Nuremberg- my favorite city...

So this weekend Erik and I went down to Nuremberg and Bamberg to explore Franconia, the northern part of Bavaria. Nuremberg is a gorgeous medieval city with a well-preserved Altstadt, red brick walkways, and enough history to knock your socks off. Nuremberg was once a seat of the Holy Roman Empire, so that's why Hitler chose it as the symbolic party center for the Third Reich. And with its walled city, its Gothic churches, and stone Bruecke, I understand how this city could be considered "the most German of all places," by the dictator. After 1933, the city became the site for all Nazi party rallies, and we toured the rally grounds Saturday afternoon. Located a few miles outside of the city, the rally grounds contain the largest Nazi buildings still in existence, and anyone who has seen The Triumph of the Will would recognize the Zeppelin field and Great Road where Hitler marched to the cheers of thousands. The museum attached to the ground, the Dokumentation Zentrum, was really thorough and very chilling.

After touring the party grounds we went to lunch in the city's Hauptmarkt, which stands in front of the Frauenkirche. We walked the Altstadt some more before eating a huge and amazing Bavarian dinner of Nuremberger sausages and Strudel. On Sunday we took a tour of the Nuremberg Trial courthouse, the site of the first International Military Tribunal held for crimes against humanity. Watching the film of Chief U.S. Prosecutor Robert Jackson question Rudolph Hess 5 feet from where the Nazi sat was surreal. Here are Jackson's opening remarks from November 21, 1945:

"The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason."

You would think that with all of this history Nuremberg would be a burdened city. But in fact, I found it to be one of the most vibrant, bustling, and happy places I've been to in Europe. This city has done a magnificent job of recognizing its history with the Nazis, but not reveling in it for the sake of sensationalism or tourism. Modern Nuremberg has declared itself a city for Human Rights, and if anything Nurembergers seem proud of their hometown. Unlike Frankfurt, Nuremberg seems to have a real identity, even if its a gritty one.

Here are some pictures... more to come from our jaunt through Bavaria. Pictured: Zepplin Field, The Old City Turm, Strudel, etc...