Day 91/92 28th and 29th July Prague to Nuremberg
Left Prague for Nuremberg today experiencing German efficiency. Not only was the bus one of the nicest I have been on, spotlessly clean and great wifi it arrived ahead of schedule.
Of course, when one mentions Nuremberg there can be several cliched reactions. Wasn’t that where the Nazis held huge rallies? Yes and wasn’t that where the war trials were held? Yes again. So how does a country deal with those events when they are so profoundly catastrophic. We set out to see the museums that the local government has created to address those questions. And as I note in the title they have done this, an act of courage that some other governments would do well to copy.
We started by going to the Dokumnentationszetrum Reichparteitagsgelande literally the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds. This museum built in 2001has been added to the Congress Hall that still stands and which is protected by state regulations. It was one building of a planned eleven square kilometres area dedicated to hosting annual Nazi congresses. Nuremberg had been chosen because it had throughout German history been a place where representatives of the German states had met. Today the local government believes that it is important to create a balance between reminding people of what the ideology of the Nazi party meant in reality without promoting it in any way.
This paradox was shown clearly in a short film that was the first exhibit in the museum. It showed two young skateboarders using the site for recreation but coming across some of the structures that still exist. Superimposed over the film was Nazi footage of the rallies. In other words, life needs to go on but let’s not forget the reality of the past.
The entrance is a narrow walkway right into the heart on the Congress centre. The lighting is subdued and there are large striking sepia-toned photos accompanied by panels detailing the rise of the Nazi party and the use of the party congresses to bolster the mythology surrounding Hitler and the party.
We also went on a bus tour around the area with excellent guided commentary and video showing the sites when they were used for congresses. It gave you a way to place the size of the buildings and the crowds into context.
After an intense afternoon, we headed towards town and a delightful meal of wurst and beer at a place in the suburbs called Landbierpardies. A highlight was bier served out of a wooden barrel.
Day xxx 29th July Nuremberg
We started this morning with a delightful breakfast at the Restaurant Literaturhaus.The menu here was a major talking point as having one of the best introductions I have ever seen. It makes you like a place before you start and the service and food was great.
After breakfast, I went out to the Memorium Nuremberg Trials. This museum is in the Palace of Justice and the original room used for the trials in 1945/46 is still used. Like the Party Rally museum, this was a similar presentation style with English audio handsets and an amazing amount of detail for each panel. It started with a history of the development of a legal framework particular focus on the Geneva Convention. This in itself was quite a revelation because it came from a reaction to the 19th-century wars especially the American Civil War. It was apparently felt that war was an inevitable response to solving political problems and that it could be somehow “civilised’. Wow was that misguided!. Anyway, it then went onto how the Military Tribunals were set up and organised in great detail. For me, the impression was that this was better than an initial American reaction which was summary executions for all of the accused. However, as you go through the exhibits you realise there were serious flaws in the legal process, the defence lawyers had limited access to the evidence and were severely restricted in access to their clients. An interesting defence was the concept of “you too”, where the Nazi’s defence lawyers tried to say that the prosecuting powers were also guilty of war crimes. In a bizarre twist, the Russians tried to indict the Germans for the Katyn massacre (see Katyn Massacre) when they themselves had been responsible. It was thrown out. The most chilling part of the exhibit for me was the black and white film showing the defendants coming into the court one by one, shaking hands with each other and chatting.
An interesting couple of days with a history overload.
Travel Tips
For details on the Party Rally Grounds and the Nuremberg Trial Court see Nuremberg Museums.
Getting around to both of these was easy using the tram for the Rally Grounds and the metro for the Court. Nuremberg Tickets
We stayed at the Ibis Hauptbahnhof-which like all of the Ibis’s is clean and cheap with pleasant staff. Great location for the old town, the main station and the metro. Book direct IBIS-an Accor Hote brand
