Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche), Nuremberg

Hardly any tourist misses the Männleinlaufen in the gable of the Frauenkirche when visiting Nuremberg: Every day at 12 noon the church bells ring on the Hauptmarkt and after the prelude of the trombone players, drummers and fifers, the figures of the electors parade past Emperor Charles IV.

The Frauenkirche is located right in the heart of Nuremberg's old town, on the main market. Every day at 12:00 o'clock "Männleinlaufen" is always observed, by a more or less large, crowd of spectators. This is a "play" of the art clock by Jörg Heuss (created 1506-09) on the gable of the Michael choir. In memory of the decree of the Golden Bull in 1356, the seven electors pay homage to Emperor Charles IV. The ball above the clock also indicates the phases of the moon.
During the Christmas season, always on the Friday before the first Advent, the Nuremberg Christ Child speaks her prologue on the gallery of the Frauenkirche, thus opening the world-famous Nuremberg Christmas Market.

Emperor Charles IV had the Frauenkirche built in the mid-14th century as an imperial court chapel in place of the demolished synagogue in the former Jewish quarter. An attraction is the art clock from 1509 with the so-called "little man running" at noon.