Summary

The article describes a personal journey exploring street art in Nuremberg, highlighting the discovery of various forms of art from stickers and murals to sandstone carvings, and reflects on the city's historical context.

Abstract

The author of the article embarks on a day trip to Nuremberg, primarily motivated by an interest in street art, despite being more inclined towards nature. The exploration reveals a range of artistic expressions, from an assortment of stickers on a wall to a street musician, and historic sandstone carvings. The piece emphasizes the juxtaposition of modern urban art with Nuremberg's well-preserved medieval aesthetic. Notable art pieces include a mural of an armorer, a carving of a scale representing fair trade, and a building covered in vines, which the author considers a form of natural street art. The article concludes by acknowledging the city's street art scene as part of a larger writing prompt challenge, connecting the personal experience to a broader community of writers and artists.

Opinions

The author admits to a personal bias towards nature and typically prefers hiking or swimming over city exploration.
The discovery of street art in Nuremberg is seen as a serendipitous aspect of the city trip, rather than the primary purpose.
The author implies that the street art scene in Nuremberg may be more extensive beyond the city center, suggesting there is more to explore.
The article conveys a sense of appreciation for the historical significance of Nuremberg's street art, particularly the sandstone carvings by Adam Kraft.
The author expresses a broad definition of street art, including not only traditional graffiti and murals but also stickers, live performance, and even the natural growth of vines on a building.
There is an acknowledgment of the convenience and quality of European public transport during the visit to Nuremberg.
The piece concludes with an invitation for readers to engage with the author's work through various platforms, indicating a desire to share experiences and connect with a wider audience.

GLOBETROTTERS AUGUST CHALLENGE

Looking for Street Art in Nuremberg

Wandering through the streets of a historical town

Not more or less than a simple heart painted onto the wall. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

I’d be lying if I said we went on a city trip solely to fill my memory card with pictures for this prompt but I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking of street art as my eyes were wandering along the walls of the beautiful city.

Nuremberg is just about an hour’s drive away from us but since we aren’t city people, we haven’t been despite it being the closest city to us. We would much rather prefer going hiking in the mountains or swimming in the lake but as gale-force winds were blowing across the land, we decided walking through a city would be more fun than fighting in water or the mountains.

So there we were. Taking the car to a free parking on the outskirts of town, we stopped and switched over taking the train into the city center. Public transport in Europe is still amazing even if it's not that cheap.

"Nuremberg [...] is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 541.000 inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany." — Wikipedia

While I'm sure Nuremberg has a larger street art scene, only exploring the city center, we didn't get to see much of it.

One of the first pictures I took was of this sidewall covered in stickers. I imagine a backstory such as someone leaving a sticker on the wall and slowly but surely every person, tourist or local in town, stuck their own message on it.

A wall covered in stickers. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

And while I was looking for more signs of art I was thinking

How about a street art-ist?

And decided that this guy drumming in a shopping street is certainly part of the Nuremberg street art scene.

A street artist. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

Almost giving up on finding a mural or some other painting on one of the walls, I spotted this old picture of an armorer. The city’s landscape is defined by half-timbered houses, medieval churches and old town walls which is why it isn’t surprising to find such old street art on the walls of a building.

A historical mural. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

Continuing my search for pieces of art on those old buildings, I stumbled upon the historical weighhouse. This is where goods used to be weighed and sold back in the day.

At first, I just saw the simple picture of a scale carved out of sandstone with the years written next to it during which this building served as the weighhouse.

Fine lines carved into sandstone create a simple image. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

Upon closer inspection and a short walk around the side, I found the famous sandstone carving of a famous sculptor. While it is only a copy of the original which is stored in a museum, it is still an impressive piece of art displayed on the streets.

"The scales relief ("Waagrelief") carved out of sandstone by Adam Kraft in 1497, a famous sculptor from Nuremberg, depicts the scales as both of trade and an emblem of fair compensation. It originally decorated the historic Weighhouse, the building of the public scales, where goods were weighed. The building, which was destroyed in World War II, was also home to the "Herrentrinkstube", a pub where the merchants would gather. Today, the original artwork can be found in the "Germanisches Nationalmuseum" in Nuremberg." — Writing on the building next to the artwork

A famous sandstone carving. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

Walking further to the front, I found a much larger sandstone carving on the huge facade. While trees were blocking the view from afar, I tried two angles to cover the beautiful piece.

A large-scale sandstone carving. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

As I follow the side of the building toward the town square where these days the farmers market and all the weighing of goods take place, I saw this very old painting on the building.

The highlight of Nuremberg's street art scene in the city center is therefore certainly the historic Weighhouse.

Another painting on the historical Weighhouse. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

Just before leaving the city, we sat down in a small restaurant being part of a local brewery and enjoyed the street scene when this building covered in vines took my attention.

In my eyes, this is also some type of street art. Natural art covering a street scene.

Nature’s street art. | Photo credit: Anne Bonfert

And as we are slowly but surely getting over city life again, I'm closing this post showcasing some of the street art we found upon our short visit to the city of Nuremberg.

This is a writing prompt response to Globetrotters’ monthly challenge. Our topic for August is ‘street art’. You can read about the submission guidelines in the link below:

August Monthly Challenge — Street Art

What street art have you come across on your travels?

medium.com

The editors have kicked off the challenge with a series of interesting photo essays:

Jillian Amatt with “Street Art Can Be Found No Matter Where You Look”

Adrienne Beaumont with “I Became Interested in Street Art Through My Daughter”

Michele Maize with “2020 Brought Los Angeles Street Artists Out to Spread Love Not Hate”

And here are other participants and their submissions:

Kim Baker with “Traveling Spain on a Budget? Granada Street Artists Want to Give You a Gift”

CosmicDancer with “Exploring the Soul of Cities through Street Art”

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