8 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Nuremberg

If you like pork, you’ll drool over Nuremberg’s signature dish, schäufele. This hearty, filling meal is prepared by marinating pork’s shoulder meat, pork rind and bones in salt, pepper, cumin, vegetables and, wait for it – beer! – and then baking it for several hours. The resultant dish is juicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender. It is usually served with an accompaniment of salad or mashed potatoes.

If your knowledge about amber is limited to it being a gemstone, then the Bernstein-Museum is sure to surprise you. The museum exhibits over 400 varieties of amber, several with remnants of flora and fauna trapped in them from millions of years ago. You can also see amber jewelry dating back 3,000 years, as well as contemporary amber sculptures and artwork. The star of the museum is the largest piece of amber in Germany, weighing 12.41 kg (27.36 lbs).

Tucherstr. 28, Nürnberg, Germany, +49 911 5105550

Experience a completely different perspective of Nuremberg in the evening led by The Lady Nightwatchman. The motto of the tour is “Let history come alive with stories”, and the tour really does live up to it. The Lady Nightwatchman, dressed in a cloak and hat, and armed with a lantern, a horn and a halberd, will not only walk you past the most noteworthy landmarks in town, but will also share insider stories that no guidebook will tell you. The tours are usually conducted in German but English tours can be arranged for groups by prior appointment.

At JOSEPHS The Service Manufactory, you get to be an active part of global innovation. You are encouraged to share your groundbreaking ideas about innovative products or services, or offer constructive feedback about existing ones. A tour through the exhibition area would give you a first-hand taste of products right at the stage of production or marketing. Visitors also get to interact with innovators, brands, firms and entrepreneurs, who are working towards shaping the future of consumerism.

Ecke Karl-Grillenberger-Straße 3, Hintere Ledergasse 44, Nürnberg, Germany, +49 911 27436520

The Fire Brigade Museum is a small but wonderful tribute to Nuremberg‘s leading role in fire fighting in Germany right from the Middle Ages. You can expect to see a wide range of fire-fighting objects and artifacts, including wooden pumps, fire extinguishers, manual fire pumps, nozzles and fireman uniforms, from various eras right up to the modern times. This museum is not only attractive for adults, but also little ones who are fascinated with all things fire brigade.

Feuerwache 3, (Hofeinfahrt Zirkelschmiedsgasse), Jakobsplatz 20, Nürnberg, Germany, +49 911 2316300

Though there is no beach in the immediate vicinity of Nuremberg, every summer, 4,000 sq. m (43,055 sq. ft)) of beach magically appears right in the middle of the city! Except for an ocean, it has everything you would normally associate with a relaxing beach – soft sand, palm trees, comfortable loungers, street food, barbecue areas, massage tents, and more.

Vordere Insel Schütt, Nürnberg, Germany, +49 163 8674482

Nuremberg Castle hides an exciting secret – the Historischer Kunstbunker (historic art bunker). This 24 meter (79 feet)-deep network of rock passages lead to carefully-hidden chambers where valuable artworks were stowed away to protect them during the devastation of World War II. Today, visitors are welcome to walk the passages that have been maintained in an almost-original condition, and see the surviving artworks, guard posts, furniture and other objects from days long gone.

Obere Schmiedgasse 52, Nürnberg, Germany, +49 911 227066

If you are like most people, to you pigeons probably mean those gray things that poop all over the squares where they’re fed by tourists. But the Pigeon Museum in Nuremberg will make you look at pigeons with a little more respect. The museum displays as many as 120,000 (and growing) pigeon-themed exhibits collected from all corners of the world. Exhibits include sculptures, pictures, postcards, paintings, documents, and more. The most popular section in the museum is the collection of 4,000 porcelain pigeon figurines, many of which date back a couple of hundred years.

Schießplatzstraße 40, Nürnberg, Germany, +49 911 483510