Nuremberg.

Nuremberg rises around its imperial castle, the Kaiserburg, which looks down over a reconstructed old town of red roofs and sandstone towers. Once a seat of the Holy Roman Empire, the city kept its medieval street plan even after wartime destruction, and St. Sebaldus Church and St. Lorenz Church still anchor the two halves of the centre. Half-timbered houses line lanes near the Pegnitz River.

Franconian food culture runs deep here: thin grilled Nuremberg sausages, spiced Lebkuchen gingerbread, and the Christkindlesmarkt, one of Germany's oldest and largest Christmas markets, which fills the main square each December. The Germanisches Nationalmuseum holds an extensive collection of German art and culture, from medieval altarpieces to scientific instruments.

The city does not soften its twentieth-century history. The former Nazi party rally grounds and their Documentation Center lay out how Nuremberg became a staging ground for propaganda. The result is an old town where imperial grandeur and hard history sit within a few streets of each other, each shaping how the city sees itself today.