The battle saw some of the fiercest urban combat during the war and it took four days for the United States to capture the city.

By April the US and Soviet armies were closing in on each other, constricting an already narrow gap of German-controlled territory running from Berlin to Munich and including Nuremberg.

[4] As the 7th Army neared Nuremberg, Holz ordered setting up anti-tank barriers as well as anti-aircraft guns around the old city.

[1] By 16 April, the 7th Army had begun its assault on Nuremberg, not from the west as Holz expected, but from the east and northeast.

Arthur Schoeddert, a constable of anti-aircraft artillery, failed to execute Hitler's orders to blow up electricity, gas and water plants in the city.

[5] By 17 April, the 7th Army captured the marshaling yard and the surrounding area as well as the Veilhofstrasse and Woehrd neighborhoods.