Albrecht-Durer-Haus (Albrecht Durer House Museum), Nuremberg

The home of German Renaissance painter and printmaker Albrecht Durer from 1509 to his death in 1528 lies in the extreme north-west of Nuremberg's Altstadt, near the Kaiserburg section of the Nuremberg Castle 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. Walter remodeled the house, adding small windows to the roof so that it could function as an observatory. Walther died in 1504, and Durer purchased the house five years later.

Since 1871 the Albrecht-Durer-Haus has been a museum dedicated to Durer's life and work. It was heavily remodeled sometime in the 1890s, with the large dormer on the north-facing roof being the largest addition. In October 1944, it took significant damage from Allied bombing. It was rebuilt by 1949 but did not reopen as a museum until 1971, Durer'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 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 Durer, the wife of the printmaker.

Why You Should Visit:
The amazing stories about the building and Durer's life are fascinating (eg. petty bureaucrats and 'facilities').