rung up round the busy mart and the shrine of St.
Sebald, and that by this time Nuremberg had risen to the dignity of a
"Stadt" or city state. Presently, indeed, we find her rejoicing in the
title of "Civitas" (state). The place, it is clear, was already of
considerable military importance or it would not have been worth while
to invest it. The growing volume of trade is further illustrated by a
charter of Henry V. (1112) giving to the citizens of Worms customs'
immunity in various places subject to him, among which Frankfort, Goslar
and Nuremberg are named as royal towns ("oppida regis").

[Footnote A: From "The Story of Nuremberg." Published by E.P. Dutton &
Co.]

ITS CHURCHES AND THE CITADEL[A]

BY THOMAS FROGNALL DIBDIN

It may be as well briefly to notice the two churches--St. Sebald and St.
Lawrence. The former was within a stone's throw of our inn. Above the
door of the western front is a remarkably fine crucifix of wood--placed,
however, in too deep a recess--said to be by Veit Stoss. The head is of
a very fine form, and the countenance has an expression of the most
acute and intense feeling. A crown of thorns is twisted around the brow.
But this figure, as well as the whole of the outside and inside of the
church, stands in great need of being repaired. The towers are low, with
insignificant turrets; the latter evidently a later erection--probably
at the commencement of the sixteenth century. The eastern extremity, as
well indeed as the aisles, is surrounded by buttresses; and the
sharp-pointed, or lancet, windows, seem to bespeak the fourteenth, if
not the thirteenth, century. The great "wonder" of the interior is the
Shrine of the Saint (to whom the church is dedicated), of which the
greater part is silver. At the time of my viewing it, it was in a
disjointed state--parts of it having been taken to pieces, for repair;
but from Geisler's exquisite little engraving, I should pronounce it to
be second to few specimens of similar art in Europe. The figures do not
exceed two feet in height, and the extreme elevation of the shrine may
be about eight feet. Nor has Geisler's almost equally exquisite little
engraved carving of the richly carved Gothic font in this church, less
claim upon the admiration of the connoisseur.

The mother church, or Cathedral of St. Lawrence, is much larger, and
portions of it may be of the latter end of the thirteenth century. The
principal entrance presents us with an elabor