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Off to Nuremburg this morning at 8.30am with Martha our guide for a bus and walking tour.
As we drove into Nuremberg we saw the old fortifications, city walls and towers. We drove past the Palace of Justice where in 1945 and 1946, German officials involved in the Holocaust and other war crimes were brought before an international tribunal in the Nuremberg Trials. The Soviet Union had wanted these trials to take place in Berlin. However, Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the trials for specific reasons:
- The city had been the location of the Nazi Party's Nuremberg rallies and the laws stripping Jews of their citizenship were passed there. There was symbolic value in making it the place of Nazi demise.
- The Palace of Justice was spacious and largely undamaged (one of the few that had remained largely intact despite extensive Allied bombing of Germany). The already large courtroom was reasonably easily expanded by the removal of the wall at the end opposite the bench, thereby incorporating the adjoining room. A large prison was also part of the complex.
- As a compromise, it was agreed that Berlin would become the permanent seat of the International Military Tribunal and that the first trial (several were planned) would take place in Nuremberg. Due to the Cold War, subsequent trials never took place.
The same courtroom in Nuremberg was the venue of the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, organised by the United States as occupying power in the area.
Then we passed by the old Jewish Cemetary which had beautiful gardens on top of the tombs. From here we went to the Hauptmarkt, (or market square) which provides a picturesque setting and famous market for gingerbread. There was a beautiful gothic Fountain called Schöner Brunnen which was erected around 1385 but subsequently replaced with a replica (the original fountain is kept in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum). The Nuremberg Ring (now welded within an iron fence of Schöner Brunnen) is said to bring good luck to those that spin it. Still waiting to see it it works for me. The unchanged Renaissane bridge Fleischbrücke crosses the Pegnitz nearby.
We continued onto Zepplinfeld which is where The Nazi party rally grounds were. It covered about 11 square kilometres. Six Nazi party rallies were held there between 1933 and 1938.
The grounds included The Luitpoldarena, a deployment area, the "Old Congress Hall" (damaged during World War II, later demolished), the Kongresshalle (Congress Hall), the Zeppelin Feld (Zeppelin Field), another deployment area, the Märzfeld (March Field) (unfinished, later demolished), a deployment area for the Wehrmacht (army), the former Stadion der Hitlerjugend ("stadium of the Hitler Youth", today Frankenstadion) and the Große Straße ("Great Road"), a (never used) parade road.
We visited the Documentation Centre which is a museum in the unfinished remains of the Congress Hall of the former Nazi party rallies. Its permanent exhibition "Fascination and Terror" is concerned with the causes, connections, and consequences of Nazi Germany. We had only an hour to visit the 18 rooms inside the centre. There were many documentaries showing, with the last being the Nuremburg Trials.
We made our way back to Market Square and visited St Sebalds church which is still under reconstruction. This medieval church is one of the most important churches of the city, and also one of the oldest. It is located at the Albrecht-Dürer-Platz, in front of the old city hall. It has been a Lutheran parish church since the Reformation.
There is also a medieval market just inside the city walls, selling handcrafted goods. We walked around here for some time enjoying the atmosphere.
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