Upon exiting hotel Victoria, we turn to our right and see one of the Nuremberg towers, the kings tower.The guardian spirit of all of Nuremberg’s towers is the Blue Agnes. She was a young maidservant, who was adopted and raised by the tower keeper of the Sinwellturm. He always dressed his foster child in self-made blue cloth and linen. After the keeper’s death, the grateful girl kept watch over the remaining keepers and repeatedly warned them of imminent fires.

The following legend is illustrated at the Teufelsbrünnlein, the devils fountain,at the church of St. Lorenz. The fountain refers to the myth of the Schusserbou, the marble boy, who supposedly cheated while playing marbles. He denied ever having played unfairly and swore on the devil – who promptly came to take him afterwards.

Till Eulenspiegel caused some mischief in Nuremberg as well. He allegedly pranked the patients of the Heilig-Geist-Spital, by pretending to be a doctor. He supposedly got every patient healthy again without any medication in only a single day.

Only a few steps further, the main market, the Hauptmarkt, holds two known legends: at the gable of the Church of Our Lady we can watch the Männleinlaufen, the walking little men, daily at noon.

Afterwards we walk to the beautiful fountain, with its golden ring. Turning it brings luck. Maybe we should try it out? According to the legend, the blacksmith’s trainee fell in love with his boss’ daughter. The blacksmith told him that this relationship was as impossible as moving rings without seams at the fountain grid. Returning from long journey, the blacksmith came home to realize that the trainee had disappeared, but left two movable, seamless rings on the fountain grid.

Let us take a little detour from here to the Rathausplatz to admire the Goose Man Fountain. It tells the story of a Franconian farmer who nearly died of thirst on his way to the market where he had intended to sell two geese. The geese gave him water out of their beaks and saved his life.

Now let us climb up the steep road to the Imperial Castle. On the Kleine Freiung, the Little Freedom, we can see the hoof traces of the horse belonging to knight Eppelein von Gailingen, which remind us of his adventurous escape. Being held captive at the castle he saved his life by taking a courageous leap over the castle wall with his horse.

Admiring the Imperial Castle, we travel back in time when emperors and knights existed. Our main interest here is the Deep Well, and if we look in it, we can envision the many tunnels and rock-paths underneath the whole of Nuremberg. Deep down in the well, on the left and right wall we see two dark openings. According to the myth, a death-sentenced man was let down into the darkness to find the old emperor Karl within the rock-paths. He was told he would be freed if he could find proof of Karl’s existence. Underneath, the man stumbled upon a large hall, in which the old ruler was sitting on a throne at a table surrounded by his Lords in magnificent robes, all looking as if frozen. The convict got startled, grabbed a sparkling stone nearby and ran away in shock. The sparkling stone turned out to be a diamond and served as a proof to free the man.

Through medieval alleys we stroll towards the Albrecht-Dürer-House. Whoever does not have enough of history yet, can take a tour with Albrecht’s wife Agnes and have her guide you through the house, telling interesting facts about the famous painter.

We return back to the present time with a visit at the Spielzeugmuseum, Toy museum, or the Turm der Sinne, the Tower of senses, at Spittlertorgraben.

Get involved in yet another legend on the way back to the hotel Victoria, by visiting the Bag piper-fountain at Unschlittplatz. The legend says that during the plague, a drunken sleeping bagpiper was loaded onto one of the barrows that were used to transport the deceased lying on walkways. The man woke up when the barrow was on the way out of town already and got startled by this encounter with the death. He played his bag pipe to get the attention of the coachman, as his shouts were not heard and was finally released. He did stay healthy however; the wine may have prevented an infection.