We found the campsite right on the edge of town. It was parallel to the Groß Strauße and opposite a huge exhibition complex. We thought the wide street was just a vast parking area and it was only as we ventured out on bikes that and started to read the signs around the area that we discovered that our camp site was built in the heart of Hitlers empire. All around us we discovered huge derelict buildings that were erected at the height of the power of the Nationalist Social Party. Nürnberg was chosen as the focal point for mass gatherings in huge arenas and here Hitler would create the films and commission photographs that depicted him as the high priest of his despicable regime.
I knew that shortly after the war that Nürnberg was where the war crime trials were held but knew nothing of the citadel that was built by the forced labour of the political prisoners and others in concentration camps. We had a very rudimentary map of the city and headed for the Old Town. It has a central platz with an information centre where we got a better map and started to explore the cobbled streets.
We walked around the walls of the medieval Kaiserburg and had a magnificent view of the steeples red tiled steep roofs below us. We got a bit lost cycling back as it was growing dark and maps are only helpful if you know where you are on them. Nürnberg has excellent cycle paths that took us through parks and beside lakes and back to the campsite.
Next morning we planned to explore the city and take a guided tour of the old town. On our way in we cycled over to the abandoned stadium area and then the colosseum building which we discovered had a multimedia exhibition explaining the beginnings of the Nazi rise to power and particularly focussing on the structures built in Nürnberg. The plan for the city tour got scuppered as we spent over two hours learning about the whole Nazi period. It was a brilliant exhibition and we had an audio guide which gave ‘ big picture’ and more specific information. As we left the museum we passed a train track that forms part of a memorial. Scattered on the tracks are thousands of cards and on them are the names, dob, place of death and nationality of some of the six million who were murdered by the regime. We must never forget.
We finished the day by exploring more of the old town and a tour of Albrecht Dürer’s haus. We had already seen many of the original paintings in München so it was interesting to learn more about Nürnberg’s most famous resident.
jwebbergant 