Albrecht Dürer House Nuremberg- A Step back in Time

If you are in Nuremberg, take the time to visit the fascinating Albrecht Dürer House in Nuremberg. (You can’t miss it if you walk up Dürer Strasse to the Kaiserburg). As you all know, I love “small” museums. It’s the instant immersion without a lot of extra fluff. Albrecht Dürer is one of Germany’s best known artists. Who else grew up with the Praying Hands hanging somewhere in the house? And his lifelike Dürer Hare is familiar to most people. But this museum isn’t JUST about the art. The house captures life in the sixteenth century better than any painting could. Although Dürer only lived in the house for 20 years, from 1509 to 1529, it almost looks like he just stepped out yesterday (Ok, yes, if you ignore the cashier in the front). Creaky stairs, dark beams, period furniture, and his workroom! I can easily imagine him working away by the light of the window.

Albrecht Dürer House Nuremberg

When Albrecht Dürer moved into his Nuremberg home in 1509, he was already a famous artist. (His “Hare” was completed in 1502, and his praying hands in 1508) The house, a sturdy half-timbered home built in the early 1400s, is one of the few surviving examples from the Golden Age of Nuremberg’s merchant class. At the time, the city of Nuremberg was at the height of its prosperity from trade, and Dürer moved into one of the nicer houses in a great neighborhood. (He wasn’t exactly a starving artist). He had the house remodeled for the comfort of his wife and to house his apprentices. He built his studio on the top floor to take advantage of the light.

Hare | Framed Print | Albrecht Dürer, 1502 | Vintage Animal Print, Rabbit Illustration, Renaissance Illustration

It’s in that Studio that Dürer completed his masterwork, The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian. This exquisite woodcut print was commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. It’s massive, made up of over 200 prints, and took 2 years for Dürer and his workers to complete. On it you’ll see Dürer’s new typeface, “Deutsche Schrift”, which later became known as Fraktur. Sadly, that work doesn’t hang in the house. In the US, you can see one or the remaining prints hanging in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 Dürer lived and worked in the house until he died in 1528. The family sold the home, but it stayed the same as if the new people didn’t feel they should change it. Baroque painter Joachim von Sandrart turned the house into a memorial to preserve it in the 1600s. Then, in 1871, the Dürer House became the first museum devoted to one artist. The home is both a gallery and a living space, creating an immersive experience with beautiful surprises around every corner. Even if you aren’t a fan of art or architecture, the Dürer house allows you to see what life was like for the Merchant class during the early 1500s. This isn’t a breathtaking castle or a cramped hut; it’s a home. (Imagine 500 years from now, someone stepping into an upper-middle-class home with an art studio, and it’s arranged so you could move in)

Walking through the Dürer Haus

On the ground floor you’ll find the gallery of Dürer’s works. This is the section that feels most like an art museum.
Art lovers may linger here (there’s even a bench for people who just want to sit and look at the paintings).

As you go up the stairs, you come to the living quarters. The Kitchen with it’s enormous hearth. (you can even peek into the small commode room)

The Sitting Room/ Dining Room.

You know you wanted a closer look at that chandelier!

And then you go up to the workroom

His famous “Praying Hands”. 

The famous “Praying Hands” was done in 1508 and predates his time in Nüremberg, but the museum wouldn’t be complete without it. The original drawing of the “Praying Hands”  was done on blue paper (that he made himself) and is believed to be a study made in preparation for his work on the Heller Altarpiece using his brother’s hands as a model. The central part of the original altarpiece was lost in a fire in Munich in 1729. Fortunately, a Dürer copyist painted a copy of the work in 1615, and today, you can see those hands attached to a praying Apostle at the Städl in Frankfurt. Copies of these hands hung in the homes of many German families of a certain age.

Dürer’s woodcuts and engravings solidified his reputation. Here you see how they could be reprinted.

Throughout the day, a docent gives demonstrations on the printing process for Dürer’s engravings.
By cutting different depths, different inks, and using particular shadings, you almost get color in the prints. 

Because I too drag bits and pieces of nature home from my walks, the Cabinet of Curiosities drew me in. Bones and shells, feathers and even an Ostrich egg! And I think that long spiked bone is the nose of a Sawfish.
(I have this image in my head of Albrecht emptying his pockets after a walk, and his wife Agnes rolling her eyes and fussing. “Get that off my Kitchen Table!”)

Plan a visit to the Albrecht Dürer House in Nuremberg

You can wander the Albrecht Dürer house freely, with or without headphones to guide you. Most objects are numbered, and the information is available to viewers. If you are lucky, you can take a guided tour with an Actress portraying Agnes, his wife. Enjoy the experience, watch the demonstrations, and imagine that when you look out the window at the Schlossberg, you see much of the same view that Dürer had during his lifetime.
Click for Tickets and Information

Albrecht Dürer Praying Hand PlaqueHare | Framed Print | Albrecht Dürer, 1502 | Vintage Animal Print, Rabbit Illustration, Renaissance Illustration

The Complete Engravings, Etchings and Drypoints of Albrecht Dürer (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)Albrecht Dürer

All I need is this coloring book, and a seat by the window….

Albrecht Dürer: A Coloring Book For Adults

Looking for more things to do in Nuremberg?