Handwerkerhof Nürnberg: Nuremberg Travel Guide (4.6★)

Inside the Königstor walls

You step off the station forecourt, pass under the round sandstone bulk of the Königstor tower, and the traffic noise drops away. What’s left is a small cobbled yard boxed in by the medieval city wall. Half-timbered houses line it, with painted shop signs hanging from iron brackets.

None of the houses is medieval. The courtyard was built in 1971, the 500th anniversary of Albrecht Dürer’s birth, as a re-created artisans’ quarter. It sits in the old Waffenhof, the armoury yard of the gate bastion. The stage-set side is part of the appeal. It is also one of the most-reviewed stops in the city, so expect company.

What to look for in the workshops

Most units are a single room, with the goods stacked from floor to low beams. These are the traditional Franconian crafts to look for:

• Lebkuchen: Nuremberg gingerbread. Elisenlebkuchen are the flour-light, nut-rich kind, often sold in decorated tins.
• Zinnfiguren: flat pewter figures, a Nuremberg specialty for centuries.
• Glass and pewter: engraved glassware, tankards, ornaments.
• Leather, jewellery, wooden toys and dolls: small, packable gifts.

Every shop keeps its own hours inside the courtyard’s schedule, and some run shorter hours outside the main season. If you’re after one particular maker, check before you go.

Sausages and the walk onward

The restaurants serve Franconian food at wooden tables. The dish to order is Nürnberger Rostbratwurst: finger-length pork sausages grilled over beechwood. They usually come in sixes, eights or twelves on a pewter plate, with sauerkraut or potato salad and a dab of horseradish.

To eat on the move, order drei im Weckla: three sausages in a crusty roll, with mustard.

From the courtyard, Königstraße runs north toward the Old Town:

• St. Lorenz church: about a 10-minute walk.
• Hauptmarkt and the Schöner Brunnen fountain: a few minutes beyond St. Lorenz.
• Kaiserburg castle: uphill at the far end.
• Germanisches Nationalmuseum: a short walk west along the inside of the wall.

Timing it around the station crowds

Its spot by the station is the reason it fills up. Walking tours and day-trippers off the trains often make it their first stop. Coming early in the day usually beats the groups, and the courtyard currently opens at 8am Monday to Saturday. On Sunday it opens later and closes earlier, from 10am to 8pm.

How to get there: U-Bahn lines U1, U2 and U3 and all regional trains stop at Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof. Take the underpass toward the Königstor and Altstadt, and the courtyard entrance is just inside the gate.

Practical habits that help:

• Carry some euros. Many small German shops and food counters still prefer cash, though plenty take cards.
• Tipping at the restaurants: round up or add about a tenth. Tell the server the total as you pay; don’t leave coins on the table.
• Ask before photographing a craftsperson at work in a shop.
• Advent: the Christkindlesmarkt fills the Old Town, and the courtyard gets much busier with it. Go on a weekday morning if you can.

Opening times change through the year and on holidays. Check the courtyard’s official site for this month’s schedule.