Pre-Salian and Salian period Archeological excavations within the castle unearthed remnants of walls dated around 1000, and in deeper strata even older ones that may be attributed to a building of
Henry of Schweinfurt. The first written record is of 1050, when
Henry III issued the so-called
Sigena document in
Norenberc releasing a
bondswoman. His father
Conrad II, on voyages from
Regensburg (Ratisbon) to
Bamberg in 1025 and 1030, still had issued documents in
Megelendorf, a small village some 4 km further to the east where the river
Pegnitz could be crossed by a
ford (presently
Mögeldorf, a district of Nuremberg). In the customary way, these documents indicate the place and date of their issuance, but do not contain any reference to the type of the place (e.g. castle, village etc.). Henry III used the castle in his campaigns to extend his rule over
Bohemia,
Poland and
Hungary.
Henry IV, who had been the opponent of
Pope Gregory VII in the
Investiture Controversy, at the end of his reign, in 1105, had to endure that in his absence, after a siege lasting two months, the castle was taken by his son
Henry V and that at the end of the same year he was forced by his son to abdicate. Frederick II stayed at the castle at least 16 times, and his son King
Henry (VII) of Germany as many as 21 times. In 1224, on the first diet of thirteen year old King Henry (VII),
Walther von der Vogelweide was on the guest list, and in 1225, Henry (VII) was married at the castle to
Margaret of Babenberg, daughter of Duke
Leopold VI of Austria. Frederick II made his last visit to Germany in 1236 and returned to Italy in 1237 for the remaining thirteen years of his life, leaving the German affairs to his son
Conrad IV.
The Castle in the Late Middle Ages The
Interregnum ceased in 1273 with the election in Frankfurt of King
Rudolf I, the first King of the Romans of the
House of Habsburg. Immediately thereafter, Rudolf I attested a number of privileges to the Burgraves in consideration of their assistance in his election. Rudolf I held several diets at the Imperial Castle, and under his reign as well as under the reign of his successors
Adolf of
Nassau and
Albert I of Habsburg, new buildings were added such as the Sinwell Tower, and works were executed on the Palas and the upper parts of the Chapel Tower (Heathens' Tower). During the same period, the Burgraves extended their adjacent castle.
The Burgraves' Castle Both the Burgraves and the city improved their positions in the surrounding lands. The city of Nuremberg prospered and became one of the most important towns in Germany. The
Golden Bull of 1356 named Nuremberg as the place of the first Imperial Diet of a newly elected ruler. The Burgraves' rise to power reached its climax when King
Sigismund transferred the
Margraviate of Brandenburg to the Hohenzollern in 1411. Thus, it was inevitable that the relations between the city and the Burgraves on the castle hill deteriorated significantly. In 1367, the city obstructed the Burgraves' access to the city by a wall in front of their castle, and in 1377, the city erected the
Luginsland tower (literally
look into the land) near the main gate of the Burgraves' castle, in order to control the activities inside the castle. In 1388/89, there was an armed conflict which was settled. Finally, the Burgraves' Castle was attacked in 1420 by
Duke Louis VII of Bavaria and burned down, probably with the consent of the city. In 1422, Sigismund transferred the care of the Imperial Castle to the city, and in 1427,
Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg sold the remains of the Burgraves' Castle to the city.
The Imperial Castle as part of the City With the political and commercial rise of the city, the Imperial Castle became less attractive. Emperors started to execute their governmental acts in the town hall completed in 1340 and preferred to stay in the luxurious houses of the leading families rather than in the less comfortable castle. The castle continued to be used on important formal occasions.
Frederick III appreciated the safety of the Castle and stayed there several months. The last king holding his first Imperial Diet in Nuremberg was his son
Maximilian I. In 1491, he stayed at the castle for almost six months. His grandson and successor
Charles V, because of epidemics raging at Nuremberg, relocated his first Imperial Diet to
Worms. He visited Nuremberg only in 1541 on his way to the
Imperial Diet in Regensburg.
Modern Era At this time, in 1538 to 1545, bastions were built on the northern side of the castle to better protect it against an improved artillery, and the Castle was integrated in the renewed and improved fortifications of the city. The new fortifications were designed by the Maltese military engineer
Antonio Falzon. The subsequent Habsburg emperors concentrated on their territories mainly in
Austria,
Bohemia and
Hungary. Thus, Nuremberg was rarely visited any more by acting rulers. During the
Thirty Years' War, in 1632, the armies of
Gustavus Adolphus and
Wallenstein appeared in front of the walled city, but were diminished less by their
hostilities than by
typhus and
scurvy. Neither the city nor the Castle fully recovered from the effects of the Thirty Years' War. Since 1594, the Imperial Diet had met only in Regensburg. The
Peace of Westphalia of 1648 not only ended the atrocities of the war, but led to the
Perpetual Diet of Regensburg which from 1663 to 1806 seated in Regensburg. As a consequence, the Nuremberg Castle lost practically all of its importance and was left undisturbed by outside forces. In 1806, during
Napoleon's restructuring of central Europe, French troops occupied Nuremberg and, according to the
Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine (
Rheinbundakte), handed it over to
Bavaria, then raised to a kingdom. In line with the
Romantic Period's revived interest for medieval art and architecture, King
Ludwig I of Bavaria, in 1833, ordered
Carl Alexander Heideloff to execute restoration work, but the king was not pleased with his neo-Gothic style and stopped the work. His son
Maximilian II later commissioned
August von Voit to continue the refurbishment between 1852 and 1858 in a more moderate style. In the 1930s, the general opinion of 19th century art and architecture had deteriorated. During the
Third Reich,
Rudolf Esterer, director of the
Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, removed most of the previous installations and returned the Castle to what was thought to be
its original state. In World War II, the castle was damaged in 1944-45, with only the Imperial Chapel and the Sinwell Tower remaining entirely intact. After the war, the castle was restored under the direction of Rudolf Esterer and Julius Lincke to its historical form, including the Luginsland tower which had been completely destroyed. The Castle is owned by the state of
Bavaria and administered by its
Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes (
Bayerische Verwaltung der staatlichen Schlösser, Gärten und Seen). ==In popular culture==