Tourist Attraction in Nuremberg:
Kaiser Burg

The Imperial Castle is the old castle of the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, erected as an imperial residence, and the residence of the Counts Hohenzollern, assumed military functions after the mid-15th century. It consists of three sections: the Imperial Castle, the so-called Comic Palace, home of Burgravi of Nuremberg and the city's communal buildings on the East site. It represents one of the most historically and architecturally important fortifications of the Middle Ages in Europe, and the city's largest monument of Nuremberg, overlooking the top of a hill and features the profile with its towers and its walls. After World War II damage, the castle was carefully restored according to precise historical models. With excavations carried out in 1990 in the great hall of the imperial palace, the foundations of an ancient round sausage chapel were found. Other excavations, carried out in the courtyard in 2001, found the foundations of a daffodil dating from around the year 1000, with two-meter thick walls and a defense wall. Below this tower there are even more ancient foundations of pre-Salic era, thus showing the traces of human settlement dating back to 1000, and the existence of a castle from this time. However, it is documented that all Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire resided here from 1105 to 1471. The actual castle was erected from the 12th century, more precisely in 1140, when Corrado III, King of the Romans, begins construction of a second castle, destined to be the Royal Palace and giving the other to Burgravi, custodians of the castle and managers of the free city of Nuremberg. In fact, the castle, with a county court and free administration, was administered to the Counts of Raabs, an ancient and faithful family of noblemen from Lower Austria, named Burgravi of Nuremberg. In 1190-91, the fief passed to Frederick III of Nuremberg, Count of Zollern, who married in 1184, Sofia, the last Raabs learner. Around 1170 was built, in late-Romanesque style, the palatine chapel, on two levels with the eastern choir belonging to the so-called Margherita tower, or Heidenturm. In the presbytery, there is a late Gothic crucifix of Veit Stoss. In 1377, the mighty Tower of the Valley was built. However, the influence of Burgravio in the city of Nuremberg was increasingly limited to the custody of the Castle, since it was definitively concluded with its destruction in 1420 by the Bavarian troops. The last Burgravio was Frederick VI of Nuremberg who saw passing his title in 1427 to the Nuremberg City Council. The last emperor to reside in the castle was Frederick Third, who made the last changes and extensions to the Imperial Palace in the middle of the 15th century, with its beautiful ceilings with imperial coats, Renaissance furniture and tapestries still preserved. After the capture of Nazi power, in 1933, the conversion of the imperial palace began as the venue for receiving the party's annual gatherings. The Imperial Castle was symbolic of the Nazi regime. The restoration was carried out under the direction of General SS Rudolf Esterer in 1934. In the Second World War, the castle suffered serious damage in 1944 and 1945 due to the Anglo American bombing, where only the chapel and Sinwellturm remained intact. In the post-war period, a thorough restoration was carried out to reconstruct the parts destroyed by the war faithfully.

Attractions in Nuremberg