_The Houses, Wells, and Bridges_
Every other house in Nuremberg, whether in the narrow and crooked side
streets, or in the busy thoroughfares, is, as it were, a leaf from some
mediæval chronicle. Here, in the Hirschelgasse or the Ægidien Platz, we
read the story of some rich merchant prince, returning from Venice or
from Palestine, eager to spend some of the fruits of his emprise in the
decoration of his house, according to the style of the country which had
fascinated him in his travels. There, in the Tetzel-or the Schild-Gasse,
we read in the overhanging upper stories the desire of the architect in
this crowded mediæval city to utilise every foot of available space, and
the device is revealed to us which he adopted when the Council forbade
the projection of the ground floor into the street. And those statues of
Saints and Madonnas, which still stand in their niches at the corners of
so many houses, those reliefs by Adam Krafft or other artists, which
adorn the mansions of the great with the story of Christ and His
followers, are they not eloquent, in the very lack of variety displayed
in the choice of subjects, of the simple child-like faith of the Middle
Ages, ever ready to hear once more the story of the Redeemer's suffering
for the sake of man who had sinned?
From the varying height, breadth, and styles of the houses the streets
of Nuremberg gain the mediæval charm of irregularity. There is the usual
happy
[Illustration: HOUSE ON THE PEGNITZ]
avoidance of the straight lines which render modern towns so
unattractive. The general character of the red-tiled houses here is
lofty, with high-peaked gables and frequently with oriel windows. The
ornamentation is lavish and smacks of the Renaissance. Especially is
this noticeable in the courts within. For even where the front of a
house may seem narrow and almost insignificant, on entering it you
frequently find a large quadrangle, with open winding staircases and
broad, projecting balconies, highly ornamented, which carry back to the
street behind.
I mention here a few of the more notable houses, to some of which
reference has already been made.
Albrecht Dürer Haus, corner of Albrecht Dürer Strasse.
Albrecht Dürer Birthplace, 20 Winklerstrasse.
Anton Koberger Haus, Ægidien Platz. Opposite the statue of
Melanchthon.
Martin Behaim Haus, next door to the above. Here the famous globe
of the navigator is kept.
Peller (now Fuchs) Haus, Ægidien Platz. Recently restored.
Willibald Pirkheimer, 35 Ægidien Platz.
Hans Sachs Haus, Hans Sachs Gasse.
Hieronymus Paumgärtner Haus, 23 Theresien Strasse. The relief, St.
George and the dragon, is probably an early work by Adam Krafft.
Krafft (formerly Pfinzing) Haus, 7 Theresien Strasse.
Fembo Haus, Burgstrasse. (Opposite the Library.)
Scheurl Haus, Burgstrasse. This house contains the room in which
Maximilian I. stayed, carefully preserved.
Topler, now Petersen Haus, Panierplatz.
Tucher Haus, 9 Hirschelgasse.
Rupprecht Haus, next to the above.
Volkamer Haus, 19 Hauptmarkt.
Grundherr (Zum goldenen Schild) Haus, Schildgasse. Where the Golden
Bull was drawn up.
Nassauer Haus, corner of Karolinenstrasse.
Peter Vischer Haus, Peter Vischer Strasse.
Palm Haus, 29 Winklerstrasse. This is the house of the bookseller
Palm, who was shot by Bonaparte for publishing a pamphlet against
him.
Imhoff Haus, Tucherstrasse.
Ketzel Haus (Pilatushaus), Thiergärtnerthorplatz.
Glossner Haus, Adlerstrasse.
Grundherr Haus, 1585 (now the Bairischer Hof Karlsstrasse).
* * * * *
"Manch edles Brünnlein strömt darin
Aus goldnen Röhren schnell dahin."
So wrote Hans Sachs in his poem in praise of his native town. And indeed
the wells and fountains here are as characteristic though not of course
so beautiful as the well-heads of Venice. Far the most important of them
is the so-called Beautiful Fountain (Der Schöne Brunnen) in the corner
of the Haupt Markt, near the Rathaus. It is in the shape of an octagonal
Gothic spire. The construction of it is usually spoken of as
contemporaneous with that of the Frauenkirche and the design is likewise
attributed to Sebald Schonhofer. But recent researches have shown that
it was not built till the years 1385-1396, and that one Heinrich der
Palier, or der Parlierer, as he is commonly named in the City Accounts,
had the building of it. No doubt he was very much under the influence of
Schonhofer, and very likely he may have been his pupil. So much may be
gathered from the similarity of the ornamentation on the Frauenkirche
and the Beautiful Fountain. In old days, as we have seen, the well was
richly painted and gilded. But this is no longer the case. It was
carefully restored in great part in 1824 and again at this moment
further restoration is in contemplation.
The iron railing which surrounds the fountain was made by Paul Köhn
(1586). Curious funnels on levers are used for drawing the water, and
they remind one irresistibly of that _reductio ad absurdum_ of the
Meistersingers' Guilds, Harsdörfer's "Nuremberg funnel" for pouring in
poetry (p. 218).
[Illustration: FLEISCHBRÜCKE]
The Beautiful Fountain is a niched and tabernacled monument of stone,
over 60 feet high, tapering at intervals to a pinnacle. The niches in
the pillars of the lower compartment contain statues of the seven
Electors and of nine heroes, the Christian Charlemagne, Godfrey of
Bouillon and Cloris, the Jewish Judas Maccabæus, Joshua and David, and
the Pagan Julius Cæsar, Alexander the Great and Hector. Above, in the
second division, are Moses and the seven Prophets.
The water of this well has the reputation of being remarkably good.
Formerly, even more than at present, the Beautiful Fountain was the very
centre of Nuremberg life. At the well, as in the days of Abraham, lovers
met and the gossips talked, waiting their turn to fill their long,
copper pitchers. To-day, too, the Beautiful Fountain is a household
word, and parents explain to their too inquisitive children, when they
ask how their new baby brother arrived--"Es ist ein Geschenk von dem
Schönen Brunnen!"
Of the other fountains we may enumerate the "Gänsemännchen" in the
Obstmarkt and the dainty well in the Town Hall courtyard by Pankraz
Labenwolf (1553). The son-in-law of Labenwolf, Benedict Wurzelbauer
designed the Tugend Brunnen, or Virtue Fountain, which stands at the
north-west corner of the St. Lorenzkirche. This was in 1589 when German
art was already becoming decadent and mannered. Then in 1687, to
celebrate the victory over the Turks at Siklos the "Wasserspeier" was
erected in the Maxplatz. It was copied by Bromig from Bernini's original
at Rome. Lastly in the Plärrer, opposite the Spittler Thor, is the
"Kunstbrunnen"--which commemorates the opening of the first railway in
Germany, between Nuremberg and Fürth.
The bridges, of which over a dozen span the Pegnitz in its course
through the town, must once have added greatly to the picturesqueness
of the place. But the Pegnitz is liable to sudden and violent spates
which have continually swept away the old bridges. The modern ones
cannot boast of any great inherent beauty. The Fleischbrücke, indeed,
was built by Peter Carl it is said on the model of the Rialto. But it
requires a kindly imagination or a bad memory to admit any comparison
between the two.
Over a gateway near this bridge will be found the figure of a large
bull, with the inscription--
"Omnia habent ortus suaque incrementa, sed, ecce!
Quem cernis numquam bos fuit hic vitulus."
Town mottoes of this kind were common enough in the old days. A quaint
example is that which was inscribed over an entrance of the city of
Arras in Belgium. Originally it ran--_Les François prendront Arras,
lorsque ce chat prendra le rat_. When the French had taken the town in
1640 they erased the letter _p_ in _prendront_ and thus cunningly caused
the inscription to read in their favour.