Nurnberg - Norenberga, Urbs nobilissima, . . [Nürnberg]

A fine copper engraved antique panoramic view of Nürnberg, by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg. From Vol.2 of the 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum'.
TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: The well-known city of Nuremberg is effectively the center of all Germany and is distinguished by public and private buildings, very rich merchants and a wise council; it has skilled master craftsmen of all kinds, is fortified by strong city walls, castles and moats of sufficient width and depth. The lover of the fine arts D. Cornelius Chaymox, a Nuremberg merchant, has very kindly supported our topographical project with this plate.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on the verso): "The Altmühl flows through Eichstätt towards Kehlheim into the Danube, the Pegnitz flows in the north towards Schwabach and joins the Main at Bamberg. Emperor Charles, therefore, began construction work, ordering many thousand men to take part, and had a channel dug between these two rivers, which was over 2,000 paces long and 300 feet wide, but the work was in vain, for it rained very much at the time and the ground at that place was marshy, so that the work was not completed."

In neither view of Nuremberg does the castle above the city dominate the city, for the hills have been flattened out, especially in this view. Yet one can clearly make out the well-fortified city wall, the mighty castle, and the main churches of SS Lawrence and Sebald, as landmarks of the two original parts of the city.
The imposing city towers, the Arsenal, the Salt House, and the monastery of St Giles are visually emphasized. The present plate is dominated by the figures of patricians in local dress. The two elegantly dressed children to the right of the cartouche are striking, for there are no comparable cases of children as staffage figures.
In the 16th century, although Nuremberg had no university, the city was a center of book printing (Anton Koberger), of art (Michael Wolgemut, Albrecht Dürer, Adam Krafft, Veit Stoss), of literature (Hans Sachs), of geography (Martin Behaim), of educated patrician families (including Pirckheimer, Löffelholz) and of trade. In addition to Augsburg, Nuremberg was the most influential trade city in central Europe (Taschen).

The 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully colored. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist.
The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, the sixth volume in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI.
Other contributors were cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Reference: Van der Krogt 4, #3127; Fauser, #10035; Taschen, Br. and Hog., p.174.