Editing Nuremberg (section)

===Early modern age===
[[File:De Merian Frankoniae 090.jpg|thumb|right|Map of Nuremberg, 1648]]
The cultural flowering of Nuremberg in the 15th and 16th centuries made it the centre of the [[German Renaissance]]. In 1525 Nuremberg accepted the [[Protestant Reformation]], and in 1532 the [[Nuremberg Religious Peace]] was signed there, preventing war between Lutherans and Catholics<ref name="Cath:Nuremberg"/><ref>{{cite book |author1=Henry Eyster Jacobs |author2=John Augustus William Haas |title=The Lutheran Cyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3NBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA351 |year=1899 |publisher=Scribner |page=351 |isbn=9780790550565}}</ref> for 15 years.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} During the Princes' [[Second Schmalkaldic War|1552 revolution]] against [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], Nuremberg tried to purchase its neutrality, but Margrave [[Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach|Albert Alcibiades]], one of the leaders of the revolt, attacked the city without a declaration of war and dictated a disadvantageous peace.<ref name="Cath:Nuremberg"/> At the 1555 [[Peace of Augsburg]], the possessions of the Protestants were confirmed by the Emperor, their religious privileges extended and their independence from the [[Bishopric of Bamberg|Bishop of Bamberg]] affirmed, while the 1520s' secularisation of the monasteries was also approved.<ref name="Cath:Nuremberg"/> Families like the [[Tucher von Simmelsdorf|Tucher]], [[Imhoff family|Imhoff]] or [[Haller von Hallerstein|Haller]] ran trading businesses across Europe, similar to the [[Fugger family|Fugger]] and [[Welser]] families from [[Augsburg]], although on a slightly smaller scale.

[[File:Old town hall.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''Wolffscher Bau'' of the old city hall]]
The state of affairs in the early 16th century{{clarify|date=July 2023}}, increased trade routes elsewhere and the ossification of the social hierarchy and legal structures contributed to the decline in trade.<ref name="Cath:Nuremberg"/> During the [[Thirty Years' War]], frequent quartering of Imperial, Swedish and [[Catholic League (German)|League]] soldiers, the financial costs of the war and the cessation of trade caused irreparable damage to the city and a near-halving of the population.<ref name="Cath:Nuremberg"/> In 1632, the city, occupied by the forces of [[Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden]], was [[siege of Nuremberg|besieged]] by the army of Imperial general [[Albrecht von Wallenstein]]. The city declined after the war and recovered its importance only in the 19th century, when it grew as an industrial centre. Even after the Thirty Years' War, however, there was a late flowering of architecture and culture; secular [[Baroque architecture]] is exemplified in the layout of the civic gardens built outside the city walls, and in the Protestant city's rebuilding of [[St. Egidien, Nuremberg|St. Egidien church]], destroyed by fire at the beginning of the 18th century, considered a significant contribution to the baroque church architecture of Middle Franconia.<ref name="HLB:Nürnberg Entwicklung"/>

After the Thirty Years' War, Nuremberg attempted to remain detached from external affairs, but contributions were demanded for the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] and the [[Seven Years' War]] and restrictions of imports and exports deprived the city of many markets for its manufactures.<ref name="Cath:Nuremberg"/> The Bavarian elector, [[Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria|Charles Theodore]], appropriated part of the land obtained by the city during the [[Landshut War of Succession]], to which Bavaria had maintained its claim; Prussia also claimed part of the territory. Realising its weakness, the city asked to be incorporated into Prussia but [[Frederick William II of Prussia|Frederick William II]] refused, fearing to offend Austria, [[Russian Empire|Russia]] and France.<ref name="Cath:Nuremberg"/> At the Imperial diet in 1803, the independence of Nuremberg was affirmed, but on the signing of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]] on 12 July 1806, it was agreed to hand the city over to Bavaria from 8 September, with Bavaria guaranteeing the [[Amortization (accounting)|amortisation]] of the city's 12.5&nbsp;million guilder public debt.<ref name="Cath:Nuremberg"/>