24 September - Nuremberg, Germany

When we woke this morning we had arrived in Nuremberg, the second largest city in Bavaria. This is a large modern industrial city but at its heart lies an old medieval city which is either intact from the middle ages or has been restored since WWII. Once again we were transported by buses to town and undertook a 90 minute walking tour led again by an excellent English speaking tour guide. There were several highlight on this tour. One of these was a walk up the hill to view the Nuremberg castle which was interesting in itself but also provided a great overview of the city. To its credit, Nuremberg has not allowed the construction of any building taller than the existing ones, so no skyscrapers. My main interest in Nuremberg though arises from the city's association with the early history of the Nazi party, and the war crimes trials which were held here after WWII ended. From the beginning of the Nazi party initially and the regime after 1933, huge rallies were organised to spread the Nazi message which led to Hitler coming to power in 1933. These rallies were held here in Nuremberg in a large field called the Zeppelin Field. Huge structures were erected to stage the extravaganzas we have all probably seen in historical documentaries.

Our tour included a visit to Zeppelin Field and to my surprise, the central portion of the great stage structure from which Hitler made his speeches, is still there.

The colonnades on either side have long been removed, but the central stand has been maintained. It was quite an sombre experience to stand on this spot which I had expected would have been demolished long ago. In 1945, months after the end of WWII, the leading surviving members of the Nazi regime were tried for war crimes by a tribunal organised by the USA, USSR and Great Britain. This process which has been well documented and recounted in a Hollywood movie starring Alec Baldwin (I think) was carried out in the Palace of Justice. This huge complex is a major court centre still in use today. The room where the Nuremberg trials were held is located in this building.

After visiting these sites and a walk around town we had an hour or so to stroll through a little market happening in the middle of town. We were in Bavaria so a bockwurst and sauerkraut was the way to end our visit to Nuremberg.