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Having left the boat back in Regensburg we boarded a tour bus to Nuremberg. If you spend any time in Europe you’ll see these huge tour buses that somehow manage to navigate the narrow streets. I really have no idea how they do it.
The buses are reasonably comfortable.
Note that the fastest thing on the road in Iceland is a tour bus. We were once driving a winding road between Reykjavík and one of the tourist spots when we saw this thing in our rearview mirror. A huge tour bus heeling over in the turns like a three-masted clipper ship and then quickly overtaking us. NAFD- No Apparent Fear of Death.
I assume this was a trucker’s family visiting.
I want that A6 wagon but I can’t get one in the US because god forbid someone drive something that isn’t an SUV. Sigh.
It was maybe an hour and a half drive to Nuremburg but we still stopped at a truck stop along the autobahn. The rest stop was as clean and efficient as everything else in Germany. Since this was a Sunday, the trucks are not allowed to drive in Germany (yes really). The truck stop was full of trucks and cars full of what I assumed were families visiting the drivers. I even saw one or two trucks that had laundry hung out to dry.
Wind turbines in the fog. Germany has made a big push for renewables in recent years.
One thing you need to remember about most German cities is that what you see was probably rebuilt in the years after World War II. Most of them got flattened by American and British bombs or by Soviet artillery. Because Nazis. More on them later.
Nazis! I hate these guys!
Indiana Jones
Nuremberg was no exception. According to one of our tour guides roughly 80 percent of the city was destroyed by Allied bombing. This is what Nuremberg looked like in 1945.
“Give me a dozen years and you won’t recognize Germany” — Adolph Hitler 1933
Nuremberg had a large beer industry. The beer cellars served as bomb shelters during the war.
After the war some German cities were rebuilt with modern architecture while others were restored to their former look.
Don’t ask me what this building is.
“Have fun storming the castle!” — The Princess Bride
I’ve seen enough castles in Europe to last me a while but I did learn something interesting here. You can tell the original stones from the newer replacements by the holes where they used tongs to lift them into place. Also the “1946” is a dead giveaway.
The castle walls encircle a big part of the old city.
Part of the castle walls. The look well built, because German.
I think this was the inner bastion of the castle. If you made it this far in an assault you were probably dead. The main point of a castle was to make it more trouble than it was worth to attack.
Nice view of the city from up top.
I don’t know enough about architecture to tell you what this style is.
Most of this was rebuilt after the war.
One of the castle towers in the background. It’s pretty common to see Mercedes taxis in Europe.
My next car will hopefully be an E-class wagon like this if I can find a nice used one.
The tour has us staying at the Meridian Grand Hotel, which is right across from the main train station. The hotel was practically deserted due to Covid.
My conversation with the tour guide went something like this:
“I’m going over to the train station to get a cup of coffee.”
“Don’t go to the train station! It’s too dangerous!”
“I’m from Chicago. Exactly what kind of danger are we talking about?”
“Oh”
I’ve never had any trouble in a European train station although you do need to be careful of pickpockets. I also have found a bike lock is useful for securing my suitcase to something stationary so that someone can’t just grab it and run off.
The main station in Nuremberg is practically a shopping mall on the lower level.
Typical efficient German city. The trams and subways feed into the train stations which will take you another city.
Looking across at the Central Station. Those aren’t bars on the window they’re lights.
Night time from our hotel room.
Time to talk about the Nazis. Yeah, those guys. While Nuremberg is a beautiful city it comes with a very ugly past.
Sort of makes you wonder.
The first thing we toured was the Zeppelinfeld “Zeppelin Field” where the Nazi party rallies were held. It’s been called that since 1909 when Count von Zeppelin himself landed an airship there.
In the years since the war it has been used as a football field, a campground and a racetrack. You probably know it from the huge Nazi rallies that were held there.
Sorry, wrong Nazis.
Oops! I mean the other Nazi rallies.
Damn they were evil but they were really good at this sort of thing.
There has been some controversy as to what should be done with the site, which has decayed badly in the years since. I think turning it into a gay synagogue would be nice touch but it will be preserved in its current state as a memorial and educational center.
This is what remains of the Zeppelinfeld (Zeppelin Field) today.
This is how it looked back in 1938.
They sure liked to do things in a big way. (source wiki)
These structures that look like bunkers actually housed the bathrooms. 150,000 people have to go somewhere. The structures would have had flags on the roof as shown in the 1938 picture.
Here is some gratuitous footage of American troops blowing the swastika off the grandstands in 1945. It’s the feel-good movie of the year!
Nazi symbols destroyed (Source Wiki)
Next stop was the Kongresshalle (Congress Hall). Never finished, the Congress Hall was supposed to look like the Roman Coliseum but much larger of course. They had a weird size fixation along with all their other faults.
This was to have held up to 50,000 people.
Inside the unfinished Kongressehalle.
Today the building houses a museum depicting the crimes of the Nazis. The museum is definitely worth seeing, if you can stomach it.
I will admit that I had a very rough time of it. I became visibly agitated, fighting back tears of sadness, horror and blind rage. The tour guide (a very nice expat from the UK) actually thought I might be having a heart attack.
After assuring him I was in good health, I told him through clenched teeth: “Looking at this makes me want to climb into a B-17 or a Lancaster and bomb the f*ck out of those people.”
The story has a happy ending, however. After this we got to tour the courthouse where we tried the bastards.
The courthouse is still in use today.
Above the courthouse is a museum dedicated to the Nuremberg Trials. If you’re in Nuremberg it’s well worth the visit.
Actually not sure who these guys are. I don’t recognize any of them.
Note that the Soviets just wanted to hang all these guys and be done with it. Very practical bunch those Soviets.
The much more comfortable than they deserved benches the Nazi bastards sat on.
I asked where they carried out the executions and was told that they set up a temporary gallows in a gymnasium, long since demolished. Now in general I am against the death penalty, but I’ll make an exception for crimes against humanity. If you ask me these guys got off way easier than a lot of their victims did.
We did get a rare privilege on this tour. Courtroom 600 was not in use that day so we were allowed to take a peak at it. The people you see standing there were rehearsing a play I was told.
Courtroom 600 where the Nuremberg Trials were conducted.
So the good guys won, evil was defeated and the Nazis were never heard from again — oh wait.
I will say one thing for the Germans. They do a much better job of confronting their past than we do. I don’t recall seeing any memorials to the Wehrmacht or statues of Nazi generals in the town square. No pickup trucks with Nazi flags driving through the streets.*
*Yes I know, das ist verboten.
After seeing enough history for one day we did a little sightseeing and shopping.
I think this historic building was where tariffs were collected back in the day. Don’t quote me on that.
Part of an open air market in the old city.
Note the very tall “cherry picker” next to the cathedral tower. These historic buildings require constant upkeep.
My fear of heights kicks in just looking at this.
Beautiful detail on this church.
Same church in 1945.
Enjoying lunch with my trophy wife.
Another shot of the toll house or whatever it was called.
I quite enjoyed Nuremberg despite its dark past. Next stop — Prague.
