St Lawrence Side, Nuremberg Lorenzer Seite

The Lorenzer Seite (named after its principal church, St Lorenz) is the district on the south side of the Pegnitz in Nuremberg. The hub of the city's traffic is the Bahnhofsplatz, to the southeast of the town, round which are the railroad station (Hauptbahnhof), the Head Post Office, the Frauentorturm and the Handwerkerhof Alt Nürnberg (half-timbered houses with traditional craft workshops).

From Bahnhofsplatz, the busy Königstrasse runs northwest into the old town of Nuremberg. On the right is the 14th C. St Martha's Church (Marthakirche; fine stained glass), in which the master singers held their singing schools between 1578 and 1620. Farther along on the left can be seen the Mauthalle, an old corn and salt store (1498-1512). Beyond this is a pedestrian zone leading to Lorenzer Platz, with St Lawrence's Church.

Immediately south of the National Germanic Museum in Nuremberg, outside the old town walls (entrance in Lessingstrasse), is the Transport Museum (Verkehrsmuseum; railroads, postal services).It contains a display on the history of railroads with a large collection of scale models as well as a variety of interactive games and experiments.

The Frauentorgraben runs west, parallel to the southern section of the town walls of Nuremberg, to the Plärrer, a major traffic intersection. At No. 41 is the Nicolaus Copernicus Planetarium. From here the Spittlertor leads into the southwestern part of the old town.

Near the Spittlertor, along Ludwigstrasse in Nuremberg, is Jakobsplatz, with the 14th C. St James's Church (Jakobskirche; Protestant). On the north side of the square is St Elizabeth's Church (R.C.), a domed church built between 1785 and 1806.From here Ludwigstrasse (now a pedestrian zone) and its continuation Karolinenstrasse lead to Lorenzer Platz (also reached direct from the station by way of Königstrasse).

In Lorenzer Platz in Nuremberg stands the twin-towered Gothic church of St Lawrence (St-Lorenzkirche; 13th-15th c.; Protestant), the city's largest church. Above the beautiful west doorway (c. 1355) is a rose window 9m/30ft in diameter. Outstanding among the many works of art it contains are the "Annunciation" by Veit Stoss (1517-18) which hangs in the choir, the tabernacle by Adam Krafft (1493-96), the crucifix by Veit Stoss on the high altar, the Krell Altar (behind the high altar; c. 1480), with the oldest surviving representation of the town, and the superb stained glass (1477-93) in the choir.Northwest of the church is the Fountain of Virtue (1589), and opposite this is the tower-like Nassauer Haus (13th-15th c.).From here the Museumsbrücke crosses the Pegnitz to the Sebalder Seite.

From the bridges over the Pegnitz in Nuremberg, particularly the Maxbrücke, the Weinstadel bridge and the Henkersteg, there are fine views of the old town.