The Imperial Castle (Kaiserburg) stands on a sandstone ridge at the northern edge of Nuremberg's old town, the highest point inside the city walls. For roughly five centuries German kings and emperors stayed here on their travels, and from 1356 the Golden Bull named Nuremberg as the place where every newly elected ruler held his first Imperial Diet.
The Imperial Castle at a glance
- Where: on the castle rock above the Sebald side of the old town, reached on foot up the steep, cobbled Burgstraße from the Main Market.
- Built: earliest remains from around 1000; the Palas and the double chapel around 1200; towers, stables and bastions added up to the 1540s; largely rebuilt after the Second World War.
- What it is today: a museum castle run by the Bavarian Palace Administration, with an exhibition on the castle and the Holy Roman Empire, the Deep Well, the Sinwell Tower and the castle gardens.
- Time needed: one and a half to two hours with the museum, the well and the tower; about 30 minutes if you only walk through the courtyards and terraces.
Two castles, one rock
The first written record dates from 1050, when Emperor Henry III issued a document at Nuremberg. In 1105 the future Henry V took the castle after a two-month siege in his war against his own father, Henry IV. Under the Hohenstaufen dynasty, King Conrad III began a new imperial castle around 1140, and the residential hall (Palas) and the double chapel date from around 1200. Right next to it stood a second castle, that of the burgraves, which in 1191 passed to the Counts of Zollern, ancestors of the Hohenzollerns who later ruled Prussia.
The city and the burgraves soon became rivals. In 1377 the city built the Luginsland tower, whose name means 'look into the land', partly to keep an eye on the Burgraves' Castle next door. That castle was largely destroyed in 1420, the city bought its remains in 1427 and from then on looked after the whole complex. After the Thirty Years' War the castle lost its political role, and in 1806 it passed to Bavaria. Air raids in 1944 and 1945 left much of it in ruins; rebuilding took about three decades, and a major restoration was completed in 2021.
What to look for
- The double chapel: two Romanesque chapels stacked one above the other and linked only by an opening in the floor, with the ruler and his court above and everyone else below.
- The Sinwell Tower, the round keep from the second half of the 13th century. Its name comes from the Middle High German word sinwell, 'perfectly round'; the top floor and pointed roof were added in the 1560s, and the climb gives a view over the red roofs of the old town.
- The Deep Well, in a small house in the outer courtyard: a shaft cut about 50 metres down through the sandstone, once the castle's only source of water.
- The Heathens' Tower beside the chapel. It owes its name to Romanesque carvings on its walls that later generations took for pagan idols; they were removed when the castle was prepared for a visit by Charles V.
- The Pentagonal Tower, one of the oldest structures on the rock and the last real remnant of the Burgraves' Castle.
- The Imperial Stables on the eastern side, built as a granary in 1494 and 1495 by the city architect Hans Beheim the Elder and now a youth hostel, with the Luginsland tower beside them.
The robber knight's leap
A well-known legend tells of Eppelein von Gailingen, a 14th-century robber knight who preyed on Nuremberg's merchants. Sentenced to hang at the castle, he asked as a last wish to sit on his horse once more, then spurred it over the wall and into the moat and got away. Marks on the castle wall are still shown as traces of the jump. In reality he was caught again and executed in 1381.
Tips for your visit
- Arrive early in the day, before the tour groups arrive.
- The courtyards and the terrace in front of the Imperial Stables, known as the Freiung, can be visited without going into the museum, and they offer one of the best views over the city.
- Burgstraße and the paths around the castle are steep and cobbled, so wear comfortable shoes.
- In the warmer months, step into the Castle Garden, laid out on the old bastions.
Nearby
- Albrecht Dürer's House: the painter's home from 1509 until his death in 1528, a few minutes' walk below the castle by the Tiergärtnertor.
- Tiergärtnertorplatz: a small square of half-timbered houses at the foot of the walls, lively in the evening.
- St Sebaldus Church: one of Nuremberg's two great Gothic parish churches, with Peter Vischer's bronze shrine of St Sebald.
- Main Market (Hauptmarkt): the square with the Schöner Brunnen fountain and the Church of Our Lady, a short walk downhill.
See Nuremberg with World City Trail
Our Nuremberg scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around two hours, with about 41 minutes of walking. It includes the Frauentor, St Lorenz Church and the Schöner Brunnen on the Main Market.
If you prefer a different format, Nuremberg also has a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game.
Play the Nuremberg scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Nuremberg →
Play the outdoor escape game in Nuremberg →
Facts checked in October 2026.