The glass façade
A curving front a hundred metres long — an architectural landmark in its own right.
Rufus46 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Otávio Nogueira from Fortaleza, BR — CC BY 2.0 · Marco Nürnberger — CC BY 2.0 · Marco Nürnberger — CC BY 2.0
The Neues Museum Nuremberg is a museum of modern art and design, opened in 2000 behind a curving glass façade a hundred metres long that is itself an architectural landmark in the city. The collection sets contemporary art from the 1950s onward alongside industrial design: chairs, tools and appliances that became icons. Showing the two together is deliberate — the idea being that the line between art and design is thinner than we assume. The museum is spacious, bright and quiet, a relief after the density of the Gothic old town.
A curving front a hundred metres long — an architectural landmark in its own right.
Contemporary painting beside iconic chairs and appliances, to show how thin the line between them is.
A white spiral staircase in the foyer — one of the most photographed corners of the building.
Luitpoldstraße 5, 90402 Nürnberg
HandwerkerhofThe Handwerkerhof is a cluster of small timber-framed houses set inside the city1 minute walk4.7
Frauentor GateThe Frauentor is one of the four great gates in Nuremberg's old wall, and its ma1 minute walk4.6
The MauthalleThe Mauthalle is a huge building of 1502 raised as both a grain store and a cust2 minutes walk4.3
Germanisches NationalmuseumThe Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg is the largest museum of history an4 minutes walk4.7
St Lorenz ChurchThe great church of the old town south of the river, its twin towers standing ei5 minutes walk4.6The design section suits almost anyone, since it is familiar things: chairs, appliances, tools. The contemporary art needs a particular taste. The building itself justifies going in, even if you move quickly past the paintings.
An hour and a quarter is enough. It is mid-sized with generous circulation, and not tiring like the great museums.
The Frauentor gate and craftsmen's courtyard are minutes away, with the old town and castle beyond. The museum sits between the station and the old town, so it slots easily into a day's route.