Tiergärtnertorplatz or Beim Tiergärtnertor is a cozy and one of the most beautiful squares of the old city of Nuremberg, attractive with an ensemble of half-timbered houses and sandstone buildings.
The objects on the square are included in the tourist route "Historical Mile of Nuremberg" (Historische Meile Nürnberg).
Today, Tiergertnertorplatz square with a view of the majestic The Nuremberg Fortress (Nürnberger Burg), the city walls of Nuremberg and the Albrecht Durer House Museum is a popular meeting place and the point of many tourist routes around the city.
On Tiergertnertorplatz, you can relax in one of the cafes and restaurants located around or near the square.
In the southern part of the square, on Albrecht-Dürer-Straße, there is the Albrecht-Dürer-Haus (Albrecht-Dürer-Haus / Albrecht-Dürer-House), a preserved half-timbered house built around 1420.
From 1509 until his death in 1528, Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), a German painter, engraver and graphic artist of the Renaissance period, lived and worked in the house.
In 1826, the city of Nuremberg acquired the house. Since 1871, the building has been a house museum dedicated to the life and work of Durer.
Today this corner house has four full floors. The two lower floors are built of sandstone, the two upper ones are half-timbered. The half-palm roof has windows facing the street. More about the Durer House Museum...
Most of the eastern side of the square is occupied by a long half-timbered house with a mansard roof, in which the restaurant "Augustiner Zur Schranke" is located.
This picturesque half-timbered house was built in 1530 and has a long history as a tavern. The building called "Zur Schranke" was first mentioned in 1632.
House address: Beim Tiergärtnertor, 3.
The western border of Tiergärtnertorplatz is formed by the city fortifications of Nuremberg, consisting of the city wall, as well as the gate (Tiergärtnertor) and the Tiergartnertor tower (Tiergärtnerturm), behind which is the Lower Bastion (Untere Bastei), on which the southern garden of the Imperial Palace (Südlicher Burggarten / Sudlicher Burggarten) is laid out.
The high pointed gate tower, which has a square base and a barbican, dates from the end of the 13th. The two upper floors with polygonal projecting corners were added in 1516.
A small building adjoins the gate tower, in which a cafe is located.
Tiergartnertor was the main gate of Nuremberg to the northwest. Today, the gate is a passageway and leads from the old city of Nuremberg.
On the north-western edge of the Tiergertnertorplatz square is the Pilate House (Pilatushaus) - a town house, which is one of the few surviving town houses in the late Gothic style and one of the most important architectural monuments of the old city of Nuremberg.
The house was built in 1489 and originally belonged to an armory blacksmith (Plattner) Hans Grunwald, who made knight's armor and equipment.
For this reason, the house was also called the "house of the man in armor". On the southeast corner of the building there is a statue of St. George, dressed in knight's armor and standing on a defeated dragon.
During the history of the building has often changed hands. Since 1931, the house belongs to the city of Nuremberg. Today the house is used for temporary exhibitions of contemporary art.
In total, the house has seven floors. The first floor is made of sandstone. Three main and three attic floors of the house were built using half-timbered technology. In the upper part of the pediment, and partly on the gable roof, there is an octagonal bay window with a concave pointed roof-turret. More about Pilate's house...
On the square, in front of Pilate's house, you can see a sculpture in the form of a hare of enormous size, bearing the name "Durer's Hare" (Dürer-Hase Skulptur).
The sculpture was created in 1984 by the German sculptor Juergen Goertz, as a tribute to Albrecht Durer.
In fact, it is a sculptural composition consisting of two separate sculptures:
- in the upper part of the composition, on a pedestal, there is a bronze sculpture of a huge hare, which looks more like a mutant and gets out of a wooden box;
- on the second, smaller pedestal, there is a bronze sculpture of a small and cute bunny. More about the sculpture "Durer's Hare"...
The north-eastern part of the square is formed by an impressive ensemble of old townhouses, in front of which there is a stone well.
Near the Tiergertnertorplatz
Near the square, at 52 Obere Schmiedgasse Street (Obere Schmiedgasse), there is a museum "Bunker of Historical Art" (Historischer Kunstbunker / historical Kuntsbunker).
The entrance to the museum is through an unremarkable building. However, the museum itself is located in a rock under the Nuremberg Castle - a former beer cellar, in which, at a depth of up to 24 meters, during the Second World War, Allied troops discovered a Nazi bunker-cache with art objects and valuables taken from the occupied territories.
The museum offers guided tours of the Nuremberg dungeons.
Other excursions to the dungeons (casemates) are also held in Nuremberg.
In the Middle Ages, passages were laid under the Nuremberg fortress, bastions and defensive city wall (since 1545) and rooms were made - the so-called casemates (Kasematten).
During the history of the casemates were used for various purposes: as hidden passages, emergency exits, a secret system of water pipes, beer cellars (warehouses for beer) and even as a prison.
Today there are guided tours of the casemates.
Website: felsengaenge-nuernberg. The site contains information, including about excursions to the historical Kuntsbunker.
Practical information
Tiergertnertorplatz is located on the northwestern edge of the historic old town of Nuremberg.
Near the square you can stop:
The Dürer-Hotel features a garden, a bistro bar, free Wi-Fi throughout, parking, a fitness center, a sauna and a steam room.
The rooms are equipped with a minibar, a flat-screen TV and a private bathroom.
A buffet breakfast is included in the room rate. Link to the hotel
The Burghotel Nürnberg is located in the most beautiful old quarter of Nuremberg.
The hotel has an indoor swimming pool, sauna, solarium, parking and Wi-Fi.
The rooms are equipped with a minibar. Link to the hotel
All accommodation facilities in Nuremberg, including in the city center and near the Tiergertnertorplatz, can be viewed and booked here
