Ozbrecht 2017 - Europe's Rhine & Danube Rivers
Nuremberg, Germany
Day 11 - July 3
Nuremberg, Bavaria’s second largest city (Munich).
Hitler and the Nazis determined this city in northern Bavaria to be the perfect place to base their political and propagandist activities. The area was known as the Nazi Rally Grounds. Six Nazi party rallies were held on these ground between 1933 & 1938.
This is Congress Hall, the entrance to the party grounds. Construction was never completed.
A panorama view of Congress Hall from the upper floor of the Documentation Center
Congress Hall aerial. Front right is the Documentation Center (more on that coming up) [Internt picture]
Zeppelin Field, where frenzied rallies were held as well as army deployments. [Internet picture - there had been an auto race here the day before, and we couldn’t visit it]
The front of the Documentation Center, which is the northern wing of the unfinished Congress Hall. It was originally intended as a Nazi administration center
The Documentation Center now serves as a museum, centering on the period of German Nazi rule. We spent a couple of very somber hours here. This display pictures the entire Nazi Rally Grounds
Display of Hitler’s book Mein Kampf. In this autobiography, Hitler describes how he became more and more antisemitic, and more and more militaristic. And, I might add, more and more evil
Zeppelin Field display, with Hitler at the podium and the Army masses
The old town wall of Nuremberg
The Nuremberg Court House
The court room where the Nuremberg War Trials were conducted
A display inside the courtroom. This is Hermann Goring. He was found guilty and sentenced to hang. He asked to be executed by gunfire, but the judge refused (too dignified). The night before he was to be hanged he committed suicide by taking a potassium cyanide capsule
The Shoner Brunnen (”beautiful fountain”) statue and fountain in the Nuremberg market square
Hauptmarkt, the central square of old town Nuremberg. Shoner Brunnen is in the background, the Church of Our Lady behind us
Hauptmarkt and Church of Our Lady. Sheila bought some lebkuchen, a German cookie our grandmother would make every Christmas holiday, at the stand on the right.
Church of Our Lady
Church of Our Lady clock. Notice the bird netting
Church of Our Lady
Church of Our Lady organ & pipes
Hauptmarkt and Church of Our Lady panorama
At Brautwurst Roselein, adjacent to Hauptmarkt. Good brauts!
Streets of Nuremberg
Same streets, new faces
Fine fellows, if I do say so myself
Nuremberg canal
We are now officially on the Main Canal the portion of the Rhine-Main-Danube waterway that was constructed and completed in the 1990s. Tight squeeze
Main Canal lock. They got much deeper, as the canal lifted us up over the European Watershed
Looking up, just under 100 feet. Remarkable how quickly this lock will fill up; we timed it at 20 minutes
Taken on the eastern side of the European Watershed, so we are now going down. This was real time; watch how quickly we descend!! (video)
Day 11 - July 3
Nuremberg, Germany
Nuremberg is in the administrative region of Middle Franconia, and is Bavaria’s second largest city (Munich).
Our morning excursion took us to the Nazi Rally Grounds, consisting of Zeppelin Field, Congress Hall the Documentation Center. Hitler and the Germans used Nuremberg as its center for their propagandist rallies. It was also the first place where Jewish citizenship was outlawed and businesses boycotted. From there, we traveled to the Nuremberg Courthouse, where the War Trials were held following World War II. It was a very somber and emotional morning.
The Germans have what I see as a healthy perspective on the Nazi years. They call them “the 11 worse years in German history.” It is a perspective of sorrow more than guilt or shame. They do not ignore what happened here, and are truly sorry their country was hijacked by such madmen, but choose to focus on making their homeland a better Germany.
Following our excursion, we are dropped off at Hauptmarkt, the market square in the center of old town. A wonderful square with a fountain, the Schoner Brunnen, and the main cathedral, the Church of Our Lady. This day the market is filled with merchants selling vegetables, flowers and many other wares. And cookies! Nuremberg is the capital of lebkuchen, the German Christmas cookie. It is a type of soft gingerbread, spiced and nutty, and decorated with colorful icing. My grandmother used to make lebkuchen every Christmas, so Sheila and I are very familiar with them.
Brautwurst for lunch at Brautwurst Roselein, just around the corner from Hauptmarkt. Then, a casual walk through the streets of Nuremberg before returning to the Modi.
In the evening we entered the deepest of the locks, some as deep as 100 feet. Up we go! Overnight we crossed the continental divide, and the locks took us down toward the Danube.