FEW towns in Europe have preserved so much of the spirit of the Middle Ages as Nuremberg. Its history is pregnant with romance, and its annals of mediÆval art are of marked interest. Amsterdam recalls Rembrandt; Antwerp calls to mind Rubens, and with the town of Nuremberg, the student of painting associates its illustrious native, Albert Durer.

The craftsmen of this town were among the most skilful of any European nation during mediÆval times. Goldworkers, armourers, clock-makers, and artists in stained glass worked here in the days of the trade guilds. Brass was founded in this city at an early date. Nuremberg was famed, too, for its metalworkers and goldsmiths. It is still a town of industrious artificers.

The architecture of the churches is of the highest Gothic order; the faÇade of the Rathaus is a noble specimen of late Renaissance work; and the castle and fortifications are feudal structures of much historical interest. There are few towns that can compare with Nuremberg in the charm and variety of its memorials of the past.

We cannot be certain concerning the date of the founding of the town, but probably it was in existence in the tenth century. In the reign of Henry II., Nuremberg was already a place of some importance, and its prosperity advanced until it became one of the chief markets of Europe. The castle was the residence of many rulers of the country, and it was one of the favourite palaces of Henry IV.

In the thirteenth century, Nuremberg had a large number of Jews among its population, who enjoyed all the rights of citizens. But under Karl IV. a policy of oppression was adopted, and at a later period, the Jewish inhabitants were bitterly persecuted.

NUREMBERG. 1832.
NUREMBERG.
1832.

John Huss was received here by an enthusiastic populace; but when the reformer’s army laid waste the country, the people of Nuremberg valiantly withstood the enemy. When the wave of the Reformation swept the land, Nuremberg gave a welcome to Martin Luther, and his revised ritual of worship was used in the churches. Melanchthon also came to the town, and established a school there, though the institution was not successful. A statue of the “gentle” reformer was set up in Nuremberg.

Civil strife disturbed the town in 1552, but a period of peace followed, and a few years later saw the founding of the university.

The Thirty Years’ War brought disaster upon Nuremberg. The army of Wallenstein attacked the ancient walls, and the outer entrenchments which had been constructed by the inhabitants upon the rumour of war. Led by Gustavus, the soldiers and people of the town opposed the vast forces of Wallenstein that encompassed the fortifications in a series of camps.

Hunger and plague assailed the besieged within the gates, while without the foe cut off escape, and barred the entrance of food supplies. For weeks the siege endured. Thousands died from disease, thousands were slain by the enemy. In a valiant sally, Gustavus led his troops to the attack. The battle raged for hours, and both sides suffered terrible losses. Nuremberg might have fallen had Wallenstein been able to rally his hungry soldiers, but, as it was, he withdrew his force.

Let us now review the peaceful arts of the city. The record of Albert Durer’s life shows the character of a deeply religious man, devoted to his faith, and absorbed by his art. He was reared in Nuremberg, and was the son of a working goldsmith. Born in 1471, Durer was apprenticed at an early age to his father’s craft, in which, however, he did not excel, for his heart was set upon following the profession of a painter. His first master in the art was Wolgemut, whose portrait is one of Durer’s finest works. The young artist spent some time in Italy, studying, among other paintings, the work of Mantegna, and, on returning to his native town, he applied himself most industriously to his art.

Albert Durer’s pictures are scattered among the galleries of the world. Durer, in painting landscape, showed a singular modern feeling. In his portraits he was a realist, analytical in the use of his brush, and especially painstaking in painting fine hair, for which he used ordinary brushes with extreme dexterity, much to the amazement of Bellini.

In the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg there are five pictures by the master, and some copies of his works. The bulk of his paintings are in other galleries at Munich, Berlin, London, and elsewhere.

An interesting memorial of Albert Durer is the old gabled house in which he lived and worked. Here he toiled with the brush and the graver’s tools, and received as his guests the cultured men of the city. His life was simple and industrious, and his nature gentle and retiring. Durer had several pupils at Nuremberg, who carried on his tradition in painting and copper and wood engraving.

The art treasures of the churches are very numerous. St Sebald’s Church is a splendid Gothic pile, with many architectural triumphs, such as the highly decorated bride’s door, with its finely carved effigies, the high pillars, Krafft’s statuary and reliefs, and the crucifix by Stoss.

The splendid western door of the Frauenkirche must be seen by the visitor, for it is an instructive example of Gothic work of the richest design. St Lawrence has two figures, Adam and Eve, on its chief doorway; and some Scriptural reliefs adorn the entrance. The windows are beautifully painted.

There is a notable picture of “Christ and Mary” in the Imhoff Gallery.

There are several other churches in Nuremberg containing works of art, and offering study for the lover of architecture and painting. The work of the craftsmen of the Middle Ages is seen everywhere in these buildings, and a detailed description would fill a volume.

The Museum is in an ancient monastery, and in its numerous rooms will be found Roman antiquities, old metal work, pottery, furniture of the Middle Ages, weapons, a collection of books, some of them illustrated by Durer, and an array of paintings of the German school. A full and excellent catalogue is issued.

The castle, with its stirring chronicle, is a feudal fortress dominating the plain, and forming the chief rampart of the town’s defences. Walls and towers protect Nuremberg on every side, as in the ancient days of peril. The view from the towers is very remarkable, and from one of these points of outlook, one gains a long-remembered impression of the old town, with its towers and steeples, and the surrounding country, watered by the Pegnitz and clothed with forests. The fortifications were finished in the fifteenth century, and provided a strong protection to the town in time of siege.

Among the buildings of this “quaint old town of art and song,” as Longfellow describes it, the Rathaus must be visited. The west faÇade is very handsome Renaissance work by the Brothers Wolf, with three towers, and three ornate entrances. The fresco paintings within are the work of Durer and his pupils, but they are in poor preservation. There is a beautiful ceiling, by Beheim, in the council chamber. A fountain, with a statue of Apollo, by Peter Vischer, is in one of the courtyards. The god is splendidly modelled, and graceful, and the pedestal of the statue has several mythological figures.

The most pleasing quarters of the town for the lover of antiquity are below the FleischbrÜcke, where the ancient houses overhanging the stream are exceedingly quaint, the narrow alleys surrounding the Rathaus, and the castle and its environs. The fountain in the fruit market, Albert Durer’s house, the churches, and the Imhoff house should all be inspected if you wish to gain a comprehensive recollection of old and new Nuremberg.

Nuremberg was celebrated for its sculpture, an art that awakened here and in WÜrzburg at the Renaissance. While Donatello was living, Stoss, Krafft and Vischer were gaining repute as image-makers in stone, wood, and bronze. A volume has been published lately in France, “Peter Vischer et la Sculpture Franconienne,” by Louis RÉan, which tells the story of the rise of the Nuremberg craftsmen. Adam Krafft was no doubt an influence in the work of Albert Durer. The South Kensington Museum contains several examples of the work of these German artists.

We must not quit Nuremberg without recalling the great poet, Wolfram, who was born at Eschenbach, a village near the city. It was to Wolfram that Wagner owed the subjects for his two great works, “Parsifal” and “Lohengrin.”

Nuremberg stands high, on the verge of an ancient forest, long famous for its hunting. Its river is the Pegnitz, which flows through the town about its centre, and is crossed by several fine bridges. Besides its rambling lanes and main thoroughfares, there are several open spaces and squares; but the houses retain, for the greater part, their mediÆval air and irregularity of structure, with carved balconies, gables, and turrets. It is the second important town of Bavaria in point of population.