Christmas Market Tour 2022 - Nuremberg 1
The restaurant is one of the oldest inns in the center of Nuremberg, dating back to 1890. The interior was rustic and quaint. We were able to have a seat at a normal size table. Two female customers who came after us needed to take a tiny bench with a tiny table like a breakfast nook for children at the corner. I don't think we could fit and eat there peacefully.
I had "Karlsbrücken“-Pfännchen, grilled pork loin in cream sauce with fresh mushrooms served in a pan with spätzle. It came with a big salad bowl. The serving portion was so generous! It tasted fine but I wish I could order just a half.
J's choice was "Trödelstuben"-Steak, grilled turkey breast steak with Mediterranean grilled vegetables and a baked potato with herb cream. The unexpected presentation of the baked potato made us laugh. I guess it was supposed to be a turkey?
We needed to walk not to get sleepy after the huge brunch. Obviously we didn't need anything to eat. Instead of visiting the Christmas market, we decided to see the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg. Walking to a hilltop castle through the city sounded appropriate.
That's the castle! The Imperial Castle was one of the most important imperial palaces in the Holy Roman Empire and a stable base and respected residence for the Empire’s head of state during the Middle Ages. Between the 11th and the 16th centuries, every Holy Roman Emperor visited at the castle. The castle is made up with several buildings and defensive structures from the time of the Salian emperors, the Hohenzollern castle counts of Nuremberg, and the Holy Roman Emperor. It certainly looked like a patchwork.
Today the castle houses a museum that presents information about the history and functions of the castle, the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, the role of Nuremberg in the Middle Ages, and etc. as well as displays related artifacts, weapons and so on.
As a part of the castle, there was a chapel, which was distinctive. Built in the 13th century in Romanesque style, the double imperial chapel consists of two chapels (= double), one above the other and connected only through a hole in the middle, which represents the hierarchical levels of medieval society.
The castle/museum was quite large and extended to several floors. We wanted to attend the "Deep Well" show. We skipped some sections and went to the well house. The building of the well house was built in the 16th century but the well itself is apparently much older. It is believed that the well was created at the same time as the first buildings of the Imperial Castle. A castle staff showed how actually deep the over-50 meter well was by bringing a candle light down and pouring some water into the dark shaft. It was kinda interesting. Then, we climbed up to the top of the Sinwell Tower, a defensive towr in the bailey of the castle, built in the 13th century. I feel we can't go home without climbing up a towr when we travel anywhere. This was easier than the town hall of Rothenburg that we accomplished the day before. The spiral stairs were wide and the tower wasn't so high.
The tower gave us nice views of the castle, the town and the snow!
It was time to go to the Christmas market!
On our way to the market, we swung by two bakeries to buy Lebkuchen. Lebkuchen is German round shaped gingerbread cookies although the texture is soft, kinda cakey and a little chewy. They are a traditional German Christmas food and Nuremberg is known as the origin of Lebkuchen. The gingerbread have been already made in the Middle Ages, thanks to the city's position as a crossroads for several European trade routes, which brought exquisite spicies as well as the local monks' wisdom to create a power food with local ingredients, including nuts and honey to survive the cold winter. Lebkuchen wasn't actually new for us. When we were in the States, we used to buy Lebkuchen from Leckerlee, a New York bakery specializing in Lebkuchen during holiday seasons. It was one of my many dreams to taste authentic Lebkuchen in Germany. My dream came true! Besides, in the most proper place in the country - Nuremburg!
One of the two bakeries was Fraunholz, a local Lebkuchen bakery that have been making Lebkuchen since 1911. The other was Düll. Founded in 1934, they are also a Lebkuchen specialist but make other baked goods such as stollen. We bought a bag from each store.
We also stopped by at St. Sebaldus Church, the oldest (the 13th century) parish church of the town, which we just saw from the top of the Imperial Castle tower. Sebaldus is a local saint who lived in Nuremberg in the 11th century, performing various miracles and healing the sick.
Finally we arrived at the Christmas market. The market was busy with people who chose the market over the cold weather!
The main location of the Christmas market is Hauptmarkt, the central square in the city's old town. There was a golden fountain called Schöner Brunnen, which means Beautiful fountain in German. The original fountain was built in the 14th century. Today's fountain is a replica from the early 20th century and the parts of the original are moved into the Germanisches National Museum in the town.
The fountain is decorated with philosophers, evangelists, and religious figures. Interestingly the fountain never runs water; it has been just a monument.
The Christmas market was much bigger than one in Rothenburg! There were Christmas ornaments and decorations, arts and crafts, toys and, of course various foods from savory to sweet and drinks such as Glühwein. Wandering in the market was enjoyable. There were several options for hot snacks including grilled sausages, but perhaps we weren't really hungry after the big brunch and/or we had too much sausage the day before. Instead we bought a slice of fruit bread to share. It tasted pretty good. That was just what we needed in the afternoon.
Frauenkirche or the Church of the Virgin Mary stood at the market square. Built by Peter Parler, one of the most well-known and influential German-Bohemian architect and sculptor of the Middle Ages, the 13th century Roman Catholic parish church was the the Gothic church in Franconia. It was definitely the centerpiece of the Christmas market.
We left Hauptmarkt to take a break from covering the steam of the grilled sausages. However, there were more vendors outside of the main market! Smaller markets were also held near the market square, including Sister Cities Christmas Market (International vendors from the city's sister cities around the world) and Children’s Market (Christmas market especially for kids). It was no doubt that Nuremberg was very enthusiastic about their Christmas market.
We were looking for a cafe for a tea/coffee break and found one called Espressolab near Lorenzkirche, or St. Lawrence Church. The coffee shop was lovely! J enjoyed filter coffee very much. My green tea was pretty good. I loved the glass teapot. I wondered where I could get it. After then, we visited St. Lawrence Church. Like St. Sebaldus Church, St. Lawrence has two towers with spires. They looked like twins when I saw them from the top of the Imperial Castle tower. However, they were quite different when I looked up close. For example, St. Lawrence has a large rose window between the towers and much more detailed exterior. Probably it looked much larger too. Built between 1243 and 1315, St. Lawrence was once Catholic as it was part of the Holy Roman Empire but became one of the first Lutheran churches in Germany in 1525.
When we came out from the church, it suddenly got dark and the Christmas street lights were on!
That was the kids Christmas market. Not for us!
We walked back to the main market square, following the waves of people.
The large trees in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary were also beautifully lit up.
It was still around 5pm but it was completely dark, which made me feel sleepy. More people were coming to the market while we were heading back to our hotel...
