During the Middle Ages, Nördlingen was a free city of the Holy Roman Empire and an important trading center.

The city walls and their 14 towers, erected between the 14th and 15th centuries, have survived almost intact to this day.

There is a tradition in the city that lasts 365 days a year: every night, a watchman climbs the tower of St. George's Church, the Daniel Tower, and shouts from the top, announcing that the city is free from any threat. The reenactments begin at 10:00 PM, every half hour, until midnight. In medieval times, the city was a constant target of attacks and fires.

Nördlingen is situated in the center of a crater that formed millions of years ago with the fall of a meteorite. Fifteen million years ago, a massive explosion occurred in the region: a piece of rock from space struck the site with tremendous force, creating a gigantic crater, the present-day Nördlinger Ries, which is one of the best-preserved and most studied meteorite impact craters in the world.

What is the Ries?

The Ries (or Nördlinger Ries) is a unique geological region in southern Germany, located mainly in Bavaria, between the towns of Nördlingen, Oettingen, Wallerstein, and other small towns.

This region was then designated as Bavaria's first National Geopark. The new Geopark also includes adjacent areas of the Franconian and Swabian Jura Mountains.

The center of the Geopark is the town of Nördlingen, located directly on the impact crater.

The Ries Crater Museum provides information about the area's fascinating geological past. Here, geological history becomes an experience for visitors, and geoscience becomes tangible.