Nuremberg: Out of the Shadow

When I told my mom that I thought Nuremberg was beautiful, she was genuinely surprised. "I think because the Nuremberg Trials took place there I automatically assumed it was an ugly city," she said. While it is true that Nuremberg was home to Hitler's infamous yearly Nazi Party Rallies as well as the later trials of Nazi war criminals, Nuremberg is so much more than the shadow the Nazi years have cast over it. It was one of the best preserved Medieval cities of Germany until World War II when the entire city was destroyed in the bombing, but now, you cannot tell that the buildings aren't original because such a good job was done in rebuilding the city. 

On Friday, March 15, close to 50 students from my program piled onto a train and zipped five hours through the beautiful German countryside into the heart of Bavaria (home of lederhosen and all things stereo-typically German). We were situated in a hotel just outside the old city walls where the iconic half-timbered houses beckoned us in.

The first morning we had a guided tour of the city with a tour guide who knew what he was talking about. Also, we were blessed with a gorgeous blue sky and warm-ish temperatures.

St. Lorenz kirche

The building on the left is one of the oldest hospitals in Europe.

Above is pictured the Hauptmarkt. Those are the stalls from the Easter market, selling trinkets, lebkuchen, and bratwurst. On such a beautiful day, it was a nice place to be, so when our tour guide started talking about the history of the market, everyone was shocked.

The hauptmarkt used to be the old Jewish ghetto of Nuremberg because no one wanted to live in the area. In 1349, the city council decided it wanted to build a new market square, and so 600 of Nuremberg's Jews were murdered to create room for the market place. A church was built on the place where the old Synogogue used to stand. In the 1930s, the square was renamed Adolph-Hiter-Platz, as was the custom to rename the main square of a town after the Führer. In the 30s, Hiter's SS would preform drills and parades in this square. 

As our guide continued speaking, I was more and more chilled as I stared around at the unassuming square with its innocent looking booths. That is the one thing about Germany and Europe that I will never get used to: the sheer amount of history and horror beneath my feet.

Fountain in the hauptmarkt square

Turning the iron ring in the gate is supposed to bring the turner good luck.

The house in the center was the house of Albrecht Dürer, the famous German painter.

Beautiful view of Nuremberg.

Nuremberg's castle

Nuremberg's castle from below

Nuremberg is known for its bratwurst.

While Nuremberg is very beautiful, there is still a dark, inescapable shadow cast by its role during the reign of the Nazis, and, as a student in Germany, it is something I find myself faced with everywhere in this beautiful country.

In 1945, the four allied powers decided to try the most prominent members of the Nazi regime for war crimes. The trial, which lasted almost a year, condemned 12 men to death (including Hermann Göring), sentenced others to life imprisonment, and others to shorter terms (including Albert Speer). It was here that the full extent of the crimes of the Nazi regime began to be realized, with footage of concentration camp victims shown to large audiences for the first time. It was chilling to see the court room, which is still in use today, and realize what had happened in that room.

Nuremberg Court entrance

Benches where the defendants once sat.

The courtroom today 

The courtroom in 1945. This is the left wall the present day courtroom picture.

 One of the reasons Nuremberg was chosen as the place for the trials was because it had been the place of the Nazi party rallies since 1927. The grounds today are falling apart, but still stand as a testament to Hitler's extreme megalomania.

This building dwarfs the Colosseum in Rome. It was never completed, but, as the largest stadium in the world, Hitler only intended to use it once a year to give a speech.

Above is pictured the most famous part of the rally grounds. Before this building, hundreds of thousands of spectators would gather to witness the might of the Third Reich. Below is a picture of how it looked in the 1930s.

This is where Hitler used to stand and give speeches. I stood on that spot.

This picture makes my experience at the rally grounds 1000 times more terrifying.

Nuremberg will struggle for many years to emerge from the shadow of Nazism, just as the rest of the country is still struggling to emerge from beneath that stain. My visit to the charming town, however, taught me that Nuremberg is a city that is so much more than the dark past for which it is known. I guess I will leave you with a few more pictures of this unique city as a reminder of what Nuremberg truly is.

Spaghettieis (ice cream that looks like spaghetti)!

St. Johannes Kirche

A beautiful park my friends and I found.

Posts about my adventures in Prague, Riesa, and Dresden coming soon!

Venice is magical

Venice was beautiful in a completely different way than Florence. Its beauty sprang from its mystery. The magic of the waterways, its rich color, and unknown, twisting side streets speak to the yearning for adventure in every traveler. I am going to apologize in advance for this post being completely saturated with pictures, but there is no other way to really show my experience in Venice.

We arrived on the island of Venice via train around two in the afternoon, and promptly could not find our hotel. Why? Because it was down a street that looked like this:

See the space between those two buildings? Yep, that is a street. And most streets in Venice are about that wide.

That first afternoon we were taken on a two hour walking tour of the city. As we wound down the twisting Venetian streets, I was glad we had a tour guide because it would be easy to get lost in such an incredible place.

The Bridge of Sighs: Prisoners would be led through this covered bridge on their way to the gallows. It was said that this sight of Venice was he last thing they would see.

Wells such as this one are everywhere in Venice. Before the 19th century, Venice had no access to fresh water and so wells were set up to trap rainwater.

St. Mark's square. The Lion atop the column on the left is the symbol of Venice.

Venice is an island, but, as with any larger island, Venice has smaller islands surrounding it. Marano which we visited in the morning, is especially known for its glass making. Burano, which we visited in the afternoon, is known for its lace.

We spent 18 euro on a day pass for the Vaporetto (or water bus, because yes, Venice's buses are boats), and took an incredible boat ride out to the island of Marano.

Here is a video I took on the Vaporetto. Hopefully it can give you a taste of the beauty of Venice.

On Marano, life was much quieter. While there were still tourists, there were far fewer than on the mainland. We wandered from shop to shop, marveling at the beauty of the glass that for centuries has been a centerpiece of European royalty.

We got to see live glassblowing.

He made this in about 45 seconds. It was incredible.

Marano glass earrings I bought. They matched the scarf I bought in Florence.

Insanely beautiful and insanely expensive glass chandeliers.

Light houses are some of my favorites things in the world. It looks kind of wonky because Venice is slowly sinking.

After a wonderful morning spent on Marano, we hopped back on the Vaporetto to Burano, an island even smaller and less touristy than Marano. It was also filled with cats.

Our group split up and wandered the island. The afternoon spent on Burano, and its neighboring island, Mazzano, was probably my favorite afternoon of the entire trip.

Burano was the most colorful place I have ever seen.

Genesis and I crossed over to Mazzano. Down this path we found a beautiful old graveyard. 

The tower is crooked because Venice is sinking.

Genesis and I wandered on to Mazzano, Burano's neighboring island, which was even quieter than Burano. The only people we saw were locals. As we were walking, we stumbled upon a tiny church built in the 1400s and still in use today.

Finding this church was my favorite part of the afternoon. It was such an unexpected pleasure, and I felt as if I had discovered something, something not everyone who came to Venice got to see. 

That evening, because we wanted to get all the use we could out of our pass, we rode the Vaporetto just to see the sights.

Rialto bridge at night from the water

Venezian Night

Our last day in Venice was spent simply wandering the city of such incredible beauty, stumbling upon forgotten streets and nooks and bridges. Here are a few more pictures just to drive home the wonder of Venice.

My mom has been taking pictures of her feet in front of different locations by water since I was a kid. This one was for her.

 

A water ambulance.

There really are no words to describe Venice. Words are simply not adequate to encompass what makes Venice Venice. It really is something you have to experience for yourself to understand. That is true for all of Italy. No matter how much I had read about or seen on TV of these cities, nothing could have ever prepared me for what I actually encountered. But I would not change my experience for the world.