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Published: September 19th 2016
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Nazi Congress Hall (Interior)
Walk out at the end of museum - inner section of the Congress Hall (picture does not do it justice) I have a whole new outlook on Nuremberg after this morning. Drew read up on what I thought was just going to be another museum about the Nazis and insisted that we make it a priority – the museum is known as the Nazi Documentation Center at the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. I was definitely interested, but had no ideas or expectations about the museum. After having spent the morning and part of the afternoon there, I still feel a bit dazed about the whole thing. Let me elaborate.
I realize now that I really did not know much about Nuremberg before coming to the city other than it was a “cute German town” and that the Nuremberg Trials took place there. What I really had no prior knowledge about was that Nuremberg was really the center of the Nazi Party. Hitler had early support in Nuremberg before he really even came into power and because of this, made Nuremberg a center for everything Nazi Party. The museum was really all about how the Nazi’s came into power – the things and reasons for Hitler rising to power – and one thing I had never known or realized was how
Nazi Congress Hall (Exterior)
Huge Congress Hall with stones quarried by Jews in concentration camps Nuremberg was a huge reason for this. Nuremberg was the center for his party rallies (a fact WWII history buffs know, but I admittedly didn’t) and he had plans to build HUGE architectural buildings and complexes to give himself and the party an illusion of greatness. And the thing is, he DID build them. He built these massive sports complexes, parade routes, arenas and government buildings out of stones that came from the blood, sweat and tears of Jews and others living and working in concentration camps built near stone quarries. These were the sites of the Nazi party rallies that he hosted that built excitement They highlighted this massive Congress Hall that he had plans to build that was never quite completed and it was just massive – 40 meters high, 250 meters in diameter – crazy. And after going through the exhibit, seeing how this insane man rose into power and all of these crazy things he did to get to that point, you get to the end of the exhibit and walk out onto this walkway and you see in front of you… the inner part of the Congress Hall.
What!? You’ve been in a tiny section
Nuremberg Castle
View up at the castle of it the whole time – that’s where the museum is. You look out onto this massive piece of architecture in front of you and you think about all the people that died to build it and you realize there are 6 more structures as big, if not bigger than this out there – and you are in total shock and awe. It was truly an intense feeling. Though I had an understanding that I was in the Congress Hall the whole time, I just really didn’t truly get it until the end when I saw how insanely massive it was. I left with a very different perspective on the city of Nuremberg. The museum was truly well done.
After spending much of the morning and early afternoon at the museum, we went back into the downtown area of Nuremberg to get in a little more sightseeing before having to leave for Munich. We unfortunately continued to have unrelenting rain which made lingering around the sights of the city not as much fun. We did venture up to the Nuremberg Palace which was at the top of a hill overlooking the city and very cool. It was a very
Hofbrauhaus
Traditional German Music at the Hofbrauhaus beautiful medieval-style castle and we were able to snap some great exterior shots. We unfortunately did not have time to go into the castle to do the exhibit, so I sadly have to say that I don’t have much knowledge or history of the castle to report. We also walked back through the city seeing many of the churches and other beautiful old buildings that we had seen lit up the night before. The city was full of markets and little tents filled with things to sell ranging from fruits, household goods, souvenirs, cloths and other such goodies. Despite the rain, the city seemed to be bustling. We were sad that we did not have more time to explore – if we had to do it over again, we definitely would have made Nuremberg a two-day excursion.
After walking around Nuremberg, we grabbed our car and headed off toward Munich. The rain and roadwork had us a bit delayed but we made it to Munich (although, barely as we had a gas station fiasco trying to fill up the gas tank – short version: we were at a broken pump but didn’t know because despite our 6-week
Friends!
With Robbie and Caroline at Hofbrauhaus! German class, we COULDN’T READ THE SIGN IN GERMAN saying so…) and reunited with Caroline, Robbie and Caroline’s parents Angie and Jim! We returned out rental car (YAY!!! No more driving!), checked into the hotel and set off with the Humphreys and Cronins to the Hofbrauhaus for some good German food, beer and entertainment! The Hofbrauhaus is probably the most famous beer hall in Munich and is in the tradition of your typical Bavarian beer hall with long picnic tables, beer maids serving food, beer and pretzels and tradition music and dancing. It was great to just sit at the picnic tables with some German fare catching up with everyone and hearing about how their trip has been so far. We are happy to be back together and can’t wait for the rest of our adventures going forward!
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Susan Abrams
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Nuremburg
Very informative Jess. I also did not know about all the structures that were built. Is this where Hitler wanted to build his art museum ? He had elaborate plans made about it. I hope you get this comment.