This was a huge day. Began by walking to site of Nazi Party rallies between
1933-38, week long propaganda assemblies held annually. The Great Road,
Zeppelin Field (named after 1909 airship landing) and Congress Hall were never
completed, now minimally maintained.
Passed lake to go through new Documentation Central Museum in the enormous old Hall (designed to fit over 200,000 Hitler followers at any one time). This was a most impressive chronological display, charting rise of Hitler and Nazism and successful use of technology and propaganda to incrementally indoctrinate masses. Photos, posters, letters traced war, Holocaust, defeat by Allies, concluding with the Nuremberg trials. The video of trials including recent interviews with Germans who had lived through the times proved a moving conclusion to visit.
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| Rally Grounds |
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| Congress Hall |
Passed lake to go through new Documentation Central Museum in the enormous old Hall (designed to fit over 200,000 Hitler followers at any one time). This was a most impressive chronological display, charting rise of Hitler and Nazism and successful use of technology and propaganda to incrementally indoctrinate masses. Photos, posters, letters traced war, Holocaust, defeat by Allies, concluding with the Nuremberg trials. The video of trials including recent interviews with Germans who had lived through the times proved a moving conclusion to visit.
Caught tram into city, and walked/ rode underground subway to see religious sights - (1) St Lawrence medieval Cathedral, one of first Lutheran churches in Germany (2) the Frauenkirche (3) St Sebalt's medieval church (restored since serious WWII damage), and (4) contrasting St Katharina’s which has been left in ruins as a memorial.
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| St Lawrence |
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| Brick gothic Church of Our Lady |
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| St Katharina's |
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| Debtors Prison - for men of iron... |
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Weiser Tower
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| Nassauer House: Imperial counsellor residence |
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| Bounty from the woods... |
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| Way of Cross along streets |
The 11th century Kaiserburg Imperial Castle was impressive on its rock wall above the town – one of its magnificent bastions housed an astronomical observatory in Middle Ages. Good views over the jam-packed Old City from the ramparts (including twin towers of St Lorenz).
The Marriage Carousel fountain created by Jurgen Weber, relates to a 1541 poem by Hans Sachs: “Bitter-Sweet Married Life” a dramatic portrayal from courtship to death. Weber designed a roundabout with six carriages, each in shape of an animal to match the scene:
§ young beauty
rising from shell, the admiring trumpeter and lustful billy-goat
§ loving young
couple in a swan bed
§ mother feeding her children in a pelican (from Christian legend of
bird tearing open breast to feed offspring)
§ the older man
holding his wife in chains, tearing off her dress to take her by force
§ the fat woman
devouring cakes and her desperate skinny husband, carried by a wolverine
§ eternal fighting
of an old skeletal couple on a giant lizard
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| Beautiful Fountain |
Apparently viewers either love or hate the satirical work – it certainly gave Wanderoos a good laugh! The grotesque figures of Marriage Fountain contrasted with Beautiful Fountain where we watched a child climb the wrought iron fence to twist the good-luck brass ring.
Retraced our steps back home into drizzling rain, but were rewarded with “reconciliation rainbow” above the decaying Nazi Rally grounds.
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