Bavarian Nördlingen is radically different from any other town in the world. It is a medieval city with a population of 20,000, located entirely within a massive meteorite crater. This crater is called Nördlinger Ries and was formed about 14.5 million years ago when a meteorite about a kilometer in diameter crashed into the Earth. And only less than fifty years ago, evidence emerged that shed light on the true origins of this city.
Let's take a closer look at this city …
For centuries, it was believed that the huge depression in which the city is located was a volcanic crater. In 1960, two American scientists - Eugene Shoemaker (known for the discovery of the Shoemaker-Levy comet) and Edward Chao proved that the huge hole was actually made by a meteorite.
During a visit to a church in the city of Nordlingen, which was built from local material, Shoemaker was surprised to discover that the stones from which the walls are composed are quartz. The fact is that a rock such as quartz is formed under shock pressures, usually caused by a meteorite falling. Subsequent studies of strange rock formations in the area finally confirmed the researchers in the opinion that the crater appeared due to the fall of a meteorite.
There is another crater - Steinheim, about 3.8 km in diameter, located about 42 kilometers west-southwest of the center of Nordlingen. These two craters are believed to have appeared simultaneously after the fall of a double asteroid, which disintegrated into pieces in the atmosphere.
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Nördlingen is one of the three Bavarian cities that has completely preserved its fortress walls in their original form. Almost all significant German cities had defensive structures. But over time, they began to greatly interfere with the development of the urban economy and there was no longer a need for them. In varying degrees of integrity, you can admire the old walls, towers, gates and bastions in Munich, Nuremberg, Regensburg and other places.
But only in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, the ring of medieval city walls remained intact. Fortress Nördlingen (Nördlingen) includes 2600 meters of walls, 5 gates with gate towers, 11 other towers and 2 bastions.
Fourth, Nördlingen is the only city in Germany with a fully preserved covered battle passage (Wehrgang) along the top of the walls. On it you can walk around the city without going down to the ground.
Fifth, Nördlingen is the birthplace of German football legend Gerhard Müller.
It seems that these five reasons are enough to not miss Nördlingen when traveling in Germany and Bavaria in particular. The area where the city of Nördlingen is now located was inhabited already during the time of the Romans and Alemanni.
There is evidence confirming the existence of the Carolingian royal court "Nordling" in 898, and on Trinity in 1219 a ten-day trade fair was held here, which later became one of the most famous fairs in southern Germany. This helped the city to achieve independence.
Initially not tied to any feudal castle, the city grew and developed literally in the bowl of the bottom of the Nördlingen Ries meteorite crater. Nordlingen received the status of an imperial city in 1215. The inhabitants of the city were tanners, fellers, tinsmiths and winemakers, and today the streets of the old city are named in their memory. From 1219 Nordlingen became the center of free trade, a market city. Here they traded in grain, vegetables, livestock, handicrafts and wine.
But the 30-year war between Catholics and Protestants, in which other European countries were drawn, brought incalculable losses to this city. Nevertheless, at the city walls in 1634, the Swedes suffered their first defeat in a 30-year war. But Nördlingen was no longer able to recover from the consequences, he lost his economic and political strength. The population of the city was half amused.
Only in 1939, the city's population increased so much that it reached the level of 1618, that is, about 9000 people. In terms of development, the city has hardly changed over the past 300 years. The entire city wall with towers of defensive significance has survived to this day, and together with many other historical buildings of the city, it attracts tourists from all over Dira to this wonderful medieval city. In addition to exploring the most important sights of Nördlingen, anyone interested in medieval architecture will enjoy a walk through the fortifications behind the city walls.
Let's start our tour of the Old Town from the Market Square, where one cannot fail to notice the “Dancing House” and “High House” - a nine-storey building-tower. Both buildings date back to the 15th century. The “Dancing House” has a three-story, luxurious, half-timbered pediment protruding forward. Previously, it was used mainly by cloth merchants for fairs. The square, surrounded by houses with modest facades, is decorated with a statue of one of the city's patrons, Kaiser Maximilian I. The building of the current town hall, which arose in the 13th century as a trading house for a fair, served as a town hall since 1382, and is now one of the oldest town halls in Germany. Its portal is richly decorated with stone ornaments, as well as a Renaissance staircase, which in 1618 replaced the earlier wooden one.
There is a former pawnshop opposite the town hall. Currently, it houses a tourism office. We will find the Eisengasse lane on the northern part of the square and, following it, turn into the first lane on the left. Until 1955, the House of Furriers and Potters stood on the opened square. The characteristic building opposite, called the "Klösterle" (monastery), was the church of a Franciscan monastery. After the Reformation it was used as a granary, later as a warehouse, and today it is the City Hall for large events. The splendid main portal dates back to the building's renovation (1586).
Opposite is the so-called "House of Keisheim", which in 1278 - 1803 served as a granary for the imperial almshouse of Keisheim, later it housed the Federal State Court and the District Office, today it is a judicial department.
The Tändelmarkt square (flea market) leads us to the Nonnengasse and Manggasse lanes, passing along which, we turn left and, crossing the Vordere Gerbergasse lane, we leave the oldest part of the city.
The romantic houses of the tanners on the left (No. 23) and on the right (No. 2) with beautiful gables bear witness to the high culture of building houses by the craftsmen of Nördlingen. At the western end of the alley, the displaced to the right, barn-like Holzhof building is currently used as the Rieskrater-Museum. The museum with numerous exhibits and informative boards is located in six rooms. It also shows interesting videos about the origin of the solar system and the meteorite crater, as well as about Apollo 16's visit to the moon.
At the end of the Hintere Gerbergasse lane begins the area of the Hospital Yard, a medieval trustee institution with outbuildings (bakery, mill, stables, etc.), which covers the area up to Baldingstraße.
In accordance with the plans of the founders, the hospital still serves today as a shelter for the elderly and disabled. The former hospital building houses the City Museum, which documents the history of the city of Nördlingen and the history of the meteorite crater. Particularly impressive are the mise-en-scenes of open caves with skulls from the Mesolithic period (c. 6000 BC), a figurine of a flutist from the time of the Romans from the Roman manor near Holheim, a diorama with pewter figurines reproducing the famous battle of Nördlingen (1634), as well as paintings by Friedrich Herlin (15th century) and Hans Scheufelin (16th century) characteristic of late Gothic.
Between the lane Herrengasse and the river Ebert is a paved area that slopes down to the river - a place for bathing horses (Rosswette). The Herrengasse lane overlooks Weinmarkt square, where the Maria-Holl-Brunnen fountain stands in memory of the brave innkeeper who endured 56 severe tortures during the period of persecution of heretics in 1589-96 and survived. As a result of the persecution of heretics, 35 innocent people died here.
The massive, pavilion-like (Hallgebäude) building from 1543 used to be a storehouse for salt, wine and grain. In the Neubaugasse lane y of the imposing half-timbered building, the House of Winter, we turn into Bräugasse lane and, after walking a little, immediately turn left again into the opened lane. Thus, we will come to the Church of the Corpus Christi (Herrgottskirche) or St. Sebastian. It was consecrated in 1442 as a monastery church, but in 1829 it underwent major changes. Its attractions are the figures of the prophets in the soffit (the surface of the arch, vault, beam, cornice and) of the western portal facing the bottom, wall paintings, the main altar, reliefs of the church pulpit and the painting "The Miracle of Communion". All of the above refers to the 15th century.
Basteigasse lane leads us to the City Wall with the old bastions, which now serve as theatrical scenery for the performances held here. We walk along the wall to the Reimlinger Tor gate, then past the Ellinger house, once the granary of the Teutonic Order, and along the Reimlinger Straße and Shäfflesmarkt streets, we go by a short road to St. George's Church.
Its tower "Daniel" 90 m high serves as a lighthouse for us. This church, one of the large South German hall churches, fully completed in 1505, houses a Baroque high altar decorated with late Gothic sculpture and a late Gothic baptismal font.
Anyone who wants to take a look at Nördlingen and its surroundings from the height of "Daniel" must climb 350 steps of the tower. Every half hour from 10 pm to midnight the watchman on the tower shouts from here the medieval password “So, C'sell, so!”, Thus informing the townspeople that he is on duty.
Climbing the stone spiral staircase to the tower, you can inspect the old stepped wheel, with the help of which the sentinel, the watchman, watching the city from here, including whether there was a fire somewhere, lifted a basket of food to himself on the tower.
From Nördlingen on the road B 25 leading to Harburg (17 km), you can drive (signpost - detour 15 km) to the city district of Holheim (caves and manor from the time of the Romans) and then to the "Christ Garden" (Christengarten, the smallest community in Bavaria, Gothic Carthusian choir). And then through the village of Mönchsdeggingen (Benedictine monastery, baroque church with organ from 1693) we return again to road B 25. The second possible excursion concerns a visit to the small town of Wemding 17 km east of Nördlingen. Its attractions are the Market Square, the city fortification, the parish church, as well as the pilgrimage church “Maria
Brünnlein in the Rococo style. One of the roads south of Wemding leads directly to Harburg.