City Wall & Casemates

The city fortifications

The Nuremberg city wall is a perfect example of a world-class fortification. Completed in 1450 and almost untouched during World War II, it is an important part of the cityscape. It almost completely encircles the Old Town. The complex surrounding Nuremberg’s landmark, the Imperial Castle, is fully integrated into the fortification. Today, 3.5 kilometers of the original five-kilometer-long city wall remain. The largest gap is located at the Laufer Gate and is ca. 310 meters long. The combination of its length and width (at some places – for example at the “Fat Towers” - 5 meters!) is one-of-a-kind and one of the reasons that the Nuremberg city wall set an example for construction of fortifications within Europe.

Their unique round coat first came during improvement works in the middle of the 16th century, before that the towers were square. The round shape made them less susceptible to cannon, because the rounded surface offered a smaller impact area for cannon balls.

All towers in the city wall were divided into defense sectors in the middle of the 16th century and marked with a combination of colors and letters for orientation for the military. The Spittlertor Tower, for example, was marked with a Red Q. Even today you can see the colored letters on the towers.

Many of the towers in the wall are used today. They are rented to organizations, youth groups, artists and private individuals. There are even apartments in a few of the towers.

The casemates are an important part of the fortifications of Nuremberg’s castle and exist in an almost original condition today. They allowed safe attack of enemies, passage underground and even contained a water supply system. At many locations, steep stirs lead down to the narrow sandstone passageways, which were specially created for defense with firearms. One finds secret posterns, cannon niches and openings for weapons – called embrasures – in the wall. Through these openings, enemy attackers could be shot while the defenders kept out of the line of fire. Integrated ventilation flues guaranteed that the air remained breathable. In the 1970s, most of these openings were bricked up or covered with plates, because they allowed exhaust gases to enter the casemates and eat at the sandstone.

Rainwater which soaked the hill could be naturally filtered by the sandstone in the casemates, then caught by clay layers below and fed to underground collection basins. This clever system supplied the city hall with drinking water without making it dependent on one of the wells of the city. This system still functions today and could, theoretically, be used. Because there were fewer buildings in the past, more rainwater could flow into the system. Today, there is not enough water for an adequate supply.