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Vacation 2016 August 30, Nuremberg Strolling through Downtown

Nuremberg

Henlein Pocket Watch

The first interesting thing I encountered strolling through the pedestrian mall was the Peter-Henlein-Fountain.

Peter Henlein (1485 - 1542) was a Nuremberg inventor, locksmith and clockmaker. He is hailed as the inventor of the pocket watch, which is not entirely correct as watches that fit in pockets were not manufactured until about 100 years later. However, Henlein was one of the best clockmakers of his time and manufactured one of the first truly portable watches in 1510. His watches were about three inches deep with about the same diameter. They were most commonly carried as pendants. Henlein stands on a watch called Nuremberg Egg, which also is not quite accurate as the first original Nuremberg Egg was manufactured around 1550, after Henlein's death. However, all of this does not diminish Henlein's revolutionary influence on the development of watches. Thus, he fittingly stands on a scrapheap of cogwheels - the remnants of old, bulky clocks, proudly looking at his first portable watch.

Since there is no historical record of what Peter Henlein really looked like it was decided to honor him in form of a fountain and not an official "monument".

Henlein's watch only had one handle as the counting of minutes only started in the 17th century when clocks and watches were precise enough. The fountain was designed by Berlin sculptor Max Meisner and created by the Christoph Lenz Art Foundry. It was unveiled during a clock exhibition in 1905. Ironically (or not), the local Rolex-Store is just across the street from the fountain.

Another fountain, the Ship of Fools was a little bit out of the way but well worth the detour.

The Ship of Fools (Das Narrenschiff in German) is a satirical poem by German humanist and theologian Sebastian Brant, mocking the weaknesses and foibles of society. It was one of the most popular books of the sixteenth century. The fountain was designed in 1989 by Jürgen Weber, the sculptor who also created the Marriage Carousel. Originally, the boat was supposed to be filled with overflowing water, but although there was a donor for the extra cost, the city decited to keep the fountain dry.

One other fountain caught my attention: the Fountain of Virtue (Tugendbrunnen in German) on Lorenz Square.

It took local sculptor Benedikt Wurzelbauer five years (1584-1589) to complete this true masterpiece of renaissance art.

The fountain depicts seven important human virtues. Justice (Identified by a scale and a blindfold) as the most important virtue is placed on top; the other six virtues circle the bottom level of the fountain. Faith carries a cross; Love is identified by two children; the symbol of Hope is an anchor; the sign for Temperance is a water jug; a lion symbolizes Generosity and a lamb stand for Patience. The light was not in my favor, thus, for the three closeups below, I borrowed a few images from Wikimedia.

Faith, Love, Hope	Generosity	Temperance, Patience

There is also a lot of modern art along the way. One, that caught my eye was an abstract sculpture called Song for Adele VII (right). It was created by British artist Tim Scott, who, for a while was a professor at Nuremberg's Academy of Fine Arts. Another renowerd British artist, Henry Moore created a sculpture called Grand Totem (below).

From the Grand Totem it was only a few steps to my next destination: St. Lorenz Church (St. Lawrence) , one of Nuremberg's largest and most beautiful churches.

Click the left turn sign to get back to the White Tower. Or click the right turn signal to to move on to St. Lorenz.

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