Nürnberg, Kaiserburg

For someone with an interest in medieval cities, Nürnberg is the place to visit. During WW II the city had been reduced to a disheartening heap of rubble, and arguments waged on what to do with the remaining mountains of nothing. Some advocated leaving the ruins as a warning against waging war. Others demanded a slavishly built copy of the original, complete with narrow houses, little streets, and crowded conditions.

It was finally decided that the Königstor (King’s gate), St. Lorenz-Kirche (Gothic church), the Hauptmarkt (Chief Market Place) with the Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) and Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), St. Sebaldus-Kirche (another Gothic church) and to the massive hill-top Kaiserburg (castle), all be preserved as salient features of the old city. Whatever else they did, they wanted to preserve those historical structures whose foundations had survived. Loads of rubble were used to raise the banks of the unruly Pegnitz River, so its waters could be kept under control.