Nuremberg: Imperial medieval city, Nazis and art

1. The German National Museum - the largest collection of German art in the world including several pieces by Dürer and the world’s the oldest globe.
2. The Dürer Museum - the last residence of Albrecht Dürer converted to a museum with an interesting audio tour and demonstrations.
3. The Imperial symbols - the Imperial Fortress, the carillon, Market Square and several other medieval buildings bear testimony to the ceremonial role Nuremberg played in the Holy Roman Empire (of German states).
4. The Nazi Party Rallying Grounds - the best-preserved "monuments" from the Nazi era serves as a reminder and warning of the mass hysteria of fascism. The Documentation Center gives a very good overview of the two decades of the Nazi Party’s existence.
5. The medieval architecture and almost four kilometers of city walls remind of the beauty of this once important city.
6. Having Nürnberger Bratwurst - finger size grill sausages - in the city of its origin. Any bratwurst restaurant worthy of the name will grill on charcoal, serve pretzels and leave you the choice of accompanying dishes - sauerkraut, Bratkartoffeln and beer are highly recommended.

Quick Tips:

Nuremberg was an imperial residence city since 1050 and played a major role in German politics during the first half of the previous millennium. Its heyday was in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance - which came late to this part of the world. In the 1500s it was an important European cultural center attracting intellectuals, artists and other talented people from all over Europe. The city has been in decline from the late sixteenth century, which explains why so many of the buildings seem to be in a time warp from that period.

Although virtually destroyed at the end of the Second World War, Nuremberg’s Old Town has been sympathetically rebuilt to reflect much of its former glory. It is an interesting and beautiful city to visit even in the midst of winter, as much of its beauty is not weather dependent. It should be noted, however, that some sights including the walls are closed in winter and others operate shorter opening hours (as is common in most of Germany).

Nuremberg is spelled Nürnberg in German - the English spelling is seldom seen on signs.

Best Way To Get Around:

It is possible to walk from the Main Station to the Kaiserburg in half an hour - that means you can literally cross the whole old town on foot in 30 minutes if you can manage to do it without stopping to admire some of the sights. Driving inside the old town area is difficult and finding parking almost impossible.

Taxis and buses operate in the old town with trams mostly going along the outskirts of the well-preserved city walls. The metro lines are mostly of limited interest to tourists. Apart from going to the Nazi Party Rallying Grounds and the Nuremberg Trials Court House most other sights of note can best be reached on foot.

A very good deal for people staying over in any Nuremberg hotel for at least one night is the Nuremberg Card. The card cost Euro 18 (free for under 12s) and is valid for two days giving free access to public transportation and 34 museums in Nuremberg and the nearby city of Fürth. It can be bought at most hotels or at the tourist office with proof of reservations. All sites in this journal are either free or covered by the Nuremberg Card.

The Arabella Sheraton Hotel Carlton opened in 2001 and hasn’t lost any of the sparkle of a newly opened establishment. Everything still seems and smells new and fresh.

The lobby is bright and on first sight appears larger than it actually is. The personnel are friendly and professional.

The room was all that the Internet site promised and more. The weekend rate on the Internet was Euro 120 including breakfast for any of the four non-smoking rooms listed. We therefore opted for the largest one - 38 square meters are pretty large for a German hotel room.

The room was spacious and avoided the cluttered look even after a baby bed was added to the ensemble. All lines in this hotel are straight - the only exception inside the room was the oval desk. The furnishing was modern and looked brand new. The bed was large and comfortable with ample light switches on both sides of the bed to control virtually all lights in the room. Closet space was more than sufficient for a longer stay with enough space for suitcases as well. Inside the closet was a pants press and a safe.

The bathroom was bright and modern. The bath was large and deep with ample toiletries and towels. The mirror was well lit and remained steam free. The shower and toilet were in separate rooms leading out of the main bathroom. The shower was particularly strong and the glass door kept the bathroom floor perfectly dry, even when the showerhead was directed directly at the door (no, I didn’t test that in the name of research, it was just a small price to pay to keep a child on the other side entertained after being forced in a stroller for umpteenth museum visits earlier in the day!).

The breakfast buffet was fairly standard, with nothing of particular note present or missing. The hotel seemed pretty quiet with very few people in the breakfast room on both mornings. Complimentary English and German newspapers were available outside the breakfast room.

The Sheraton Carlton is located a block from the city walls and less than five minutes' walk from the main train station. It is diagonally across from the Intercity Hotel, which has clear signboards from the station. The outside of the building is fairly unremarkable, but inside it is modern and chic.

Although fairly expensive for Nuremberg, the Arabella Sheraton is an excellent choice for its comfort and effortless elegance. It would be my first choice in future, if I could again get a good Internet discount.

Arabella Sheraton Hotel Carlton Eilgutstraße 15 90433 Nuremberg Tel: 49 911 20030 Carlton-Nuernberg.de

The Kaiserburg (Emperor’s Fortress) is one of the most important buildings in Nuremberg’s history. It appropriately dominates the skyline and can be seen from far. Visiting it takes some energy as it is located high on the hill and the only way up is by walking.

Nuremberg’s role as an Imperial residence dates from 1050 but the current castle is mainly the work of the Staufen Emperors Konrad III and Friedrich Barbarossa in the twelfth century. The Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (of German states) had no permanent seat of government and moved with a train of followers between Imperial residences. All Emperors between 1050 and 1571 stayed in Nuremberg at least once and in total 300 royal visits were made by German Emperors. The castle was often unfurnished with leading local figures providing furniture and tableware whenever royalty was in town. In almost a millennium the fortress succumbed only twice to enemy assault (1130 and 1945).

It is possible to visit the interior of the castle as well as the deep well (over 50 meters deep), which provided water for the castle, and the Sinnwell Tower, the high round tower that has been the symbol of Nuremberg for centuries. Also located inside the castle is the Kaiserburg Museum, part of the German National Museum. It has a large collection of medieval arms and armor with explanations of how the armor functioned first as protection in war and then as protection in the rather rough sports at knights’ tournaments.

During winter most of the castle gardens are closed due to the danger of ice and in addition the view can be restricted by fog. However, even with less than optimum weather the views of the old town are best from here. In addition to the medieval houses much of the city walls, which reach up to eight meters at places, can be seen as well as several of the remaining 71 towers that formed part of the city’s fortifications. Entering the castle from outside the walls rather than from the Old Town is through slightly less steep walkways but still a challenge to the infirm. In winter the exit at Tiergärtner Gate, close to the Dürer Museum is closed, requiring a bit of back tracking down the same steep roads.

Open daily: 09 - 17 (9:30 - 16 from October - March)

Kaiserburg Museum Auf der Burg Nürnberg Tel: 0911 13310

"This is why these buildings are not intended for the year 1940, or for the year 2000, but, rather, they should reach out, like the cathedrals of our past, into the centuries of the future."
Adolf Hitler in Nuremberg, 1937

The Nazis picked Nuremberg as venue for enormous rallies stretched over several days. The idea was to make an impression--good on the faithful, fear on the others. Nuremberg was selected because of its central location, as well as the connection to the former Holy Roman Empire (of German states). Once in power, Hitler gave his favorite architect, Albert Speer, the order to construct some permanent structures for the party rallies on an area of 11 square kilometers to the south of Nuremberg.

The first stop here should be at the Documentation Center, which not only has general information on the Nazi regime, but a special emphasis on the role this area played. Scale models and lots of audio-visual displays will make a lot clearer the size, role, and symbolism of the "monuments" planned for this area.

The largest building remaining from the Nazi period is the Kongresshalle, or Congress Hall, in which the Documentation Center is located. This closed U-shaped hall was designed to house 50,000 people under a huge roof with no underpinnings inside the hall itself. It was built to last the thousand years the Nazis predicted their empire would last. For years the people of Nuremberg wished to remove these buildings, but breaking them down would simply be too expensive and now they are under heritage protection. The Documentation Center occupies a small part of the building; the rest is used for storage. In a sense the building resembles the Coliseum, but oddly, at the time of construction, the only use envisioned for it was for the party rallies.

The building was never completed, but the outer walls were and are in surprisingly good condition. It took several minutes to walk to the rear of this huge building where one of the longest and best looking parking lots in the world is located. Huge granite slabs were laid in a Great Road 2 km by 60 meters. The road points towards the Kaiserburg in the north to symbolize the connection between the Führer and the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. It was misty when we visited so I’m not sure whether the castle can actually be seen on a clear day. Construction of this road continued, mostly with slave labor, even after the outbreak of the Second World War and it is the only one of the monuments that was actually completed. The US Army used it as a landing strip directly after the war, but nowadays it is being used as a parking lot for the nearby exhibition halls and sport fields.

The Dürer Museum is in the house Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528) occupied from 1509 up to his death as house, studio, and shop. It is located at Tiergärtner Platz, one of the most beautiful squares in Nuremberg. Currently several restaurants, bars, and cafés operate at the edges of the square while one side is fronted by the bastions of the castle and another is partly framed by the city wall and Tiergärtner City Gate.

Included in the price of entry is an audio tour, which is both informative and entertaining. The tour is presented from the viewpoint of Dürer’s wife. Interestingly the German version has the voice of an older woman while the English version has his spouse at a much younger age! Both versions seem to have the same information though and the audio automatically switches on as you move from room to room--no need to fumble with small buttons.

The building is original and has not been adapted for wheelchair users or the infirm. Stairs become steeper as one ascends with the stairs to the final floor creaking appropriately as well. Fortunately the museum was virtually deserted when we visited and we could look at all the displays at leisure and move about in the narrow doorways and stairs at will.

The lowest floor contains the entrance, a small shop, and other facilities including coin lockers. There are also a video display and some information sheets, which serve as an introduction to the museum. The living areas are lightly furnished with some built in furniture and decoration that was in vogue at the time. Mrs Dürer will explain it all in detail as you move around. There are not many of his works on display, except for a collection of etches and drawings (more of his works are in the German National Museum and the Alte Pinakothek in Munich).

The top floor was the workshop and is still in use with frequent demonstrations. During our visit a woman was making a copper engraving in the fashion that Dürer introduced to Germany. It was quite a time consuming process and it took quite some time to make a fairly small three color print of a rabbit--and of course she worked with the etch already made.

On entry you receive a free voucher for a gift from the souvenir shop across the road - expect a black and white print postcard of the Dürer house.

Open: Tuesday - Sunday 10 - 17 (20 on Thursday)

Albrecht Dürer Haus Albrecht Dürerstraße 39 90317 Nürnberg Tel: 0911 231 2568

Germanisches National Museum / German National Museum

Visiting the German National Museum was one of our main purposes for going to Nuremberg. It is the largest collection of German art in the world with more than 1.2 million objects, of which 20,000 are on display.

The museum is housed in a collection of buildings ranging from the ultramodern to a former monastery. The entrance is located in the modern building in a side street lined with pillars, each inscribed with a clause from the UN Declaration of Human Rights (it forms part of the adjacent museum of Human Rights). The layout of the museum is slightly confusing and the free maps are not particularly clear but staff members were helpful to point us to the articles we wanted to see most.

The oldest articles on display are from pre-history and a large medieval collection, naturally religious in nature, is appropriately displayed in the former monastery. The former church serves as a display area for church statues with an interesting angel literally leaping from a wall.

Nuremberg was the hometown of Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528), the man who introduced the Renaissance to Germany. This section of the museum is titled Dürer and his times and contains arguably the most impressive artworks in the museum. Several of Dürer’s own works are on display here, including a very famous painting of Charlemagne, for many the first German emperor, next to one of Kaiser Sigismund. Also on display is the oldest globe in existence (1491-3), dating more or less from the same era as Dürer. Ironically, Nuremberg played a major role in creating the maps and technology that led to the discoveries of the sea routes to the East and thereby helped hastened the decline of this once powerful and important city.

The descriptions of many works are in German only. A more serious gripe is the small size of the lettering making it hard to read them, even close up. We met up with only one guided tour during our two-hour visit so the amount of eavesdropping that we could do was limited.

The virtually deserted coffee shop in the basement served very good coffee and superb chocolate cake. The large museum shop was closed leaving only a smaller one on the ground floor with a very limited range of items. Even taking into account that it was the off-season and the start of carnival, the museum was very quiet and at times almost deserted - a great time to enjoy art at leisure.

Open: Tuesday - Sunday: 10 - 17 (20 on Wednesday)

Kartäusergasse 1 90402 Nürnberg Tel: 0911 13310 www.gnm.de

Nuremberg’s Hauptmarkt (Main Market Square) was founded in 1349 and today hosts various events in the city’s long festival calendar. None are more famous or more enchanting than the annual Christmas market in the weeks of advent. We were there at the start of Carnival and the market encompassed the usual selection of food stalls, rides for small children, and cheap, mostly hand made souvenirs and utensils.

In the merriment it is easy to forget how the market came into being. In the 1340s Emperor Karl IV was in financial trouble and was hoping for funding from Nuremberg. The businessmen of the city was hoping to get rid of debt owned to Jewish moneylenders and sounded the Emperor out on the possibility of ridding the city of Jews and building a market where the ghetto was located. The Emperor who constitutionally had to protect the Jews couldn’t be part to such proposition but made it known that he would not oppose such a move. In previous years pogroms occurred in France and Switzerland and in December 1349 the Jews of Nuremberg were similarly blamed for the nearing plague and 600 were killed in Nuremberg. Most died in their houses, which were set to fire after the doors were blocked from the outside. The city got its market and Karl IV erected the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) to try and atone for his sins.

The west façade of this church and some sidewalls were all that were not destroyed in the Second World War. A central part of this façade is the carillon known as Männleinlaufen--it plays at noon when the small figures of the seven Prince Electors pay homage to Emperor Karl IV by walking around him three times. This simple act recalls the Golden Bull of 1356. This is considered the most important constitutional document of the Holy Roman Empire (of German states) as it laid down the seven electors who could elect the German king. It had several other clauses but the one stressed locally was that the first diet of each new emperor must be held in Nuremberg.

At the far end of the Market Square is the Schöner Brunnen (literally Beautiful Fountain). It resembles a gothic church spire and dates from the fourteenth century. The wrought iron work around the fountain dates from 1587. Apart from its artistic beauty it also has one of the symbols of Nuremberg--the apprentice ring. This ring is a moveable large gold colored ring seemingly without seam. According to legend an apprentice worked it into the fence without his masters approval but all were amazed that it could be done without a seam. Locals turn the ring once for good luck--most tourists do it three times just to be sure!

A stroll through the forest brings one to the Zeppelin Field - this is where Hitler addressed the party faithful. For safety reasons, the huge columns on the 300-meter long podium had to be removed during the 1960s, but there is still enough left of the stage to instantly recognize it for what it is. The field could accommodate 100,000 people with seating space for 60,000 on the tribunes. Access to the main stage area is open at all times, but the further parts are closed off. These fields are nowadays used for various purposes ranging from soccer to pop concerts. This area is also close to the modern Franken football stadium and lots of beer bottles and broken glass from the previous night’s victory celebrations still littered the area during our visit.

The areas is physically very big--viewing just the three main sights, which are still more or less in the original 1930s guise, took more than an hour. Further down the Great Road was to be the German Stadium. It was to sit 400,000 people, but by 1945 only the excavations had been done, which subsequently was flooded to form the Silbermeer (Silver Lake). The small hill to the side was formed by rubble removed from the city of Nuremberg after the war.

At the south end of the Great Road was the March fields, which would have served as a training and demonstration field for the Army. It was never completed, and the parts that were, were blown up in the 1960s. Behind it was the camping ground, which served as a prisoner-of-war camp during the war.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors attended the party rallies and it was a logistical nightmare. Some of the priceless comments of visitors are on display in the Dokumentationzentrum and range from complaints about congestion at the toilet area to observations that although Der Führer’s speech was broadcasted live, most bars preferred to play popular music and these were better attended than those broadcasting the speech!

In total eight rallies were held in Nuremberg ranging from five to eight days each. The one in 1934 was immortalized in Leni Riefenstahl’s propaganda film Triumph of the Will and 1935 will forever be remembered for the passing of the Nuremberg Laws, which legitimized the segregation of Jews, de facto in practice since the Nazis came to power in 1933. The rally organized for 2 - 11 September 1939 was cancelled at short notice at the end of August. It was to have been entitled "Party Rally of Peace" - even a man who believed (and proved) that if you repeat a lie often enough people will believe it, realized 48 hours after invading Poland would leave the timing a bit short!

The tram stop in front of the Documentation Center is the most convenient for the main sights, but there are several other train stations for visitors who care to walk further to the lesser sights.

The recently completed Dokumentationzentrum drew 270 000 visitors during the first 14 months. It offers what is probably the most fascinating museum in Germany on the twelve years of Nazi rule. It is located inside the Kongresshalle, the largest building planned by the Nazis for their party rallies in Nuremberg.

The entrance resembles a large glass and iron nailed driven into the stone of the building - forever being a thorn in the flesh of this symbol of fascism. A free audio guide is available.

The displays cover the full spectrum from the Nazi period from its beginnings to the ultimate end at the Nuremberg Trial. Most of the displays are photos but there are also some video material and models. Naturally there is comprehensive information on the Reichsparteigelände--the Nazi Party Rallying Grounds--so it is best to visit the center before strolling around in the area. Scale models give a good impression what was planned and detailed information is available on the symbolism of the buildings.

A video of interviews with people who lived in Nuremberg during the period and talked about how they experienced the party rallying days is very interesting as well. Although most of the interviewees were not party members they could not but help to be impressed that so many people from so many different places came to Nuremberg in a time when most of them had never traveled five miles from home. Although Nuremberg was not a particularly pro-Nazi area before 1933, it willingly turned with the tide like the rest of the country.

Something that often surprises foreigners is how open the Germans can be about the Nazi past. Of course they don’t like it, and Nurembergers surely wish they could wipe the Nazi connection away in the same way Berlin and Munich managed to, but in general they don’t hide the past. Nowhere in the display will you find a single panel trying to justify what happened.

The videos of the rallies attracted a lot of attention and go a long way to explain the subtitled of the exhibition--fascination and terror. It is at once fascinating and scary as hell. Even more harrowing was hearing a radio broadcast by Goebels following the bombing of Nuremberg by the Allies in January 1945: what is one tragic day in a glorious history of a thousand years? Even ignoring his ideas, his voice cut like a knife.

After the displays one returns to the entrance via a narrow glass and steel walkway that gives an interesting glance of the interior of the incomplete building. I don’t know if it is by chance or design but when I walked alone down that alley even my light hiking sneakers sounded like army boots on parade.

Ironically two German words sum up the whole Nazi Party Rallying Grounds concept best: Wahn und Wahnsinn

Open daily: 09 - 18 (10 on weekends)

Fascination and Terror Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally groundsBayernstraße 11090471 NürnbergTel: 09112315666museen.nuerberg.de

Nuremberg was a very important city in medieval Europe. It was located along the trade routes from Asia to the North and West of Europe and thus became rich and drew talented people. It also became an important symbol in the loose confederation of German states known for centuries by the misnomer Holy Roman Empire. Although the Emperor did not actually reside permanently in Nuremberg the Kaiserburg (Emperor’s Fortress) was reserved for his use and was a symbol of the power of the Emperor. From 1050 until 1571 each emperor stayed in Nuremberg at least once. Karl IV stayed on 40 occasions and Ludwig the Bavarian 70 times. From 1355 until 1543 the first Reichstag (Diet) of each new emperor were held in Nuremberg. This historical role of Nuremberg influenced to a large extend the Nazi Party’s decision to stage their national rallies here.

During the sixteenth century Nuremberg declined in importance as trade routes were shifting. In addition the city’s decision to back the Reformation cost it the support of the staunchly Roman Catholic Hapsburg Emperors who resided in Vienna. The Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648), which in terms of percentage of the population killed was the most devastating war ever, saw the two largest armies of the time face each other outside the city.

Although Nuremberg was spared destruction the city lost its preeminent position as much of the art, culture, money, and trade that made it famous moved to Augsburg in southern Bavaria. The slow decline continued until the city saw a revival as one of the leaders of the industrial revolution in Germany in the nineteenth century. The first railway in Germany connected Nuremberg with the nearby town of Fürth.

The National Socialist German Labor (Nazi) Party held its Party Rally for the first time in Nuremberg in 1927. The city was chosen for its central position in Germany as well as for the symbolic connection to the former Empire. The latter became increasingly important to the party especially after coming to power. In total eight such Party Rallies were held, bringing temporary excitement and glory to Nuremberg and in the process destroying the city’s image for years to come. The notorious race purification laws were announced at the Party Rally of 1935 and thus became known as the Nuremberg Laws, forever associating the city with the excesses of Nazi rule. Some of the "monuments" erected by the Nazis can still be seen at the Reichsparteigelände to the south of the city. The Documentation Center here provides a good overview of the period of Nazi rule as well as detailed information on the Party Rallies and the symbolism of the buildings.

After the war the International Military Tribunal was set up in Berlin but soon moved for logistical reasons to Nuremberg’s Court of Justice and became known as the Nuremberg Trial. Courtroom 600, where the actual trials took place, is still in use but can be visited on weekends on guided tours.

The Nazi Party Rallies and the subsequent Nuremberg Trials probably influence foreign perceptions of Nuremberg much more than its illustrious medieval political and cultural history.

Up to its virtual destruction on 2 January 1945 by allied air raids the old town with its almost perfectly preserved walls were known as one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Germany. Most of the old town was sympathetically restored after the war and the almost four kilometers of city walls are still intact.

Today Nuremberg is again an important industrial city although the tourist sights are located in the beautiful unhurried Old Town. It has long been an important location for toy production but the annual toy trade fair is not for children, not even grownup children as entry is strictly controlled for industry insiders only.