The Durer Haus in Nuremberg (circa 1910)

Albrecht Durer, perhaps Germany’s most famous artist, purchased a house in Nuremberg in 1509 and resided there for about 20 years.

Many of his most accomplished engravings were completed in his studio on the top floor of this house.

The house was constructed about 1420; the five-story building has sandstone walls on the lower two stories, and timbered walls above.

Apart from the connection to a revered artist, it is cool to imagine a house more than 600 years old.

The house became the Durer museum in the nineteenth century, but was heavily damaged in World War II.

It was rebuilt, but did not re-open as a museum until Durer’s 500th birthday in 1971.

Anyone who collects prints and engravings is awed by Durer, perhaps the greatest woodcut engraver the world has ever known.

But Durer was also a deeply-serious student throughout his life, and his role as a theorist is significant in the Renaissance in Northern Europe.

Through his water colors, he introduced into Germany many classical and mythological themes of the Italian Renaissance.

When studying the Reformation, one discovers that Durer was also involved in the religious and cultural disputations that dominated the 16th century.

The postcard was printed in Leipzig, and published by a firm in Nuremberg.