Bavarian fossils
From a region rich in Jurassic finds.
Naturhistorische Gesellschaft Nürnberg e.V. — Public domain · Diliff — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diliff — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0
Nuremberg's natural history museum is run by the Natural History Society founded in 1801, among the oldest civic scientific societies in Germany — meaning the museum is the product of a citizens' initiative rather than a state institution, and that origin is still visible in its character. The collection is more varied than the name suggests: fossils from the region (Bavaria is rich in Jurassic fossils), minerals, and an ethnological collection on the cultures of Central America specifically — the last unexpected in a regional natural history museum and among its strongest sections. There is also a section on caves and subterranean life, a local subject: the Franconian Switzerland region north of Nuremberg holds hundreds of caves and has produced important fossil discoveries. The museum is small and traditional in presentation and cheap, and it is a reasonable option on a wet day rather than a destination sought out.
From a region rich in Jurassic finds.
Franconian Switzerland holds hundreds of caves.
Gewerbemuseumsplatz 4, 90403 Nuremberg
Museum of Applied ArtsNuremberg's applied arts museum is a product of a nineteenth-century European mo1 minute walk4.5
KunstvillaA municipal museum of regional art housed in a neo-baroque merchant's villa in t3 minutes walk4.4
The Debtors' TowerThe Schuldturm is a square stone tower standing in the river Pegnitz inside Nure4 minutes walk4.6
The Amber Museum, NurembergAn amber collection in Nuremberg attached to a commercial shop, showing pieces o5 minutes walk4.8
St Lorenz ChurchThe great church of the old town south of the river, its twin towers standing ei6 minutes walk4.6A region of limestone hills and rock north of Nuremberg, named in the nineteenth century by analogy with the Swiss mountains when it became a destination for romantic excursions. It holds over a thousand caves, eroded rock formations and hilltop castles, and is among Germany's best-known climbing areas. Its caves have produced cave bear bones and Stone Age tools.