I was recently on holiday in England, where I saw quite a few things that tickled my creativity in ways that I thought might be useful in my WFRP GMing. The ancient streets of York proved particualrly inspiring in giving me an idea of what the urban settlements of The Empire might look and feel like.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=The+Shambles,+York,+Storbritannia&hl=no&ll=53.959554,-1.080185&spn=0.006767,0.021136&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.273371,86.572266&oq=the+shambles&hq=The+Shambles,+York,+Storbritannia&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=53.959554,-1.080185&panoid=OKGJTKv_0u-K4zt5oCbokw&cbp=12,161.54,,0,15.9

(Here's half an apology for not posting an image or an html map thingy - I couldn't quite figure out how to do that.)

That further reminded me of two other places I'd been to that I think can provide a similar kind of inspiration. First, there's the picturesque German town of Rothenburg, whose architecture and layout I imagine would be quite similar to a medium-sized Empire town. However, the pictures show streets and buildings that are way too clean, well kept and pretty to be occupied by ordinary people, and may therefore more properly represent the posher parts of town.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rothenburg+ob+der+Tauber,+Tyskland&hl=no&ll=49.379132,10.199261&spn=0.013635,0.084543&sll=53.959671,-1.080244&sspn=0.006817,0.021136&oq=roth&hnear=Rothenburg+ob+der+Tauber,+Mittelfranken,+Bayern,+Tyskland&t=m&z=14&layer=c&cbll=49.379139,10.182829&cbp=12,0,,0,0&photoid=po-7695334

A third location would be Bryggen (the old waterfront or wharf) in Bergen, Norway. These buildings date back to a time comparable to the Empire in terms of technology and architecture, and this also happens to be a time when the city was under heavy influence from German merchants. I imagine that such tall wooden houses would fit in very well along the coast of Nordland.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bryggen,+Bergen,+Norge&hl=no&ll=60.3974,5.32337&spn=0.001293,0.010568&sll=53.959545,-1.080179&sspn=0.013635,0.042272&oq=Bryggen&hnear=Bryggen,+Bergen,+Hordaland,+Norge&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=60.397399,5.323372&cbp=12,0,,0,0&photoid=po-77775554

Since I also have an interest in historical topics that is quite far above the average - and in the early modern period in particular, which is what the Old World of the Warhammer setting is meant to parallel, I also read quite a lot about real world matters that can be related to WFRP for the sake of inspiration and immersion. I quite often ask myself how actual issues of the past might be translated to the Warhammer setting, and view the whole thing as a bit of an exercise in contrafactual history - but I will not bore you any further with my musings, unless any of you would want it.

But to the point: to kick off this discussion, I would like to ask you this: do you draw any inspiration from the real world - wether from places, books, pieces of art, movies, or video games - in your work as a GM? Which sources do you use, if so, and how do you use them? Do you have any recomendations in that regard? Do you have any methods for adapting such material, or know of any tips worth sharing? Be awesome and post them!

A trip to Germany provided some inspiration for me, from devil's footprints in cathedral entry ways to descriptions of the passages behind walls that allowed servants to feed the fire in noble's suite without entering it. Burg Eltz was my favourite site, I used its pictures and layout - even commenting to my players, "and over there on that side of courtyard is where one might put a gift shop"

http://burg-eltz.de/

My Cthulhu/mystery game will draw some inspiration from the art in a nearby park someday "I looked for Sarah everywhere"

http://torontoist.com/2010/09/looking_for_explanations_everywhere/

(the site doesn't have the image I like most, a simple stone slab like a simple grave marker, with those words inscribed on it).

In the game of course, the fact "the city now says it's just art, no significant" will be but a layer of mystery to be peeled back.

living in austria i get my inspiration from walking through the old town in my hometown, its the biggest in europe. other than that i let myself get inspired by celtic music, and in the following thread's case, by old rock songs, have a look if you're intrested!

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/85878-a-random-idea-that-turned-out-fun/#entry808749

My Cthulhu/mystery game will draw some inspiration from the art in a nearby park someday "I looked for Sarah everywhere"

Oh yes, speaking of - for those of you whom have yet to know, H. P. Lovecraft is even more of a "must read" if you are a GM looking for inspiration. I have always thought that both Warhammer settings owe a whole lot to him, and probably a lot more so than more mainstream stuff like Tolkien (for fantasy) and Star Wars/Star Trek (40k).

Also, Burg Eltz looks fantastic. I'm using the strett view mode on google maps to get a good view of it, and recomend all others to do the same. The only problem with said service is that you cannot simply save the images you find directly, and have to use printscreen and copypaste.

living in austria i get my inspiration from walking through the old town in my hometown, its the biggest in europe.

That sounds really great - but would you be so kind as to tell us the name of said town, so that we may look it up? I give you my word that I will not use that information to track you down and steal all your forks, or any such thing.

sure thing! the town's name is "hall in tirol". here are a few pictures:

if you are looking for medieval inspiration in general, the county of tyrol, austria, is the place to go. if i drive like 20 minutes i can reach at least 3 castles, both ruins and lived in ones!