This restaurant has been perfecting the sausage for 600 years

Nuremberg Airport is bustling as I exit the security area but it only takes a moment to spot my tour guide. John is proudly holding up a poster-sized sign with “WOOKIEE” written on it (our nickname for each other as we sometimes talk in Chewbacca’s language).

“Rrrruuuurrr!” he roars as two old mates embrace, not caring an iota about the busy Bavarians moving around us. Before I can respond in kind, he has me out the terminal doors and bundled into his BMW X2. John and his young German-Australian family live in the smaller city of Erlangen, just to the north, but today he wants to show me around Old Nuremberg and catch up over a classic German lunch at an old eatery.

Nurnberg – or Nuremberg in English – has its origins as a settlement that grew around the Kaiserburg Imperial Castle (kaiserburg-nuernberg.de) of German King Henry III after it was built around 1040. Today, with a population of just over half a million residents, Nuremberg has grown into the second-biggest city in the state of Bavaria (behind Munich). Old Nuremberg sits on the banks of the Pegnitz River, whose emerald waters wind past heritage buildings and under arched sandstone bridges. The old city sits within a long stone wall, built as a defensive structure in medieval times.

I’ve hardly got time to take in the Gothic architecture of the Old Town Hall or sculptures of Ehekarussell, the Marriage Life Fountain, that were inspired by the works of medieval poet Hans Sachs. And we’re not stopping at the home of Germany’s famous Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer (1471–1528), which is now a museum tour (museums.nuernberg.de/albrecht-duerer-house), either.

No, we are focused on eating like kings ourselves before considering any other attractions.

Our destination is Zum Gulden Stern Historische Bratwurstküche (bratwurstkueche.de), which advertises itself as the oldest bratwurst restaurant in the world. And I trust they know a thing or two about sausages having served them for the last 604 years. Zum Gulden Stern (At the Golden Star) opened its doors to peckish patrons for the first time in 1419.

Large potted plants form a perimeter to the beer garden and its umbrella and alfresco dining area which would be bustling in summer but is now empty. We enter the traditional Bavarian tavern and quickly settle in its cosy, rustic setting. Wooden benches add a perimeter to the walls and an old fireplace is decorated with copper pots and pans. There is an ancient-looking wooden hammer mounted on a post that Thor might have been happy to once wield. Dozens of sausages sizzle on a wood-fired grill.

“Wir hatten gerne ein Tucher Hefeweizen und ein Radler” John says to a server dressed in traditional Bavarian style. A short time later, we are presented with a stein of wheat beer for me, a shandy-like mixer for my guide, and a selection of fresh bretzels and dinkelbrot (pretzels and spelt bread) between us. Oh, how I love carbohydrates.