Nuremberg - St. Lorenz

The construction St. Lorenz started around 1250, replacing a smaller Romanesque church. At the same time St. Sebaldus, another great church in Nuremberg was under construction - only 300 meters east. That probably caused a kind of rivalry.

Nuremberg was a "Free Imperial City". The "Golden Bull" (1356) named Nuremberg as the city where newly elected kings of Germany must hold their first Imperial Diet, making Nuremberg one of the three highest cities of the Empire.

So it is no surprise, that St. Lorenz, a church that was (financially) cared of by the city council and by wealthy citizens, was a kind of very prestigious object for the city.

St. Lorenz was completed ~ 1390, but - following St. Sebaldus - already a decade later alterations started. The side aisles got demolished and were replaced by wider ones. The erection of the Gothic hall-chancel was done 1439 - 1477.

Since 1525 St. Lorenz is a (Evangelical) Lutheran parish church. Only 8 years after Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Schlosskirche in Wittenberg. Though Lutheran that early St. Lorenz never suffered from an iconoclast, maybe the now Lutheran citizens respected, what their ancestors had created here (by funding!).

The about 20 metres high tabernacle is a masterpiece, created by Adam Kraft (and his studio) 1493 - 1496. Donor was Hans IV. Imhoff, a wealthy, prominent merchant and city councilman. The contract between Hans IV. Imhoff and Adam Kraft is in the archives of the "Germanisches Nationalmuseum" in Nuremberg. Imhoff paid more than 77 guldens, the doors were another 20.

Three life size figures support the structure. In the center is a self portrait of Adam Kraft. He must have been a very self confident artist. The other figures may depict two of Kraft´s assistants.


lorenzkirche.de/