[1] Kustos an der Stadtbibliothek und am stÄdtischen Archiv in NÜrnberg

[2] Note that the Prussian Imperial House in 1866 stipulated for the possession of the Kaiserburg, as it was called later, on the ground that it was once the residence of their ancestors.

[3] See Ch. V.

[4] “Hist. Frederick the Great,” vol. i., bk. ii., ch. v.

[5] Baring Gould, Germany.

[6] “This Karl IV. is the Kaiser who discovered the Well of Karlsbad known to tourists of this day: and made the Golden Bull, which I forbid all Englishmen to take for an agricultural prize animal, the thing being far other, as is known to several.—Carlyle.

[7] The new Council was to consist of eight artisans and thirty-four patricians. The artisans, however, only attended on special occasions. They had no real power. The Guilds were suppressed, and even such Unions as had existed before the Revolution were put under the control of the Council, who kept in their own hands the decision of even the smallest matters, which were wont to be decided in other towns by the Guilds.

Members of the Council had to be fathers of families. Of the thirty-four patrician members twenty-six were eligible for the office of Burgomeister. Two by two, one old and the other young, they held office by turn for four weeks. One of the duties of the younger was to be present at the function of torturing prisoners. The elder had to perform the office of asking the opinion of the house.

From the thirteen older men seven were chosen as a secret committee. From this committee three were chosen, and from this triumvirate two were chosen, the chief of whom was the first person in the town.

There was another, or Great, Council which varied in numbers, and was elected by the smaller Council from the patrician and leading and even from the lower houses. Members were elected for life, and had no powers of importance. They were consulted on questions of war, and when the smaller Council was elected. Then they assembled in the Rathaus Hall, and chose two out of the old Committee of seven. The smaller Council (with the eight artisans) then nominated three out of the eight who made up the original thirty-four. These five nominees then chose the small Council for the ensuing year. None of these electors might elect two years running, and no two might be of the same family. Those who were not re-elected to the Council became ordinary citizens again. Re-election was not usual.

[8] Ulman Stromer, the oldest of the Nuremberg chroniclers, died on April 1407. He was the first man to set up a paper mill (1390, at the entrance of the Pegnitz into the town, the first of the kind in Germany).

[9] Rooms 14 and 15.

[10] See pp. 6 and 116.

[11] Facing the north side of St. Sebalduskirche.

[12] In the Germanische Museum there is a very interesting and instructive collection of arms and weapons of all sorts. Rooms 49-52 and 80 and 81. Note that the rich towns were able to afford the latest and best artillery and guns, whilst the knights had to be content with old-fashioned arms as a rule.

[13] From Carlyle.

[14] See Theodor KÖrner’s well-known play on this subject.

[15] Wurtel, Histor. Nachrichten von der Judengemeinde der Reichstadt NÜrnberg.

[16] See pp. 37 and 270.

[17] See, for instance, the pictures in St. Lorenzkirche.

[18] Janssen.

[19] Carlyle.

[20] Berthold Volkamer, who took part in it, had the great hall in his house in the Dielingasse decorated with a representation of this tournament painted on linen. The Council, in 1624, had the life-size stucco-relief on the ceiling of the upper corridor of the Rathaus, executed by Heinrich and Hans Kuhn, based on this.

[21] Gardiner, “Thirty Years War.”

[22] “The Story of Kaspar Hauser.” Macmillan, 1893.

[23] Immediately after passing the arch labelled Vestnerthor, turn to the left. The open space of the plateau called the Freiung commands a very fine view of the city.

[24] It was by the following charter of 1422 that King Sigmund gave the Reichsburg over to the Council:—

“We hereby order and command the Burgomaster, Council, and citizens, as they are true and faithful subjects of us and of the Empire, that now and henceforth they shall build and fortify with gates, doors, walls, moats, and other buildings, this same fortress of us and the Empire, with its accessories within and without, and look after them without let or hindrance. Further, it is our will and pleasure as King of Rome that this same fortress of us and of the Empire, shall in no way be separated or divided from the town of Nuremberg. And when we ourselves or our successors are not residing in person at N., no one else shall inhabit the said castle, and we hereby decree that no one else shall command it save only the Council of the town of N., who shall keep it faithfully for our successors and the Empire, as the Emperor Charles our father of holy memory and likewise King Ruprecht of good memory wrote and ordered to our fore-fathers in the kingdom.”

[25] The original entrance to these passages cannot be determined now as the principal tower which might have been the last place of refuge and the extremest point of defence no longer exists. To-day the entrance is to be found in the Tower at the most westerly corner of the Castle grounds. We shall come to the subject of the subterranean passages in the next chapter.

[26] The skeletons of (probably) two twelfth-century Burggrafs were discovered here in the course of the recent excavations. We know also that a few members, male and female, of Patrician families were buried here in the sixteenth century.

[27] That at Eger is octagonal.

[28] We shall do well enough if we work down Winklerstrasse, and then strike across (l) the Haupt Markt, pass through Hans Sachs Gasse, across the Spital Platz, up the Neue Gasse, crossing Tucher Strasse and the top of Theresien Platz. After which, short turns first to the left and then to the right bring us into Tetzel Gasse.

[29] The Max-, Mohren-, Stern-, and Marien-gates are all quite modern.

[30] See “Military Architecture,” M. Viollet-Le-Duc.

[31] A bit of this crenelation may be seen to the east of the Walch Thor.

[32] The BrautthÜre of St. Sebald’s will occur to the reader in this connection.

[33] 1532. After a drawing by Jacopo de’ Barbari.

[34] Ring the bell for the Hausmeister who lives to the right of the door of the Great Hall.

[35] Note, pp. 69, 152.

[36] The fee for showing the dungeons and the secret passages is a matter for arrangement before starting.

[37] Cf. Arabian Nights. Twenty-Ninth Night.

[38] See Sir R. Burton’s note on the Thirty-First Night, Arabian Nights, 1. 293.

[39] The Iron Maiden is shown now in the Five-Cornered Tower. This is not, of course, its original position. Nor is it profitable to inquire how far the instruments shown are the actual original ones; for the collection of Torture Instruments, Rings, Pictures, Books, etc.; which used to be shown at Nuremberg, are now the property of the Earl of Shrewsbury.

[40] Cf. Plautus, Captivi, 888. Boius est, Boiam terit.

[41] It is interesting to note that most of the Nuremberg artists were essentially good men who drew their inspiration from religion—a fact that may afford food for reflection to those who nowadays declare so loudly that art has nothing to do with morals, that they incline to fall into the opposite error and suppose that it has everything to do with immorality.

[42] “It appears to have been the ancient practice of those masters, who furnished designs for the wood-engravers to work from, carefully to avoid all cross-hatchings, which, it is probable, were considered as beyond the power of the Xylographist to represent. Wolgemut perceived that, though difficult, this was not impossible; and in the cuts of the Nuremberg Chronicle, the execution of which, besides furnishing the designs, he doubtless superintended, a successful attempt was first made to imitate the bold hatchings of a pen-drawing, crossing each other, as occasion prompted the designer, in various directions. To him belongs the praise of having been the first who duly appreciated the powers of this art, and it is more than probable that he proved with his own hand, to the subordinate artists employed under him, the practicability of that style of workmanship which he acquired.”—Ottley, “History of Engraving.”

It should, however, be added that cross-hatching appears in Reuwick’s illustrations to Breydenbach’s “Pilgrimage” (1486).

[43] See p. 72.

[44] The originals of those which have been replaced are in the German Museum.

[45] Some smaller bronze pieces by or attributed to him will be found in the German Museum. These and his other works and those of his sons are fully discussed in my monograph “Peter Vischer.”

[46] For the life and miracles of St. Sebald see Ch. IX.

[47] Witz = skill in art.

[48] Running east from the south-east corner of the Hauptmarkt. The house was called “Zum gÜldenen BÄren” later.

[49] P. 76.

[50] Museum, room 33.

[51] “Schriften und Dichtungen,” vol. iv. p., 349 ff.

[52] Cf. Acta St. Sebaldi, ab auctore incerto incertÆ Ætatis.

[53] See the beautiful relief on the Sebaldusgrab (p. 210).

[54] The feast of St. Sebald was celebrated August 19th. The following verses from the mass sung in the Cathedral on that day in honour of the Saint may be of interest.

Or as Conrad Celtes has it in his hymn to the saint:—

[55] They and much of the rest of the church are now in course of restoration.

[56] The Kirchner lives at No. 6 Burgstrasse.

[57] These will be shown you if you ask for them.

[58] See pp. 203-5. There is also a relief by Adam Krafft near the south-east door.

[59] See p. 207.

[60] Geschichte von Deutschen Malerei.

[61] The clockworks at Prague, Strasburg and Wells tell the same tale.

[62] Recently renovated.

[63] The Kirchner (L. Burkman) lives in the far corner of the Gymnasium Hof, right of the church, in the house with a double flight of steps in front of it.

[64] Durer’s grave, No. 649 (see p. 196). W. Pirkheimer, 1414; Hans Sachs, 503; Veit Stoss, 268; Lazarus Spengler, 1320; Wenzel Jamnitzer, 664; Konrad GrÜbel, 200.

[65] The best of these epitaphia, or grave-plates, are by Georg Schweigger, e.g. No. 1484.

[66] All things have their origin and increase, but lo! the bull you see never was a calf.

[67] I am inclined now to agree with those who attribute it to Peter Vischer’s son and namesake. See my monograph on Peter Vischer, or Dr Seeger’s P. Vischer der Jungere.

[68] To view a further collection apply to the Director.

[69] See pp. 59, 74.

[70] He occasionally used Koberger’s type. “The Poggius of 1475 by Creussner and the Boethius of 1473 by Koberger are in the same type. Most of the early Nuremberg types are readily distinguished by the capital N, in which the cross stroke slants the wrong way.”—Early Printed Books. E. Gordon Duff.

[71] See pp. 42, 72.