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Nuremberg's Old Town reduced to ruins

Nuremberg’s Origins

Nuremberg entered recorded history with a happy event: on July 16, 1050, Emperor Heinrich III freed his serf Sigena. The relevant document includes the first mention of the word "Norenberc", which means rocky mountain. On this hill of sandstone towering above the wooded countryside near the River Pegnitz, the Imperial Castle, Nuremberg’s famous landmark, was built. At that time, the city was growing rapidly. Soon, the city district named after St. Sebaldus Church was too small. On the south bank of the River Pegnitz, a second wonderful Gothic church, named after St. Lawrence, gave a new city district its name: St. Lorenz. The city was surrounded by a city wall, most of which remains intact until today.

Thanks to the many privileges granted to the city by German Emperors in the 13th and 14th century, Nuremberg gained the status of a Free City of the Holy Roman Empire. Here, Emperor Karl IV issued the Golden Bull in 1356, a constitution for the empire, and decreed that any future King had to hold his first imperial diet in the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg.

Typically Franconian?