Nördlingen

Nördlingen is a city in Swabia in the German state of Bavaria. It is one of only three towns in Germany that still have completely intact city walls. It was built in the impact crater of a meteorite.

Understand
Nördlingen is located near a Roman settlement built on the road 70 km northwest from Augsburg (an important point on the Via Claudia Augusta route from Italy) and has a population of about 21,000 (2021).

The city lies within the Ries Basin, a 25-km crater caused when a meteorite struck the earth 15 million years ago. This is one of the best preserved craters on earth, and is the only known rampart crater on the planet. It was used by US astronauts to train for the moon landing. In exchange for the use of the area, Nördlingen received moon rocks which are now on display in a museum in the city. Another effect of the meteor strike is that a locally quarried rock, which was used to build many of the older stone buildings, contains millions of tiny fragments of diamonds, as well as pieces of quartz and other rocks.

The city is surrounded by a wall, built in the 14th century, which follows the rim of the crater. In the centre of the city is St Georgskirsche. From here, 5 main roads radiate to the wall, which has 12 gates.

What is considered to be the first mention of Nördlingen comes in 898 CE when "Nordilinga" is used. The 1100th birthday festivities took place in 1998.

Nördlingen grew to prominence because of its importance in trade in the area. It was a Free City and the local fair was one of the most important in this region in the Middle Ages. Testimony to that can be seen in the numbers of houses and buildings which still exist that used to house tradesmen's goods or a market for their wares.

The town walls and fortifications had been built in the 14th century and Nördlingen was the site of a battle between Catholic and Protestant forces in the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century. Nördlingen eventually lost its independence and became part of Bavaria at the start of the 19th century and is now the administrative centre of the Donau-Ries area.

By train
Nördlingen has Nördlingen is on a regional rail line, which generally connects to the main rail hubs through the town of Donauwörth to the south. Deutsche Bahn operates hourly train service to Munich (€21, 2 hours), Augsburg (€12, 1 hour), and Stuttgart (€18, 2 hours).

By bus
Touring Europabus operates daily service between all cities on the Romantic Road.

Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg (VGN) Regional Bus 501 operates between Nördlingen's Rathaus and Dinkelsbühl and Feuchtwangen with further connections to Nuremberg.

By foot
The city is very small and can be covered by foot. The tourist offices runs daily tours in the summer at 14:00 and 20:30 for €4.50.

See




Go next

 * Munich (€21, 2 hours)
 * Augsburg (€12, 1 hour)
 * Stuttgart (€18, 2 hours).
 * Nuremberg