Wednesday, September 23
Last night we had to pack up again because tomorrow we drive to Passau, Germany from Nuremberg where we docked this morning. We were supposed to have sailed out of the Main River and onto the Danube today but the section of Danube is too low between Nuremberg and Passau.
Nuremberg is the second largest city in the Bavarian state of Germany. This is the first city that we have visited in Germany that was not founded by the Romans. The first recorded date of the city is 1050.
The city is known for the Nazi Rallies that were held here in the 1930’s because Hitler had a fondness for Nuemberg and created large areas for parades and gatherings. The city was bombed heavily in the second part of WWII with 90% of the city destroyed.
Nuremberg is also known for the. Nuremberg Trials held here at the Palace of Justice from 1945-46 were Nazi leaders were prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 24 top Nazi leaders were indicted, 12 were sentenced to death with 10 actually hung in Nuremberg.
Don and Gary wanted to find out more about this so they went on the Nuremberg and World War II tour. Karen and I opted for something less dark and went on the Survivng the War: Art in Nuremberg.
About 3 miles of the original wall that surrounded Nuremberg is still standing and we entered in through a gate to the historic part of the city. Inside this area reconstruction of the buildings were done so as to look like it was before the war. Outside of the historic part, we saw many basic looking concrete apartment buildings which were hastily built after the war so that the displaced citizens had a place to live.
The outside of the churches in the historic area had to be rebuilt but all of the stained glass and art were saved through the guidance of the Nuremberg mayor at the time, Willy Liebel. Saving the art was one of his only good attributes as he was a devout Nazi who implemented anti-Semantic policies.
Art from the churches and other areas in Nuremberg were gathered in the Historischer Kunstbunker which were built underneath the Nuremberg castle in the Middle Ages to store beer. In 1940, Nazi officials under the direction of Liebel, renovated the cellars which have been empty. Since the invention of refrigeration. State of the art heating and ventilation systems were installed to preserve the art which included the Imperial Regalia of the Roman Empire.
Some of the art like the city’s “Beautiful Fountain” was too large to move so they built concrete and brick casing around it to protect it. Some church sculptures were encased in wood and then filled with sand.
Near the end of the war, mayor Liebel got nervous and had some of his men move the Imperial Reglia and hid the items in a brick wall. After the war, an American unit called the Monument Men found the bunkers and thanks to the German penchant for keeping meticulous records, returned the art to its owners. The men who hid the Regalia were arrested and one was “convinced” to show them where the treasures were hidden. However, the Monument Men made a mistake according to our Nuremberg guide. It was decreed several years ago that the collection of Regalia should always stay in Nuremberg but it was sent back to Vienna where it was safeguarded for a short time at the beginning of the war until Hitler ordered it to be returned to Nuremberg. This is a sore subject for the people of Nuremberg because Vienna refuses to return it.
We met up with our husbands for lunch and then finally had time for shopping. Nuremberg is known for its gingerbread which usually they eat only at Christmas but because of the many tourists you can find it all year round. Their tradional gingerbread has no flour and a lot of nuts with spices but surprisingly no ginger. It was delicious!
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