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Published: October 30th 2013
Documentation Centre
Imposition of the modern on historyUp early for a bus tour of the remaining Nazi sites in Nuremberg. Apparently these are controversial: initially because many sites were destroyed after the war; now because people don’t want to pay the taxes required to restore the very deteriorating remaining sites. Our guide, Erika (Heather in English, she pointedly explained) commented that the sites were eroding so quickly that the quality must have been poor to start with.
We drove by the
Documentation Centre, where others returned later. A stark, prow-shaped entrance has been added to an original building to form a museum with a lot of original records. We also drove by a wide, long, 2 – 3 storey red brick building or complex that was used as barracks by the SS, then as American housing and offices, now as government administrative offices. We stopped at the huge rally field,
Zeppelin . One bank of stone bleachers is entirely grown over with weeds. The one with the overwhelming podium and the one facing it are clear of vegetation but the stone is crumbling.
Back on the bus, we drove to the Palace of Justice, the court for the
Nuremberg trials . As it is still an active court,
St Johannes Church
Outstandingly attractive, rain or shine we just had a photo stop.
From there we drove to the old centre of the city. Some of us, including me, stayed to drift around; others went back to the Documentation Centre. On our way to town, we saw a beautiful red church and flowered graveyard. I asked the guide for directions for walking. She said it was about half an hour and showed me on the map. In fact, it was 15 minutes and very easy to find. The biggest obstacle was a downpour about five minutes after I started walking. (First, toilet at City Hall. Very clean - turnstile entry for a 50 cent coin.)
St Johannes Church is plastered deep orange, seeming an even deeper orange because of dark clouds and wet weather. The graves are all controlled. The graves are leased, and the historic gravestones cannot be altered for new interments except for a modest plaque with names. No plastic flowers are allowed (to avoid pollution), yet I think every grave had flowers. [Built between 1377 and 1395, this was the only historical church in Nuremberg that was not destroyed in World War Two. The attached St Johannis cemetery is one of the most cultural-historically
Doll store
Away from the main square, the proprietor has developed an aggressively friendly style! important cemeteries in Europe. Albrecht Dürer is buried here.]
The walk back was dry for most of the way, and then steady rain fell as I explored Tanners Alley in the old town, around the
Church of St Sebald (1230), and into the market where I bought the honey-sweetened gingerbread. This is the iconic product of the city. I bought a tin filled with gingerbread that later can store tea.
At noon I was the first on the bus back to the ship, hanging my wet coat, hat and umbrella around me. Even so, after lunch, Deidre and I decided to go back into town in spite of threatening rain. In fact, as we wandered up the pedestrian prescient, the air warmed and the sun crept out. Discovering at the
Church of St Lorenz that we were walking in the “wrong” direction, we enjoyed the moment and turned around. Back through the market, we stumbled on the
Albrecht Dürer statue. Then we discovered the “Poppen” store – dolls and puppets and stuff in a 400 year old building, with a courtyard the owner insisted on showing us. Fortunately, Deirdre had an excuse of baby gift to buy something.
Climbing steadily, we eventually did briefly
Nuremburg roofs
Lovely view from the Castle walls. explore the
Imperial Castle (1050) and the wall - lovely views of the town roofs. Then we had to dedicate ourselves to coffee and cake. To prevent getting lost, we returned to the market (Deirdre bought gingerbread), and we had to try several spots to find a suitable table – to our surprise, the outdoor plaza we chose belonged to a pizzeria – still the cherry cake was lovely.
Tonight an eerie experience. One of my best travel experiences – going through a 25 metre deep lock! We began around 9:30 – Ian and I both videoing, plus my little Nikon that did a great job!
The approach is really slow, gradually bringing orange flood lights into focus. The moon kept teasing us, moving in and out of clouds.
We entered ever so slowly and quietly – always hearing the creaking of the ship’s superstructure. The only way to see the top of the lock was to look forward: looking straight up, the top was lost in the darkness. Imperceptibly the boat started rising, then we caught sight of the wash near the forward gates, then there were a few minutes of gushing waves, then just steady rising
(with one pause midway). I forgot to time the fill, but the previous 19 m lock took 20 minutes. By chance I was videoing the fence-type structure on the top of the forward lock when it sank at a steady pace, giving clearance for the ship. As soon as possible the ship moved forward, gaining speed.
Now, just after 11:00 p.m., we have been almost lifted another 25 metres – there are three of these very big locks. This time I viewed it from my cabin balcony. The sense of danger I felt at the bottom is strange and false, providing you follow the instructions to not touch the concrete sides, only 18”-24” away. The temptation to touch the side is peculiarly strong – to add one more sensation to this extraordinary experience. This danger is real because the ship often bumps the sides of the locks and our balconies are the widest part of the ship, with only a heavy rubber strip serving as a bumper when the sailors lower it. Instead of touching, I took as much video as possible – the light on the side is much dimmer so it may not look good.
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