Albrecht Dürer's House (
German: Albrecht-Dürer-Haus) is a
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
''
Fachwerkhaus'' that was the home of
German Renaissance
The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and sciences ...
artist
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
from 1509 to his death in 1528. The House lies in the extreme north-west of Nuremberg's
Altstadt
''Altstadt'' () is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. '' Neustadt'' (new town), the logical opposite of ...
, near the ''Kaiserburg'' section of the
Nuremberg Castle
Nuremberg Castle () is a group of medieval fortified buildings on a sandstone ridge dominating the historical center of Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany.
The castle, together with the City walls of Nuremberg, city walls, is considered to be one ...
and the ''Tiergärtnertor'' of
Nuremberg's city walls.
The house was built around 1420. It has five stories; the bottom two have sandstone walls, while the upper stories are
timber framed; the entire structure is topped by a
half-hip roof. In 1501, it was purchased by
Bernhard Walther, a merchant and prominent astronomer. Walther remodeled the house, adding small windows to the roof so that it could function as an observatory. Walther died in 1504, and Dürer purchased the house in 1509.
Since 1871 the Albrecht-Dürer-Haus has been a museum dedicated to Dürer's life and work. In a restoration of 1909, the large
dormer
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...
on the east-facing roof was replaced. In October 1944, it took
significant damage from Allied bombing. It was rebuilt by 1949, but did not reopen as a museum until 1971, Dürer's 500th birthday.
The museum features installations of period furnishings, a re-creation of Dürer's workshop in which visitors can view demonstrations of
printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...
techniques, and rotating exhibitions of drawings and prints by Dürer from the City of Nuremberg's Graphic Collection. Visitors can also receive a guided tour of the house from an actress playing
Agnes Dürer, the wife of the artist.
Costumed Guided Tour with Agnes Dürer
, Albrecht Dürer's House. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
Gallery
File:Albrecht-Dürer-Haus, interno 08 workshop.JPG, Interior: Workshop
File:Albrecht-Dürer-Haus, interno 07 cucina.JPG, Interior: Kitchen
File:Nuremberg 2.jpg, Exterior: seen looking down from the Nuremberg Castle
File:Fotothek df ps 0004539 Burgen ^ Sonstiges ^ Türme ^ Burgtürme.jpg, Exterior: the side of the house, looking up toward the castle
References
External links
*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albrecht Durer's House
Biographical museums in Germany
Buildings and structures completed in 1420
Houses completed in the 15th century
Museums devoted to one artist
Museums in Nuremberg
Art museums and galleries established in 1871
Historic house museums in Germany
Albrecht Dürer
1871 establishments in Germany