Kreuzgassenviertel
Forgotten alleyways, excellent ideas!
Anyone exploring Nuremberg's Old Town off the beaten track will come across a neighbourhood that used to be avoided - and is fascinating today: the Kreuzgassenviertel. Situated directly on the Pegnitz, it was long regarded as the city's ‘poorhouse’. Floods, odours, waste from all over the city - this is where those who had no choice lived.
This place was once a centre of hard work. The proximity to the Pegnitz not only meant constant moisture, but also water power - and therefore Mills. Many mills. Metal was processed, spices were ground (Nuremberg spice mills).
Anyone exploring Nuremberg's Old Town off the beaten track will come across a neighbourhood that used to be avoided - and is fascinating today: the Kreuzgassenviertel. Situated directly on the Pegnitz, it was long regarded as the city's ‘poorhouse’. Floods, odours, waste from all over the city - this is where those who had no choice lived.
This place was once a centre of hard work. The proximity to the Pegnitz not only meant constant moisture, but also water power - and therefore Mills. Many mills. Metal was processed, spices were ground (Nuremberg spice mills).
A real gem is hidden away in Untere Kreuzgasse 4: the oldest preserved arcade house in the city. The half-timbered galleries on the Pegnitz side are unique - because all others of this type were destroyed in the war. If you take a closer look, you will discover Gothic pointed arches on the ground floor, small barred rectangular windows and a real curiosity on the south side: Nuremberg's oldest front door, simple and built in the early 16th century.
The neighbouring house at Untere Kreuzgasse 2 is also one of the most important buildings in the district in terms of heritage conservation. It was built as early as 1470 and is located directly on the Maxbrücke, Nuremberg's oldest stone bridge. As a tenement house for the workers of the nearby mills, it was both a place to live and work for centuries. Numerous structural alterations characterise its current appearance - such as the addition of storeys or the plastering of the original half-timbering.
But the Second World War brought a deep cut: large parts of the Kreuzgassen neighbourhood were destroyed. What remained for decades was a mixture of wasteland, car parks and gaps in the urban fabric. It was a lost place - until an urban development vision breathed new life into it.
Between 1986 and 1992, the neighbourhood was completely redesigned. The planners took historical forms seriously - and interpreted them in a contemporary way. Alleyways, courtyards, arcades, towers, pitched roofs - the new Kreuzgassenviertel picks up on medieval structures, but translates them into postmodern architecture. Five differentiated buildings, four of which are residential courtyards and one point block, form a symbolic crossroads. The district was designed as a car-free settlement and focuses on community and neighbourhood through semi-public spaces and clear references to the old town structure.
Categories at Unschlitt Square
Kreuzgassenviertel
Weinstadel