Nuremberg is a city in the German state of Bavaria. Situated on the Pegnitz River and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, it is located about 170 kilometers north of Munich. The population as of December 2010 is 505,664 residents, with a metropolitan statistical area population of 3.5 million people.Nuremberg's history goes back to the European Middle Ages with the earliest source regarding the city dating to 1050 of the common era as the location of an imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of the Nordgau. Over the next five centuries the city expended and rose significantly in importance due to its position on key trading routes. Nuremberg is often cited as the unofficial capital of the later Holy Roman Empire as imperial courts often met at Nuremberg Castle. Along with the rest of Europe, the Black Death ravaged the city on several occasions, most notably in 1349 CE.Nuremberg was at the center of the German Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries, accepting the Protestant Reformation in 1532, which provided the Lutherans important concessions. In 1817 the city was incorporated into the district of Rezatkreis, later renamed Middle Franconia. The first railway in Germany connected Nuremberg to nearby Furth in 1835. By 1905 the population was 291,351 citizens.Nuremberg played a very prominent role in Nazi Germany and World War Two. Due to its industrial success and position in the center of Germany, along with its relevance during the Holy Roman Empire, The Nazi Party choose the city as the site of huge party conventions, called the Nuremberg rallies. The city was also severely damaged in Allied strategic bombings from 1943 to 45. Between 1945 and 46 German officials involved in the Holocaust and other war crimes were brought before an international tribunal in what is now known as the Nuremberg Trials.