Worms. Then, the Napoleonic Wars led to the reorganization of the Empire in 1803 (see German Mediatisation ), where all of the free cities but six – Hamburg , Bremen , Lübeck , Frankfurt, Augsburg , and Nuremberg  – lost their independence and were absorbed into neighboring territories. Under pressure from Napoleon,

6318-420: The case of Hamburg in 1708, the situation was considered sufficiently serious to warrant the dispatch of an Imperial commissioner with troops to restore order and negotiate a compromise and a new city constitution between the warring parties. The number of Imperial Cities shrank over time until the Peace of Westphalia. There were more in areas that were very fragmented politically, such as Swabia and Franconia in

6435-424: The cessation of trade caused irreparable damage to the city and a near-halving of the population. In 1632, the city, occupied by the forces of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden , was besieged by the army of Imperial general Albrecht von Wallenstein . The city declined after the war and recovered its importance only in the 19th century, when it grew as an industrial centre. Even after the Thirty Years' War, however, there

6552-449: The city asked to be incorporated into Prussia but Frederick William II refused, fearing to offend Austria, Russia and France. At the Imperial diet in 1803, the independence of Nuremberg was affirmed, but on the signing of the Confederation of the Rhine on 12 July 1806, it was agreed to hand the city over to Bavaria from 8 September, with Bavaria guaranteeing the amortisation of the city's 12.5 million guilder public debt. After

6669-423: The city revolted several times against the prince-bishop. In 1397, King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia visited the city and promised its people the status of a free Imperial City . However, the German ruling princes forced him to withdraw these promises. In 1400, the bishop's troops decisively defeated the citizenry in the Battle of Bergtheim  [ de ] , and the city fell under his control permanently until

6786-442: The city walls. The constitution of Free and Imperial Cities was republican in form, but in all but the smallest cities, the city government was oligarchic in nature with a governing town council composed of an elite, hereditary patrician class, the so-called town council families ( Ratsverwandte ). They were the most economically significant burgher families who had asserted themselves politically over time. Below them, with

6903-407: The city was rebuilt after the war and was to some extent restored to its pre-war appearance, including the reconstruction of many of its medieval buildings. Much of this reconstructive work and conservation was done by the organisation ' Old Town Friends Nuremberg '. Today 25% of Nürnbergs buildings date to before World War II and the old town is a declared protected area, so the northeastern half of

7020-441: The city was temporary, such as wintering noblemen, foreign merchants, princely officials, and so on. Urban conflicts in Free Imperial Cities, which sometimes amounted to class warfare, were not uncommon in the Early Modern Age, particularly in the 17th century (Lübeck, 1598–1669; Schwäbisch Hall, 1601–1604; Frankfurt, 1612–1614; Wezlar, 1612–1615; Erfurt, 1648–1664; Cologne, 1680–1685; Hamburg 1678–1693, 1702–1708). Sometimes, as in

7137-421: The city's walls , with their many towers, are among the most impressive in Europe. Staatstheater Nürnberg is one of the five Bavarian state theatres, showing operas , operettas , musicals , and ballets (main venue: Nuremberg Opera House ), plays (main venue: Schauspielhaus Nürnberg ), as well as concerts (main venue: Meistersingerhalle ). Its orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg ,

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7254-427: The city, for example Grossgründlach , Kraftshof , Thon , and Neunhof in the north-west; Ziegelstein in the northeast, Altenfurt and Fischbach in the south-east; and Katzwang , Kornburg in the south. Langwasser is a modern suburb. Nuremberg has an oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb ) with a certain humid continental influence ( Dfb ), categorized in the latter by the 0 °C isotherm. The city's climate

7371-421: The city, in 1050, mentions Nuremberg as the location of an imperial castle between East Francia and the Margraviate of the Nordgau of Bavaria . From 1050 to 1572 the city expanded and rose dramatically in importance due to its location on key trade-routes. King Conrad III , reigning as King of Germany from 1137 to 1152, established the Burgraviate of Nuremberg , with the first burgraves coming from

7488-484: The city, including historic tours, those that are Nazi -focused, underground and night tours, walking tours , sightseeing buses, self guided tours, and an old town tour on a mini train. Nuremberg also offers several parks and green areas, as well as indoor activities such as bowling , rock wall climbing , escape rooms , cart racing , and mini golf , theaters and cinemas, pools and thermal spas . There are also six nearby amusement parks . The city's tourism board sells

7605-418: The city. After fire destroyed the castle in 1420 during a feud between Frederick IV (from 1417, Margrave of Brandenburg ) and the duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt , the city purchased the ruins and the forest belonging to the castle (1427), resulting in the city's total sovereignty within its borders. Through these and other acquisitions the city accumulated considerable territory. The Hussite Wars (1419–1434),

7722-541: The coming years. There are over 175 registered places of accommodation in Nuremberg, ranging from hostels to luxury hotels , bed and breakfasts , to multi-hundred room properties. Nuremberg was an early centre of humanism, science, printing, and mechanical invention. The city contributed much to the science of astronomy . In 1471 Johannes Mueller of Königsberg (Bavaria), later called Regiomontanus , built an astronomical observatory in Nuremberg and published many important astronomical charts. In 1515, Albrecht Dürer ,

7839-618: The course of the Napoleonic Wars , it became the seat of the Electorate of Würzburg (until September 1806), the later Grand Duchy of Würzburg . In 1814, the town became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria and a new bishopric was created seven years later, as the former one had been secularized in 1803 (see also Reichsdeputationshauptschluss ). In 1817, Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer founded Schnellpressenfabrik Koenig & Bauer (the world's first steam-driven printing press manufacturer). The Hep-Hep riots from August to October 1819 were pogroms against Ashkenazi Jews , beginning in

7956-444: The course of the Middle Ages, cities gained, and sometimes – if rarely – lost, their freedom through the vicissitudes of power politics. Some favored cities gained charters by gift. Others purchased one from a prince in need of funds. Some won it by force of arms during the troubled 13th and 14th centuries and others lost their privileges during the same period by the same way. Some cities became free through

8073-576: The day to produce books that could also be considered works of art. In 1470 Anton Koberger opened Europe's first print shop in Nuremberg. In 1493, he published the Nuremberg Chronicles , also known as the World Chronicles ( Schedelsche Weltchronik ), an illustrated history of the world from the creation to the present day. It was written in the local Franconian dialect by Hartmann Schedel and had illustrations by Michael Wohlgemuth , Wilhelm Pleydenwurff , and Albrecht Dürer. Others furthered geographical knowledge and travel by map making. Notable among these

8190-454: The diminutive Free Imperial City of Isny was the equal of the Margraviate of Brandenburg . Having probably learned from experience that there was not much to gain from active, and costly, participation in the Imperial Diet's proceedings due to the lack of empathy of the princes, the cities made little use of their representation in that body. By about 1700, almost all the cities with the exception of Nuremberg, Ulm and Regensburg, where by then

8307-492: The dissolution of the fiefdom. During the German Peasants' War , a local town council member, Tilman Riemenschneider refused to obey an order by Konrad von Thüngen , the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg to fight the revolting peasants. This resulted in 8,000 peasants killed on 4 June 1525 just outside Würzburg. Riemenschneider and the entire town council was incarcerated and tortured in Marienberg Fortress . The Würzburg witch trials , which occurred between 1626 and 1631, are one of

8424-492: The district of Rezatkreis (named for the river Franconian Rezat ), which was renamed to Middle Franconia ( German : Mittelfranken ) on 1 January 1838. The first German railway, the Bavarian Ludwigsbahn , from Nuremberg to nearby Fürth , was opened in 1835. The establishment of railways and the incorporation of Bavaria into Zollverein (the 19th-century German Customs Union), commerce and industry opened

8541-433: The districts in the 1797–1801 sample was early industrial; the economic structure of the region around Nuremberg was dominated by metal and glass manufacturing, reflected by a share of nearly 50% handicrafts and workers. In the 19th century Nuremberg became the "industrial heart" of Bavaria with companies such as Siemens and MAN establishing a strong base in the city. Nuremberg is still an important industrial centre with

8658-468: The duties of administration and justice; some prominent examples are Colmar , Haguenau , and Mulhouse in Alsace or Memmingen and Ravensburg in upper Swabia . The Free Cities ( Freie Städte ; Urbes liberae ) were those, such as Basel , Augsburg , Cologne or Strasbourg , that were initially subjected to a prince-bishop and, likewise, progressively gained independence from that lord. In

8775-520: The département of Bouches-de-l'Elbe , and Bremen the Bouches-du-Weser . When the German Confederation was established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen, and Frankfurt were once again made Free Cities, this time enjoying total sovereignty as all the members of the loose Confederation. Frankfurt was annexed by Prussia in consequence of the part it took in

8892-564: The end of the war in 1945, there were no Jews left in Nuremberg. There are many Stolpersteine installed in the streets of the city; these commemorate Jews who were persecuted by the Nazi regime. During the Second World War , Nuremberg was the headquarters of Wehrkreis (military district) XIII, and an important site for military production, including aircraft, submarines, and tank engines. A subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp

9009-417: The fall of Napoleon , the city's trade and commerce revived; the skill of its inhabitants together with its favourable situation soon made the city prosperous, particularly after its public debt had been acknowledged as a part of the Bavarian national debt. Having been incorporated into a Catholic country, the city was compelled to refrain from further discrimination against Catholics, who had been excluded from

9126-537: The first German driverless subway lines, automatically moving railcars. Nuremberg Airport ( Flughafen Nürnberg "Albrecht Dürer" ) is the second-busiest airport in Bavaria after Munich Airport , and the tenth-busiest airport in the country. Institutions of higher education in Nuremberg include the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg ( Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg ), Germany's 11th-largest university, with campuses in Erlangen and Nuremberg and

9243-458: The gingerbread capital of the world. Visitors to the Christmas market can peruse the hundreds of stalls and purchase local wood crafts and nutcrackers while sampling Christmas sweets and traditional Glühwein . In 2017, Nuremberg saw a total of 3.3 million overnight stays, a record for the town, and is expected to have surpassed that in 2018, with more growth in tourism anticipated in

9360-598: The image that he strove to create, and he succeeded in having the building completely demolished around the time of the Party rally in September 1938. Many examples of Nazi architecture can still be seen in the city. The city was also the headquarters of the Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher , the Nazi Party Gauleiter of Franconia , a vicious antisemite and the publisher of Der Stürmer . During

9477-511: The imperial civil and military tax-schedule used for more than a century to assess the contributions of all the Imperial Estates in case of a war formally declared by the Imperial Diet. The military and monetary contribution of each city is indicated in parentheses. For instance Cologne (30-322-600) means that Cologne had to provide 30 horsemen, 322 footsoldiers and 600 gulden. These numbers are equivalent to one simplum . If need be,

9594-702: The larger Nuremberg Metropolitan Region has a population of approximately 3.6 million. It is the largest city in the East Franconian dialect area (colloquially: "Franconian"; German: Fränkisch ). Nuremberg and Fürth were once connected by the Bavarian Ludwig Railway , the first steam-hauled and overall second railway opened in Germany (1835). Today, the U1 of the Nuremberg Subway runs along this route. Subway lines U2 and U3 are

9711-705: The largest peace-time mass trials. In Würzburg, under Bishop Philip Adolf , an estimated 600 to 900 alleged witches were burnt. In 1631, Swedish King Gustaf Adolf invaded and ended the witch burnings. In 1720, the foundations of the Würzburg Residence were laid. In 1796, the Battle of Würzburg between Habsburg Austria and the First French Republic took place. The city passed to the Electorate of Bavaria in 1803 but, two years later, in

9828-568: The late 15th century, many cities included both "Free" and "Imperial" in their name. Like the other Imperial Estates, they could wage war, make peace, and control their own trade, and they permitted little interference from outside. In the later Middle Ages, a number of Free Cities formed City Leagues ( Städtebünde ), such as the Hanseatic League or the Alsatian Décapole , to promote and defend their interests. In

9945-697: The leaders of the revolt, attacked the city without a declaration of war and dictated a disadvantageous peace. At the 1555 Peace of Augsburg , the possessions of the Protestants were confirmed by the Emperor, their religious privileges extended and their independence from the Bishop of Bamberg affirmed, while the 1520s' secularisation of the monasteries was also approved. Families like the Tucher , Imhoff or Haller ran trading businesses across Europe, similar to

10062-472: The most frequent sites of the Imperial Diet (after Regensburg and Frankfurt ), the Diets of Nuremberg from 1211 to 1543, after the first Nuremberg diet elected Frederick II as emperor. Because of the many Diets of Nuremberg, the city became an important routine place of the administration of the Empire during this time and a somewhat 'unofficial capital ' of the Empire. In 1219 Emperor Frederick II granted

10179-413: The municipal courts handed over to an Imperial mayor (German: Reichsschultheiß ) from 1173/74. The strained relations between the burgraves and the castellans, with gradual transferral of powers to the latter in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, finally broke out into open enmity, which greatly influenced the history of the city. The city and particularly Nuremberg Castle would become one of

10296-547: The need was devised to compensate Prussia for territorial losses under the Greater Hamburg Act , and Lübeck was annexed to Prussia in 1937. In the Federal Republic of Germany which was established after the war, Bremen and Hamburg, but not Lübeck, became constituent states , a status which they retain to the present day. Berlin , which had never been a Free City in its history, received the status of

10413-649: The old Imperial Free City had to be largely reconstructed. Between 1945 and 1946, German officials involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity were brought before an international tribunal in the Nuremberg trials. The Soviet Union had wanted these trials to take place in Berlin . However, Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the trials for specific reasons: Following the trials, in October 1946, many prominent German Nazi politicians and military leaders were executed in Nuremberg . The same courtroom in Nuremberg

10530-510: The possibility that they would have the casting vote in case of a tie between the Electors and the Princes, it was decided that these should decide first and consult the cities afterward. Despite this somewhat unequal status of the cities in the functioning of the Imperial Diet, their full admittance to that federal institution was crucial in clarifying their hitherto uncertain status and in legitimizing their permanent existence as full-fledged Imperial Estates. Constitutionally, if in no other way,

10647-593: The rights of citizenship. Catholic services had been celebrated in the city by the priests of the Teutonic Order , often under great difficulties. After their possessions had been confiscated by the Bavarian government in 1806, they were given the Frauenkirche on the Market in 1809; in 1810 the first Catholic parish was established, which in 1818 numbered 1,010 people. In 1817, the city was incorporated into

10764-721: The southwest, than in the North and the East where the larger and more powerful territories, such as Brandenburg and Saxony, were located, which were more prone to absorb smaller, weaker states. In the 16th and 17th century, a number of Imperial Cities were separated from the Empire due to external territorial change. Henry II of France seized the Imperial Cities connected to the Three Bishoprics of Metz , Verdun and Toul . Louis XIV seized many cities based on claims produced by his Chambers of Reunion . That way, Strasbourg and

10881-652: The status of Free Imperial Cities, and some of those did so only for a few decades. The Imperial military tax register ( Reichsmatrikel ) of 1521 listed eighty-five such cities, and this figure had fallen to 65 by the time of the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. From the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 to 1803, their number oscillated at around 50. Unlike the Free Imperial Cities, the second category of towns and cities, now called "territorial cities", were subject to an ecclesiastical or lay lord, and while many of them enjoyed self-government to varying degrees, this

10998-561: The ten cities of the Décapole were annexed. When the Old Swiss Confederacy gained its formal independence from the Empire in 1648, it had been de facto independent since 1499, the independence of the Imperial Cities of Basel , Bern , Lucerne , St. Gallen , Schaffhausen , Solothurn , and Zürich was formally recognized. With the rise of Revolutionary France in Europe, this trend accelerated enormously. After 1795,

11115-643: The three most important cities of the Empire. Charles was the patron of the Frauenkirche , built between 1352 and 1362 (the architect was likely Peter Parler ), where the Imperial court worshipped during its stays in Nuremberg. The royal and Imperial connection grew stronger in 1423 when the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the Imperial regalia to be kept permanently in Nuremberg, where they remained until 1796, when

11232-403: The town were accused of host desecration and 698 of them were killed in one of the many Rintfleisch massacres . Behind the massacre of 1298 was also the desire to combine the northern and southern parts of the city, which were divided by the Pegnitz . The Jews of the German lands suffered many massacres during the plague pandemic of the mid-14th century. In 1349, Nuremberg's Jews suffered

11349-544: The town. Nuremberg Nuremberg ( / ˈ nj ʊər ə m b ɜːr ɡ / NURE -əm-burg ; German: Nürnberg [ˈnʏʁnbɛʁk] ; in the local East Franconian dialect: Nämberch [ˈnɛmbɛrç] ) is the largest city in Franconia , the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria , and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. Nuremberg sits on

11466-399: The unions were then dissolved, and the oligarchs remained in power while Nuremberg was a free city (until the early-19th century). Charles IV conferred upon the city the right to conclude alliances independently, thereby placing it upon a politically equal footing with the princes of the Empire . Frequent fights took place with the burgraves without, however, inflicting lasting damage upon

11583-594: The void created by the extinction of dominant families, like the Swabian Hohenstaufen . Some voluntarily placed themselves under the protection of a territorial ruler and therefore lost their independence. A few, like Protestant Donauwörth , which in 1607 was annexed to the Catholic Duchy of Bavaria , were stripped by the Emperor of their status as a Free City – for genuine or trumped-up reasons. This rarely happened after

11700-550: The war. After World War II , many medieval-style areas of the town were rebuilt. Beyond its main attractions of the Imperial Castle , St. Lorenz Church , and Nazi Trial grounds , there are 54 different museums for arts and culture, history, science and technology, family and children, and more niche categories, where visitors can see the world's oldest globe (built in 1492), a 500-year-old Madonna, and Renaissance-era German art. There are several types of tours offered in

11817-436: The way to greater prosperity. In 1852, there were 53,638 inhabitants: 46,441 Protestants and 6,616 Catholics. It subsequently grew to become the more important industrial city of Southern Germany, one of the most prosperous towns of southern Germany, but after the Austro-Prussian War it was given to Prussia as part of their telegraph stations they had to give up. In 1905, its population, including several incorporated suburbs,

11934-539: Was 291,351: 86,943 Catholics, 196,913 Protestants, 3,738 Jews and 3,766 members of other religions. The Fränkischer Kurier was published as a local newspaper in Nuremberg. Nuremberg held great significance during the Nazi German era. Because of the city's relevance to the Holy Roman Empire and its position in the centre of Germany, the Nazi Party chose the city to be the site of huge Nazi Party conventions:

12051-403: Was a heavily fortified city that was captured in a fierce battle lasting from 17 to 20 April 1945 by the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division , 42nd Infantry Division and 45th Infantry Division , which fought house-to-house and street-by-street against determined German resistance, causing further urban devastation to the already bombed and shelled buildings. Despite this intense degree of destruction,

12168-625: Was a late flowering of architecture and culture; secular Baroque architecture is exemplified in the layout of the civic gardens built outside the city walls, and in the Protestant city's rebuilding of St. Egidien church , destroyed by fire at the beginning of the 18th century, considered a significant contribution to the baroque church architecture of Middle Franconia. After the Thirty Years' War, Nuremberg attempted to remain detached from external affairs, but contributions were demanded for

12285-451: Was a precarious privilege which might be curtailed or abolished according to the will of the lord. Reflecting the complex constitutional set-up of the Holy Roman Empire, a third category, composed of semi-autonomous cities that belonged to neither of those two types, is distinguished by some historians. These were cities whose size and economic strength was sufficient to sustain a substantial independence from surrounding territorial lords for

12402-442: Was born here and was organist of St. Sebaldus Church . The academy of fine arts situated in Nuremberg is the oldest art academy in central Europe and looks back to a tradition of 350 years of artistic education. Nuremberg is also famous for its Christkindlesmarkt (Christmas market), which draws well over a million shoppers each year. The market is famous for its handmade ornaments and delicacies. Free Imperial City In

12519-622: Was defeated on 5 April 1945. Würzburg spans the banks of the river Main in the region of Lower Franconia in the north of the state of Bavaria, Germany. The heart of the town is on the locally eastern ( right ) bank. The town is enclosed by the Landkreis Würzburg but is not a part of it. Würzburg covers an area of 87.6 square kilometres and lies at an altitude of around 177 metres. Of the total municipal area, in 2007, building area accounted for 30%, followed by agricultural land (27.9%), forestry/wood (15.5%), green spaces (12.7%), traffic (5.4%), water (1.2%) and others (7.3%). The centre of Würzburg

12636-413: Was destroyed in a firestorm in which 5,000 people perished. Over the next 20 years, the buildings of historical importance were painstakingly and accurately reconstructed. The citizens who rebuilt the city immediately after the end of the war were mostly women – Trümmerfrauen ("rubble women") – because the men were either dead or still prisoners of war . On a relative scale, Würzburg was destroyed to

12753-467: Was founded by Saint Boniface in 742 when he appointed the first bishop of Würzburg , Saint Burkhard . The bishops eventually created a secular fiefdom, that extended to Eastern Franconia in the 12th century. The city was the site of several Imperial Diets , including the one of 1180, at which Henry the Lion , duke of Saxony and Bavaria, was banned for three years from the Empire and his duchy Bavaria

12870-490: Was handed over to Otto of Wittelsbach . Massacres of Jews took place in 1147 and 1298. The first church on the site of the present Würzburg Cathedral was built as early as 788 and consecrated that same year by Charlemagne ; the current building was constructed from 1040 to 1225 in Romanesque style. The University of Würzburg was founded in 1402 and re-founded in 1582 by Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn . The citizens of

12987-429: Was local and not transferable to another city. The burghers were usually the lowest social group to have political power and privilege within the Holy Roman Empire. Below them was the disenfranchised urban population, maybe half of the total in many cities, the so-called "residents" ( Beisassen ) or "guests": smaller artisans, craftsmen, street venders, day laborers, servants and the poor, and those whose residence in

13104-520: Was located here, and extensively used slave labour . On 2 January 1945, the medieval city centre was systematically bombed by the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Army Air Forces and about ninety percent of it was destroyed in only one hour, with 1,800 residents killed and roughly 100,000 displaced. In February 1945, additional attacks followed. In total, about 6,000 Nuremberg residents are estimated to have been killed in air raids. Nuremberg

13221-561: Was located in the city, with dozens of prisoners, mostly from Poland and the Soviet Union . On 16 March 1945, about 90% of the city was destroyed in 17 minutes by firebombing from 225 British Lancaster bombers during a World War II air raid. Würzburg became a target for its role as a traffic hub and to break the spirit of the population. All of the city's churches, cathedrals, and other monuments were heavily damaged or destroyed. The city centre, which mostly dated from medieval times,

13338-538: Was navigator and geographer Martin Behaim , who made the first world globe. Sculptors such as Veit Stoss , Adam Kraft and Peter Vischer are also associated with Nuremberg. Composed of prosperous artisans, the guilds of the Meistersingers flourished here. Richard Wagner made their most famous member, Hans Sachs , the hero of his opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel

13455-500: Was occupied by the U.S. Army's 1st and 3rd infantry divisions, as well as an Army hospital staff and various other U.S. military units. The last U.S. troops were withdrawn in 2008, concluding more than 60 years of U.S. presence in Würzburg. Notable artists who lived in Würzburg include poet Walther von der Vogelweide (12th and 13th centuries), philosopher Albertus Magnus and painter Matthias Grünewald . Sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider (1460–1531) served as mayor and participated in

13572-480: Was subordinate only to the Holy Roman Emperor , as opposed to a territorial city or town ( Landstadt ), which was subordinate to a territorial prince  – be it an ecclesiastical lord ( prince-bishop , prince-abbot ), or a secular prince ( duke ( Herzog ), margrave , count ( Graf ), etc.). The evolution of some German cities into self-ruling constitutional entities of

13689-706: Was the venue of the Nuremberg Military Tribunals , organized by the United States as occupying power in the area. In order to come to terms with the role Nuremberg played during the Third Reich , the city established the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award in 1995, awarded every two years to individuals or groups defending human rights worldwide. Several old villages now belong to

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