The Dürer Museum is in the house Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528) occupied from 1509 up to his death as house, studio, and shop. It is located at Tiergärtner Platz, one of the most beautiful squares in Nuremberg. Currently several restaurants, bars, and cafés operate at the edges of the square while one side is fronted by the bastions of the castle and another is partly framed by the city wall and Tiergärtner City Gate.

Included in the price of entry is an audio tour, which is both informative and entertaining. The tour is presented from the viewpoint of Dürer’s wife. Interestingly the German version has the voice of an older woman while the English version has his spouse at a much younger age! Both versions seem to have the same information though and the audio automatically switches on as you move from room to room--no need to fumble with small buttons.

The building is original and has not been adapted for wheelchair users or the infirm. Stairs become steeper as one ascends with the stairs to the final floor creaking appropriately as well. Fortunately the museum was virtually deserted when we visited and we could look at all the displays at leisure and move about in the narrow doorways and stairs at will.

The lowest floor contains the entrance, a small shop, and other facilities including coin lockers. There are also a video display and some information sheets, which serve as an introduction to the museum. The living areas are lightly furnished with some built in furniture and decoration that was in vogue at the time. Mrs Dürer will explain it all in detail as you move around. There are not many of his works on display, except for a collection of etches and drawings (more of his works are in the German National Museum and the Alte Pinakothek in Munich).

The top floor was the workshop and is still in use with frequent demonstrations. During our visit a woman was making a copper engraving in the fashion that Dürer introduced to Germany. It was quite a time consuming process and it took quite some time to make a fairly small three color print of a rabbit--and of course she worked with the etch already made.

On entry you receive a free voucher for a gift from the souvenir shop across the road - expect a black and white print postcard of the Dürer house.

Open: Tuesday - Sunday 10 - 17 (20 on Thursday)

The first room you enter has large wall posters that you read—there were at least five or six. From here, you go to a video presentation that takes 15 minutes. Of course, it didn't start the minute we sat down. After the presentation, you view the other two floors of the house using the guided tour.

My tour never worked correctly; it screeched loudly every time it was supposed to play. There were some live demonstrations going on, and of course, we wanted to stop to see them. At about 4:50pm, when we hadn't even gotten to the third floor, the man who had given us the headphone tours started gesturing that we needed to leave. We were very disappointed.

If the tour takes more than 45 minutes, we should not have been allowed in, and then, after we were in, we should have been allowed to finish it. I felt rushed, and I hardly got any of the tour information. Then my husband fell on the bottom of the stairs with at least three staff members standing there, and not one of them even made an effort to see if he had been hurt (he hadn't, but he was flat on the floor for at least a minute).

This was the first time we were disappointed with the attitude of the staff anywhere. They really need to be re-instructed in customer service. So please visit the house; it's a wonderful tribute to the Leonardo of the North, but be warned: get there early.

Update 2004 Our second visit was everything we could have wanted. Though the staff still isn't what I would call warm, we had an excellent visit and enjoyed every minute. I have added photos from the second visit.