Germany Part II: Day 5 Nürnberg (part 3)

Above are an assortment of shots taken around Kaiserburg. The first photo is a portion of a building called the Rathaus. The building was large, and on the narrow streets it was difficult to get the whole building in the frame. Of the pictures I've been able to find on the web, all are taken at an angle from down the street. (See link) This building was the city meeting hall and apparently at one time was the largest secular building north of the Alps. I can believe it!

After a lot of walking around through the rolling cobblestone streets of central Nürnberg, Jens and Marija suggested that we eat at "das Bratwursthäusle" which is described as one of, if not the most famous restaurant in Nürnberg. This review is very informative: Bratwursthäusle IgoUgo. Kate and I split an order of Nürnberg sausage which taste very similar to our breakfast sausage. We had some sauerkraut and potato salad (we ordered potato salad, but I believe Jens & Marija let us try some of the kraut). The potato salad was very different, even different compared to what I've seen called "German Potato Salad" here in the United States. It resembled potatoes "Au Gratin" (at least in appearance) more than what we are used to, although I suspect there was some vinegar in it. Jens and Marija also ordered some White Asparagus, or Spargel. It is a seasonal delicacy in this part of Germany, to which it is native. The Bratwurshausle prepared it in a light pickled fashion, essentially it was soaked, probably for a short period of time in a mild vinegar. It was very tasty. A table full of American tourists next to us decided to follow suit and try it, although they didn't seem as impressed as we did (our plate was clean). Kate and I also had a bretzel. I unwittingly committed sacrilege by dipping mine in mustard (It's frowned upon in Germany much like putting ketchup on a hot dog is here). It is strange because I never put mustard on American pretzels, where it is common.... but then I decide to try it in a foreign country where no one eats them in this manner. Go figure. It wasn't bad.

When we had cleaned our plates, vegetables and on we continued on our way. The picture to the left is the
Heilig-Geist-Spital. Translation:
The Hospital of the Holy Spirit. It was built in 1332–39 by Konrad Gross, a wealthy patrician, for the care for the elderly and needy. (Sort of a precursor to Carnegie, Rockefeller, or the more contemporary Harold Alfond) It was the largest private endowment in the Holy Roman Empire up to 1500. Great place for a hospital by the way.... on top of a river... imagine the infection, mildew, mold, bacteria etc that ran through that place. If nothing else, it was a pretty place to potentially die.

We had some ice cream and walked around Nürnberg's town center some more, observing some Gingerbread shops (Nürnberg is famous for its gingerbread), part of the main shopping district, a modern art museum from the outside, and some additional portions of the old city wall and moat. This portion of the moat had bicycle paths inside it.

We headed back to Jens and Marija's apartment before heading to our final Nürnberg sight to visit, the Nazi rally grounds.

The rally grounds effected me in a manner I didn't expect. As we stood on the ruins of a still visibly impressive complex it was surreal. The very podium from which Hitler addressed the masses, still remains, although it is falling apart. It gave me goose bumps to be there, and really see first hand something that has always just lived on in picture books and passed on accounts for most Americans alive today. On a positive note it made me feel good to see how prosperous Germany is today. It sends a powerful message to learn from the past, but also that even the darkest of times can turn around, and one should always remain hopeful that things can change for the best.

Neither Kate or myself took pictures of the rally grounds. While impressive, it just wasn't something I wanted in my collection of photos. The following Wikipedia link has some information regarding the rally grounds, some photos, and an animated gif of a giant swastika being demolished by the allied troops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_party_rally_grounds

Many interesting old photos and drawings of the grounds: http://www.thirdreichruins.com/nuernberg2.htm

Jens supplied a lot of history for us while we were there. During the American occupation, the allies turned the rally grounds into a base for operations. A large road was used as a landing strip for planes, and troops used a portion of the rally grounds called Zeppelin field as a place to play American football.

Hitler viewed Nürnberg as a prized city and wanted the center of the Nazi operations to be seated there. A large "Congress" building was built, but was never completed. It looks like, and was based on the Colosseum in Rome. Jens mentioned the the German government had wanted to destroy the building but the costs for doing so are so astronomical, that it made more sense to let it just deteriorate over time. There is a museum that offers some sort of tour at the building, but we decided against seeing it.

The grounds around all of these ruins have been transformed into a nice park. There were many people out biking and exercising near by. One of my favorite sights that Jens pointed out was on the way out of the grounds, Jens pointed out a building constructed by the Nazis that now has a Burger King in it. I like to think if Hitler's soul is still floating around down here that perhaps it tortured by the sight of Turkish immigrant children playing on some plastic hamburger inside what used to be part of his prized complex.

That night Jens and Marija prepared us my favorite meal in Germany. Some barbecue chicken & pork, a great salad, tomato slices with fresh mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinegar, some nice rolls, and of course Bier! I took a picture of the bottle I had with the meal. For desert we had some ice cream, and Jens picked up these pastries called "Super Dickmanns". I was very amused by the name of course. They are Marija's weakness, and I believe she had more than one, plus one for breakfast the next morning. They are pretty much giant marshmallows covered in chocolate with a wafer cookie on the bottom. I must admit, they were pretty good.