The Frauentorturm is the massive round tower on Nuremberg's city walls that greets you as you walk out of the main station. It guarded the Frauentor, the south-eastern gate of the old town, named after a nearby convent of nuns. What you see is a medieval square tower wrapped in a thick round stone shell in 1558, so that it could stand up to cannon fire.
The Frauentorturm at a glance
- Where: at the south-eastern corner of the old town walls, opposite the main station, beside the Königstor and the Handwerkerhof.
- Built: the gate was completed in the late 14th century; the round stone casing was added in 1558.
- By: the round casing was built under Jörg Unger.
- What it is today: one of the four great round gate towers of the walls; the courtyard behind it houses the Handwerkerhof crafts village.
- Time needed: 15 minutes for the tower and moat, 45 minutes with the Handwerkerhof.
From square gate tower to round bastion
Nuremberg's last ring of walls was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Frauentor in the south-east was finished in the late 14th century and took its name from the convent of St Clare, a house of nuns close by; the convent was pulled down in the 19th century. From around 1430, after the Hussite Wars, the city dug a deep dry moat in front of the walls, finished in 1452 and never filled with water. Seven gates let people in and out, and the Frauentor was the one for roads heading south-east, towards Regensburg.
By the 16th century, square towers were easy targets for artillery. After the Second Margrave's War in the 1550s, the city encased its four main gate towers in round stone shells between 1556 and 1564: the Laufer Tor, the Spittlertor, the Neutor and the Frauentor. The Frauentorturm received its casing in 1558, and an inner gate was built at the same time. The round towers measure about 17 metres across. In the 19th century the railway arrived just outside the walls, and the new Königstraße led traffic through an opening next to the tower, which is why it is often called the Königstorturm today.
What to look for
- The sheer round wall of the tower, with only small openings: the shape was meant to make cannonballs glance off.
- The dry moat in front of the walls, on average about 12 metres deep and never flooded; walk along its edge to see the scale.
- The old tower labels on the wall towers nearby: in 1540 every tower was named with a colour and a letter, and you can still find codes in the blue and red sections around the Frauentor.
- The former weapons courtyard between the outer and inner gates, filled since 1971 with the half-timbered workshops of the Handwerkerhof.
- The pedestrian passage through the gate, where you step from the busy station square straight into the old town.
Why Nuremberg built its towers round
Gunpowder changed fortification. A flat wall takes the full force of a cannonball, while a curved one helps deflect it, and a thick round mass of stone is harder to bring down. Nuremberg was rich enough to rebuild all four of its main gate towers in this new style in less than a decade, and the result still shapes the outline of the old town today. The Spittlertor tower on the western side and the Laufer Tor tower in the north-east look much like the Frauentorturm, so you can spot the family resemblance as you walk around the walls.
Tips for your visit
- Look at the tower from the station square first, then cross over and walk along the moat to the left and right for different angles.
- Come in the late afternoon, when the low sun lights the stone of the walls along the moat.
- Combine it with a walk up Königstraße, which leads straight from the tower into the old town towards St Lorenz.
- If you have more time, follow the walls on foot: much of the circuit around the old town is still standing.
Nearby
- Handwerkerhof: a small walled crafts village inside the gate, with workshops and traditional food stalls.
- Germanisches Nationalmuseum: a large museum of German art and cultural history, a short walk west inside the walls.
- St Lorenz Church: the great Gothic church at the top of Königstraße, about ten minutes' walk.
- Königstraße: the main shopping street that links the station gate with the centre of the old town and the Pegnitz river.
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 2 hours, with about 41 minutes of walking. The Frauentor is one of the stops, and the route also takes you to St Lorenz Church and the Schöner Brunnen on the Main Market.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Nuremberg.
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.