Nuremberg (Germany) -- Description and travel; Nuremberg (Germany) -- History
and angles heaped one above the other in a splendid confusion, climb the
hill which culminates in the varied group of buildings on the Castle
rock. We have passed the Spittler, Mohren, Haller and Neu Gates on our
way, and we have crossed by the Hallerthorbrücke the Pegnitz where it
flows into the town. Before us rise the bold scarps and salient angles
of the bastions built by the Italian architect, Antonio Fazuni, called
the Maltese (1538-43).
Crossing the moat by a wooden bridge which curls round to the right, we
enter the town by the Thiergärtnerthor. The right-hand corner house
opposite us now is Albert Durer's house. We turn to the left and go
along the Obere Schmiedgasse and the row of houses labelled Am Oelberg,
till we arrive at the top of a steep hill (Burgstrasse). Above, on the
left, is the Castle, and close at hand the "Mount of Olives" Sculpture
(see p. 201).
We may now either go through the Himmels Thor to the left, or keeping
straight up under the old trees and passing the "Mount of Olives" on the
left, approach the large deep-roofed building between two towers. This
is the Kaiserstallung, as it is called, the Imperial stables, built
originally for a granary. The towers are the Luginsland (Look in the
land) on the east, and the Fünfeckiger Thurm, the Five-cornered tower,
at the west end (on the left hand as we thus face it). The Luginsland
was built by the townspeople in the hard winter of 1377. The mortar for
building it, tradition says, had to be mixed with salt, so that it might
be kept soft and be worked in spite of the severe cold. The chronicles
state that one could see right into the Burggraf's Castle from this
tower, and the town was therefore kept informed of any threatening
movements on his part. To some extent that was very likely the object in
view when the tower was built, but chiefly it must have been intended,
as its name indicates, to afford a far look-out into the surrounding
country. The granary or Kaiserstallung, as it was called later, was
erected in 1494, and is referred to by Hans Behaim as lying between the
Five-cornered and the Luginsland Towers. Inside the former there is a
museum of curiosities (Hans Sachs' harp) and the famous collection of
instruments of torture and the Maiden (Eiserne Jungfrau), to which we
shall refer at greater length in the next chapter. The open space
[Illustration: THE CASTLE FROM THE HALLERTHORBRÜCKE]
adjoining it commands a splendid view to the north. There, too, on the
parapet-wall, may be seen the hoof-marks of the horse of the
robber-knight, Ekkelein von Gailingen, whose story we have already
narrated (p. 43). Here for a moment let us pause, consider our position,
and endeavour to make out from the conflicting theories of the
archæologists something of the original arrangement of the castles and
of the significance of the buildings and towers that yet remain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account