Wender·Vista
Nördlingen
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileGermany
on the Romantic Road, in a meteor crater in Bavaria

Nördlingen

— — a walled town inside a 15-million-year-old scar.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A small Bavarian town inside the Nördlinger Ries, the bowl a meteor left when it struck this part of Europe. The medieval walls are still complete, a circuit of about two and a half kilometres, and a covered walkway runs the entire top. St. Georg's tower rises out of the centre. The local stone in the wall contains tiny diamonds, formed in the heat of the impact. From the tower the whole crater opens up. from the studio

from the studio
Nördlingen
— bring it home

Nördlingen, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Nördlingen

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Nördlingen sits in the centre of the Nördlinger Ries, a 25-kilometre-wide impact crater in Bavarian Swabia, gouged out by an asteroid roughly 14.8 million years ago. The town grew on the Roman trade route and was a Free Imperial City from 1215 until 1802. Its complete circular wall, about 2.7 kilometres around with sixteen towers and five gates, is one of only three fully preserved medieval town walls in Germany. The covered wallwalk is open to pedestrians along the entire circuit, free of charge.

— the stone

Much of the old town, including St. Georg's Church and the wall itself, is built from suevite, the breccia formed in the seconds of the meteor strike. Suevite carries microscopic diamonds, formed by the shock pressure of the impact, embedded in the matrix; geologists estimate roughly 72,000 tonnes of micro-diamonds are scattered across the town's masonry. St. Georg's was completed in 1505 and its tower, called the Daniel, rises about 90 metres over the rooftops. The climb is 350 steps and the watchman still calls down from the top each night.

— informed by Wikipedia — Suevite
— the visit

Nördlingen lies on the Romantic Road between Rothenburg and Augsburg, about 130 kilometres northwest of Munich, served by regional rail from Donauwörth. The Rieskratermuseum, set in a 1503 barn near the market square, charges a small admission and explains the impact through Apollo-era moon samples on loan from NASA. The wallwalk takes about an hour at a steady pace; the Daniel tower climb adds twenty minutes and the best afternoon light. The Pfingstmesse fair fills the town for ten days each spring.

— where
Germany · Donau-Ries district, Swabia, Bavaria
— elevation
430 m · 1,411 ft
— position
48.8517° N · 10.4892° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
at the lake
Rieskratermuseum
museum
18 km SE
Harburg Castle
castle
90 km NW
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
walled town
N
Nördlingen
Rieskratermuseum
Harburg Castle
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Nördlingen — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Yes. The Nördlinger Ries is a 25-kilometre-wide impact crater formed about 14.8 million years ago. The town sits near its centre, and the bowl is still visible from the cathedral tower.

Local building stone called suevite was formed in the impact's heat and pressure, which produced microscopic diamonds within it. Geologists estimate around 72,000 tonnes are scattered through the town's masonry.

Yes. The covered wallwalk runs the full 2.7-kilometre circuit, with sixteen towers and five gates, and is free and open year-round. A complete loop takes about an hour.

The Daniel is the 90-metre tower of St. Georg's Church, completed in 1505. The climb of 350 steps reaches the highest point in town, and a watchman still calls down from the lantern each night.

Apollo 14 astronauts trained in the Ries in 1970 to study impact geology before their lunar mission. The Rieskratermuseum displays a moon-rock sample they brought back, on loan from NASA.

It sits on the Romantic Road about 130 kilometres northwest of Munich. Regional trains run from Donauwörth on the Munich-Stuttgart line, and Rothenburg lies 90 kilometres north along the same route.

— about the piece in your home

Nördlingen is a quieter stop on the Romantic Road than Rothenburg, often a favourite of returning travellers. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note carries well for someone with German family or a love of medieval towns.

The red roofs and warm stone read well in European-traditional, Cottage-modern, and Jewel-tone Maximalist rooms. It also sits comfortably in a library or a study with oak shelving.

Heritage-modern has been pulling old-world townscapes back into rotation alongside maps and antique prints. The tile reads as both painting and document, which suits rooms that lean literary.

A single Large covers most sofas. A 4-tile Mural reads as one painting across a longer wall; a 9-tile Mural anchors a console or a wide hearth.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist scratching and standing moisture and clean with microfibre and water.

A soft microfibre cloth with water is enough. No solvents, no abrasive pads. The colour lives in the surface and will not fade in normal interior light.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our Knoxville studio, from Reid's own painting, with no third-party licensing. Each tile is hand-finished before it ships.

— if this one stayed with you

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