The city is established
Nuremberg’s history stretches back to the time between 1000 and 1040, where the city is believed to be founded. The specific year is not known, but in 1050 Nuorenberc is mentioned for the first time in King Heinrich III’s so-called Sigena-Urkunde. The location was strategically important between Bavaria, Bohemia and the Franks, and it became the reason for the birth of such a successful city in the future.

From the beginning, the castle of Nuremberg was built; in the 1000’s in the original and smaller edition than the one seen today. Heinrich III put the work in motion and it became the beginning of the city’s status as a county where the bailiffs resided.

The rights of the 12th century
The year 1219 became landmark, with Emperor Friedrich II here giving Nuremberg the so-called Great Freedom Letter, Großer Freiheitsbrief, which made the city a free state city, Freie Reichsstadt. The new status greatly diminished the power of the bourgeoisie outside their own castle, and the culmination came in 1427, when Friedrich VI, as the last bailiff, sold his powers to the city-state. Then the city’s leadership lay in the hands of the city council; however, Nuremberg was subject to the German-Roman Empire, which, however, had a looser governance and structure than today’s society.

1300-1600s
In the centuries around the 1300-1500s, Nuremberg grew strongly, and together with Cologne and Prague were the largest cities in the German-Roman Empire. In the empire there was no real capital, but Nuremberg was one of the cities that most times had imperial visits and stays; it was a symbol of its status and wealth. Wealth was significant, with the city having to hold the emperors’ residence, but with several extremely wealthy merchants at the forefront, the city could afford it. A mark of Nuremberg’s status occurred in 1423, when King Sigismund handed over the kingdom’s regalia, the so-called Reichskleinodien, from Karlstejn in Bohemia to Nuremberg. At Sigismund’s request, the regalia was to be in Nuremberg forever, which was not the case when the Habsburg emperors and later the United States moved them from Nuremberg to Vienna.

The Thirty Years War 1618-1648 came to play a major role for Nuremberg, with both the Swedish king Gustav Adolfs and the imperial army under Wallenstein’s command having large numbers of soldiers outside the city limits. The city’s citizens suffered, as the many troops were to have supplies that went from Nuremberg’s own consumption and trade opportunities.

Industry and development
At the beginning of the 19th century, Nuremberg was gradually heavily indebted and its status as a sanctuary was under threat. By agreement in 1803, the city remained independent, but already three years later, French troops during the Napoleonic Wars Nuremberg handed over to the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Throughout the 19th century, Nuremberg developed again rapidly, this time industrially. The city became Bavaria’s leading industrial city and the engine for the entire region. It was from here, too, that the first German railway could be opened; it was in 1835, and the track connected the cities of Nuremberg and Fürth. The population increased sharply during this period. In 1806 there lived 25,000, the 100,000 were rounded up in 1880, and in 1919 there lived 350,000 people.

1933-1945
Nuremberg became the center of the party’s colossal national rallies during the Nazi era. This was due to various reasons, not least that the city was centrally located in Germany and that there was a historical relevance to the heyday of the German-Roman Empire. Huge construction work was started, and in the Reichsparteistagsgelände area southeast of the center, the national assemblies took place with the participation of 100,000 people.

World War II went hard over Nuremberg. About 90% of the old city and 50% of the whole of Nuremberg were destroyed during bombing. However, the location with the height of the Imperial Castle became a rescue for many people and the city’s unique art and cultural treasure. The old brewery cellars were designed as both art bunkers and as escape routes from the city center and out under the city wall to the moat, from which there was easier access to get out of the city completely.

Nuremberg Today
After the end of World War II, Nuremberg again became the center for a while. When the Allied victors were to begin the trial against the leaders of the Nazi party, Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the first trial. It was partly due to US pressure to hold it in the US occupation zone and partly to the fact that the city had a large justice palace with associated prison largely intact.

The decades after World War II were, of course, partly in the signs of reconstruction, but like other places in West Germany, considerable economic development occurred. Among other things, at the former Reichsparteitagsgelände, a new large trade fair and congress center was erected, while every year, too, tourism draws many visitors to the cozy town, which abounds with lovely squares and cozy nooks by the beautifully restored medieval buildings.