The city of Nürnberg - Nuremberg - will always be closely connected to German history - for good and for bad. Anyhow most visitors today come to Nürnberg for many other reasons than visiting its historical spots.

Most streets in the old part of Nürnberg are liberated from car traffic and ideal for relaxed shopping.

Very often tourists come to Nürnberg for business reasons - visiting the big exhibition centre Nürnberg Messe and the great yearly fairs, conferences and expos like Brau Beviale, Spielwarenmesse, Biofach and Embedded World.

Other visitors come to Nürnberg to see its famous football team FC Nürnberg.

Many of these visitors never even take to chance to see the old town of Nürnberg which is actually a shame since the old town of Nürnberg has a charming atmosphere that easily can help to calm down the stress of a long day at the exhibition centre.

Spielzeugmuseum - the toy museum near the main market of Nürnberg

Most of the old town centre - Altstadt - is surrounded by four kilometre long city wall and this part is far the most charming part of Nürnberg.

Experienced Nürnberg tourists also try to catch a hotel room in this quiet part of the city. Especially along the Königsstrasse - the entrance of the old town - there is a high concentration of hotels. Anyhow it can - during the larger events - be very difficult to find a free hotel room in Nürnberg at all.

Many streets in Altstadt are pedestrian ways and it is highly recommendable to take a walk there seeing some of the many churches and other historical buildings. The centre offers especially many churches - among them the protestant Sankt Lorenzkirche build in the period of 1250 - 1477 which is worth a visit because of its interesting art.

Schönen Brunnen - The Beautiful Well - on the Haubtmarkt - The Main Market - were it is possible to buy vegetable fruit, cheese etc. In the background one of the many churches Frauenkirche

Nürnberg has an old a reputation for producing high quality toys for children and of course the city also has a museum for this - Speilzeugmuseum. Although there are few spots for children to play in this museum it is important to stress that it is mainly a museum - not an amusement park. The toys are placed in strict order and the museum is especially interesting for collectors and others with interest in this area.

Although Nürnberg has the charm of an old town centre it is no secret that great parts of it are reconstructions. Nürnberg paid the historical price for being an important part of the Nazi period of Germany and the city was almost a ruin after the war.

It is still possible to see some of the historical places where the great Nazi meetings took place. The so-called Reichsparteitaggelände is situated very close to the exhibition centre - Nürnberg Messe and the Frankenhalle - the congress centre. This is the placed were Hitler held some of his most famous speeches in and area with space for up to 50.000 participants.

Later Nürnberg also hosted the Nürnberg Process ending this sad period of German history.

More information about Nürnberg can is to be found on Nürnberg Online - the official city information site. See also the Wikipedia description of the city and the homepage of FC Nürnberg. Se also advices about how to find a hotel in Nürnberg, if you plan to go there. Don't forget to book your hotel very soon if you go in a season for a big fair or expo.

The city wall of Nürnberg has 67 towers and surrounds most of the old city centre