The Tetzel Chapel (1345) contains a Coronation of Mary, by Adam Krafft, unfortunately much damaged. In the centre Mary is being crowned by two angels. On either side of her are noble figures of God the Father and Christ. Beneath Mary is a group of angels, and beneath God and Christ stand many suppliants. An older and very interesting stone-relief is to be seen on the south-west wall. Some old glass and over seventy coats of arms of the Tetzel family are also placed in this chapel.
There are many other churches in Nuremberg, and several of them have a distinctive charm of their own. But I must content myself with a bare sketch of the chief treasures they possess. Only let me add that any lover of Nuremberg who has time to spare will be rewarded by the discovery of many characteristic details in the minor churches. The richest in works of art is the
St. Jakobskirche.
Chief among these is a Pietà, by the unknown master of the Madonna in the Museum (see p. [278]), and the old glass of the windows. The high altarpiece has the distinction of being the earliest specimen of Nuremberg painting. There are, besides, various early reliefs and carvings by Veit Stoss.
The church itself, which was restored in 1824, belongs in its present form to the beginning of the fifteenth century. It was, however, in existence in the twelfth century, for the Emperor Otto presented it and all its property in 1209 to the “Hospital der heiligen Maria der Deutschherrren zu Jerusalem,” an order which had long had a firm foothold in Nuremberg, and came, there is evidence to show, continually into conflict with the Council. After the Jakobskirche was handed over to the Protestants in 1634 by Gustavus Adolphus, the Deutschherren held their Roman Catholic services in the Elizabethkapelle, which was completed in its present shape, as the
Elizabethkirche
with its mighty Italian dome in 1885.
The Marthakirche (1365),
right of the Königstrasse as you come from the Frauen Thor, contains little of interest. Like the chapel “Zum Heiligen Kreuz,” north-west of the town on the road to St. John’s Churchyard, it was founded as the chapel of a pilgrims’ hospital, wherein “all poor strange persons, whencesoever they come, are to be harboured for one or two days and provided with food and drink free of charge.” Almost facing it is the
Klarakirche (1430).