Nuremberg Castle

Coordinates: 49°27′28″N 11°04′33″E / 49.45778°N 11.07583°E / 49.45778; 11.07583

Nuremberg Castle (German: Nürnberger Burg) is a historical building on a sandstone rock in the north of the historical city of Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. It comprises three sections: the Imperial castle (Kaiserburg), some buildings of the Burgraves of Nuremberg (Burggrafenburg), and the municipal buildings of the Imperial City at the eastern site (Reichsstädtische Bauten). The castle, together with the city walls, is considered to be one of Europe's most formidable medieval fortifications.

History

Archeological investigations during recent years indicate that the place was already settled around the year 1000, although this has not been backed up by any documentary proof. Nuremberg was first recorded in 1050, when Henry III visited the town, but there is no specific mention of the castle. The castle does not appear in any documents until 1105.

In 1140, King Conrad III started building a second castle on the site, to be used as a royal residence.

Imperial castle

An imperial castle or Reichsburg was a castle built by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, whose management was entrusted to Reichsministeriales or Burgmannen. It is not possible to identify a clear distinction between imperial castles and the fortified imperial palaces or Pfalzen, because many imperial castles were used by German kings for temporary stays. A large number of imperial castles were built in regions such as Swabia, Franconia, the Palatinate and the Alsace, where there were a high density of imperial estates (Reichsgüter) during the Hohenstaufen era.

List of imperial castles (Reichsburgen)

France

Germany

Baden-Württemberg

Bavaria

Hesse

Nuremberg

Nuremberg (/ˈnjʊərəmbɜːrɡ/; German: Nürnberg German pronunciation: [ˈnʏɐ̯nbɛɐ̯k]) is a city on the river Pegnitz and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia, about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Munich. It is the second-largest city in Bavaria (after Munich), and the largest in Franconia (Franken). The population as of February 2015, is 517,498, which makes it Germany's fourteenth-largest city. The urban area also includes Fürth, Erlangen and Schwabach with a total population of 763,854. The "European Metropolitan Area Nuremberg" has ca. 3.5 million inhabitants.

History

Middle Ages

Nuremberg was, according to the first documentary mention of the city in 1050, the location of an Imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of the Nordgau. From 1050 to 1571, the city expanded and rose dramatically in importance due to its location on key trade routes. King Conrad III established a burgraviate, with the first burgraves coming from the Austrian House of Raab but, with the extinction of their male line around 1190, the burgraviate was inherited by the last count's son-in-law, of the House of Hohenzollern. From the late 12th century to the Interregnum (1254–73), however, the power of the burgraves diminished as the Hohenstaufen emperors transferred most non-military powers to a castellan, with the city administration and the municipal courts handed over to an Imperial mayor (German: Reichsschultheiß) from 1173/74. The strained relations between the burgraves and the castellan, 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.

Castle

A castle (from Latin: castellum) is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a fortress, which was not always a residence for nobility; and from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Usage of the term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls and arrowslits, were commonplace.

A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. These nobles built castles to control the area immediately surrounding them, and were both offensive and defensive structures; they provided a base from which raids could be launched as well as protection from enemies. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures also served as centres of administration and symbols of power. Urban castles were used to control the local populace and important travel routes, and rural castles were often situated near features that were integral to life in the community, such as mills and fertile land.

Bavaria

Bavaria (/bəˈvɛəriə/; German: Freistaat Bayern [ˈfʁaɪ̯ʃtaːt ˈbajɛɐ̯n]) is a federal state of Germany. In the southeast of the country with an area of 70,548 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi), it is the largest state, making up almost a fifth of the total land area of Germany, and, with 12.6 million inhabitants, Germany's second most populous state. Munich, Bavaria's capital and largest city, is the third largest city in Germany.

The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and formation as a duchy in the 6th century through the Holy Roman Empire to becoming an independent kingdom and finally a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The Duchy of Bavaria dates back to the year 555. In the 17th century, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, when Bavaria became a republic. In 1946, the Free State of Bavaria re-organised itself on democratic lines.

Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the state's Catholic majority (52%) and Conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes festivals such as Oktoberfest and elements of Alpine symbolism. The state also has the largest economy of any of the German states, giving it a status as a rather wealthy German region.