Altstadtfest and other Nürnberg, Germany General Tips

Favorite Thing: Nuremberg is home to unnumerable festivals throughout the year, perhaps the Altstadtfest one of the best known. Held for 10 days in September since 1971, it is Germany's largest folklore event in Germany with over 1 million visitors. Featured are all varieties of muscial concerts including folk, jazz, pop, and rock. The fischerstechen, a jousting competition on the river, and fireworks displays round out the offerings. Plays by Nuremberg native Hans Sachs are featured. Overall there are at least 60 events over 10 days, allegedly with more than 800 participants.

Hans Sachs ( 1492 - 1576 ) was a famed singer and playwright best noted for his comedies created especially for festivals. By trade he was a shoemaker living on the square carrying his name. He was also an early convert to Protestant faith. The festival is, at least in part, an annual tribute.

The Hans Sachs Platz and neighboring Schutt Island in the Pegnitz are filled with surprisingly substantive restaurants and beer halls with long communal outdoor tables and some inside dining. The restaurants facades feature assorted autumn-like scenes over their entrances. And they are all mobbed.

After walking throughout, we could not find two outdoor seats and ended up having to eat inside at one of the few places with any vacant seats at all. We ate at Sissy's on the Insel Schutt - spicy Nuremberger Bratwursts and the best tastiest sauerkraut ever, washed down with Erdinger beer. For dessert, we joined a long queue for individually made crepes at a walk up stand and sat on benches overlooking one fork of the river. From what we overheard, we may have been the only non-German speaking people at this remarkable gathering - an unanticipated great experience far off the typical tourist path. Held in the weeks preceding Munich's renowned Oktoberfest, this precursor event seemed far more cultured and presumably far less drunken than its more famous competitor.


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