Life After Work: Nuremberg

Nuremberg or Nürnberg is a city that was almost totally destroyed (over 95%) during the war. As a result, most of the oldest buildings have been replaced by modern structures. As we walked around the city, it had a different feel to it. There were fewer of the narrow streets and laneways and more open areas. I'm not sure if this was an intended result of reconstruction or not. It was a very pleasant city to explore in any case.

Our first stop on the way into the city centre was at the Nazi rally grounds. This area was used by the Nazis for the giant rallies that we see in the historical films. It was a sombre visit and you couldn't help but think back to events that took place there 70 odd years ago. The Germans have left some of the Nazi sites in place as a reminder to the people of something that can never happen again.

This first area is a site that Hitler had constructed during the 30s but it was never finished due to the start of the war in 1939. It was intended to be an even more grandiose setting for the rallies and was constructed to resemble the Colosseum in Rome.

We then moved on to the actual rally grounds. Again, it was strange to stand on that ground and reflect a bit on what happened there.

This shot shows the platform where Hitler and other speakers addressed the masses.

These towers surrounded the rally grounds and held all of the flags that you see in the movies. Oddly, they also served as washrooms!

Our next destination was the castle overlooking the city. It was partially destroyed during the war but was also faithfully restored to its original appearance. It was built on a sandstone base that can still be seen jutting out in places.

We walked down the hill from the castle into the city and found more restored buildings along with numerous 1950s and 60s era buildings.

As usual, there was a central square with a church and a market. This square also held a famous fountain.

After our visit to the square we found a nice Bavarian restaurant for lunch. They served great Nuremberg sausages and local beer. The sausages were quite interesting because they are government regulated as to size, shape and recipe. We also tried the local potato salad which was unlike any potato salad we'd tried but very good. Since I had eaten quite a few sausages recently I decided to try the pig's knuckle. I'd seen it on some food show and knew what to expect. It was an interesting challenge but the meat was very tender and tasty.

The rest of our time in Nuremberg was spent wandering around. As I said earlier, Nuremberg had a different look and feel compared to other places we've visited.