7/22 – Nuremberg Documentation Center and Nazi Rally grounds

All is well in Nuremberg – thankfully! We have been EXTREMELY lucky with the weather. Evenings and mornings have been quite cool, total luck considering how hot it has been here over the past few weeks. We will take it.

Today we are using the last day (until 4pm!!) of our Nuremberg card to take the tram way out to the Documentation Center and Nazi Rally Grounds. It’s about 7K away and a 30 minute ride on the tram, that Nuremberg card – THE best buy!

We get there, of course, a little early, but are able to find a seat in the sun and hang out until opening time. Holy shit. That’s all there is to say. The museum itself is in only a small part of the massive building that was built specifically for mass-meetings of the NSDAP, the Nazi Party, and modeled after the Colosseum in Rome. It was designed to seat 50,000 people. As I said, we are only in a small part – and they are doing massive renovations to the arena part, so we can’t see it, but still. Crazy.

Now the building houses the most amazing exhibition. All about the rise of power, the construction, how Hitler churned up the public (oh God the parallels!), why Nuremberg was the center of Nazi land. The displays and explanations are great, giving us (well me more so than Ed who already knows this stuff!) a great lesson in history, from WWI and how the Germans felt cheated to WWII and of course the aftermath. Incredible.

Mind blowing and one of the best visits so far.

Then we walked over to the additionally crazy Rally and Parade Grounds and Zeppelinfield . We start by walking along the lake over to the Gosen Strase – the Great Street – which was designed to be the central axis of the rally grounds. 200 feet wide, 1 mile long (but planned to be 1.5 miles long), it took 60,000 granite slabs to build. And they built it in 1 year! It was never completed due to the war and was used for campgrounds and then prisons and concentration camps during the fighting.

The park surrounding the rally grounds, now, is lovely and shaded with pretty views of the lake – and of course the massive Congressional Hall. At the end of the park is the Zeppelinfield, with huge bunker-like structures that supported the viewing stands. In a couple of places you can see through the fencing, all the way across to the other side of the field, where the concrete stands are now overgrown with weeds.

It is a massive parade ground – currently under restoration as well, so we can’t visit the grandstand interior where Hitler used to watch the processions, but we can wander about outside getting the feel of the place. It is just enormous, and the explanatory panels provide great information, as well as photographs to let you envision just exactly how monstrous this place is, and what it would be like to be here when the arena was in use.

Wow.

Taking the tram back into town, we hopped off at the Germanisches National Museum stop, then had a lovely lunch at the Tucher-Brau biergarten of pulled pork bruschetta & of course, Nuremberg sausages!

Then it was onto the History museum – which was totally overwhelming! Where did they get all this stuff? And why do they have it! It is all so fascinating though – the old metal shields, the wooden tree-trunk coffins, the religious icons.

But then there are the weird things, like the altarpiece (we think) of Mary that opens to show Jesus with a cross inside her? And the terribly bizarre “Severed head of Christ on a platter” that was supposedly served to King Herod. And the really odd Aquamaniles, or water jugs used to wash hands, fashioned in human and animal shapes.

Next come the paintings – you can see how far these rooms stretch – wall after wall. And another cool Antler chandelier in the shape of a dragon (ok, so I really like those for some reason).

And the weird paintings, and even weirder lying down (sort of sculpture that is a model of a tomb sculpture or something. Why is he lying down? To fit into the tomb? Oh, and our favorite: “The Constipated One.” I swear, that’s the name. Here is the explanation plaque to go along with it!

And weirder still the anatomical section with the first game of Operation, maybe? No, just a model of a pregnant woman created from ivory and silk and brocade. There is even a little ropelike umbilical cord inside. And an eyeball.

And last but not least, a full size pharmacy from the 1800s. Then a full-size church façade in an atrium.

Over the top. Period. Although the book sculpture by the bathrooms was pretty cool.

On the way home, we stopped by the Executioner House Museum which was totally cool. Not much to see, except the original interior of the home and the views across the river to the original Wine Depot and other buildings still in existence. The history displays were what made the museum so fascinating, talking about the Executioner, what his duties were, how they decided to dispatch individuals, so to speak. A whole long explanation of how in the beginning, convicted women would be drowned, but the city leaders didn’t think that was right, they wanted to be more “humane” with the women. So, they started cutting off their heads. Nice.

Back outside, we make our way along the river, enjoying the scenery and the weather – as did this woman who was taking advantage of the lounge chairs provided by/in the river.

We then revisited the cemetery by our house and after a lot of exploring, finally found Albrecht Durer’s grave. Along with some other photogenic tombs!

After relaxing and organizing a bit at the apartment, we head out for dinner past the sweet little garden/park. Tonight we are going to have traditional Spanish Tapas! Ha! Thought a little break from the fab German food might be in order since we still have 4 more days to go – so no worries there!

We make our way to Bodega el Gato, where we unfortunately do not have reservations. The staff there is ever so accommodating though, they let us sit at a table if we can leave before their 8pm reservation. Just like lunch. We can do that. And we did not disappoint them, nor did the food disappoint us. A totally excellent – and authentic, true Spanish tapas meal of chorizo in vino, and Camarillo aljillo. (both of which I totally forgot to take a picture), Tomate con queso de cabra and of course Croquettas de Jamon. Perfect.