Guest book

Stadtarchiv Nürnberg, E29/VI, 1978
Guest book for the Tucherschloss in Nuremberg's Hirschelgasse

From the end of the 19th century until the Second World War, the picturesque Tucher castle with gardens in Hirschelgasse was one of Nuremberg’s most attractive sights, both in terms of cultural history and tourism. Guests from all over the world, from all over Europe, Turkey, Russia, South America and the USA, were among the visitors.

The castle’s guest book, kept continuously from 1893 to 1943, reads like a "Who’s Who" of international high society: not only crowned heads and other high nobility from Germany and abroad, but also political celebrities, Nuremberg patricians, artists and art scholars immortalised themselves with their signatures. Their visits were probably inspired by the contacts that the diplomat Heinrich von Tucher (1853-1925) had made in the international political and social arena.

The first entries, dated 19 June 1893, were made by Wilhelmina (1880-1962), Queen of the Netherlands at just 12 years of age, and her mother Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, who as Queen Dowager held the regency for her minor daughter. After a 73-year hiatus, the entries end with the visit of the Dutch royal couple, HRH Willem-Alexander and Máxima, on 14 April 2016. The monarch’s signature completes the circle of the visitor’s book: Willem-Alexander is the great-grandson of Queen Wilhelmina, who was the first to sign it 123 years earlier.

Ulrike Berninger