Albrecht Dürer’s House in Nuremberg

The house owned by the artist Albrecht Dürer was built around 1420 and is situated at the foot of Nuremberg Castle Hill. Dürer purchased it on 14th June 1509 for 275 guilders, which he paid in cash. He lived there until his death in the year 1528 and created his most important works there. On the occasion of Albrecht Dürer’s 500th birthday in 1971, the house was transformed into a museum. Since 1994 it has belonged to the Museums of the City of Nuremberg. There are various attractions such as a multivision show, guided tours in historical costumes and an artist’s studio, where various artistic techniques are presented.

Albrecht Dürer was born in Nuremberg in 1471. He was first trained to be a goldsmith and then from 1486 he learned how to make woodcuts. During several journeys to Basel, Colmar, Strasbourg, Italy and the Netherlands he learned many different trends in art. His numerous works include altar pictures, self portraits, graphic works and woodcuts as well as the Wittenberg Altar and illustrations for the “Imperial Prayer Book” of Emperor Maximilian I, which is considered to be the most important work of German book illustration. In his books Dürer occupied himself with geometry, the art of fortification, human proportions and the theoretical basic principles of his art. Especially in geometry he was far ahead of his time and the teachings of that day and age, and he left his mark on the mathematical research of the ensuing centuries.