Nuremberg Castle Germany

Legendary

This medieval castle was once considered one of Europe's most formidable forts.

Photo by Roger W

Look closely at the castle walls and you'll notice some stones are darker than others. That's not weathering. It's the line between what survived the bombs and what was rebuilt afterward.

On January 2, 1945, air raids left much of the castle in ruins. Rebuilding took about 30 years, and the builders let the different stone colors show on purpose.

The castle sits on a sandstone ridge above the old town of Nuremberg, Germany. The first fortifications went up around the year 1000, more than a thousand years ago.

The Holy Roman Empire had no capital city. Instead, emperors traveled from one castle to the next, ruling on the move.

Nuremberg became one of their favorite stops. Every German king and emperor between 1050 and 1571 stayed here, most of them more than once.

Emperors like Frederick Barbarossa rebuilt it in the 1100s. They added the double chapel, where nobles worshipped in the upper level and looked down through an opening at everyone below.

In 1427, the city of Nuremberg bought the entire castle. By then the city was rich and powerful, and it wanted the fortress for itself.

Then came the Thirty Years' War, a conflict that tore through central Europe from 1618 to 1648. After it ended, the emperors stopped coming, and the castle faded into a quiet relic.

The Nazis restored it for their party rallies in the 1930s. Six years later, Allied bombers destroyed most of what they'd fixed.

Climb the Sinwell Tower, the round keep, for a view over the red roofs of the old town. Look down the Deep Well, dug more than 50 meters into the rock, where guides drop water to show how far it falls. Then walk out along the medieval city walls that still ring the old town below.