NURNBERG: This city celebrated its 900th birthday in 1950 and the scars of World War II were still fresh. Nurnberg was once the ideal of medieval splendor but lost that legacy in the ashes of war. No other German city, except Dresden, suffered the devastation that Nurnberg did in a single air raid. On January 2, 1945 a total of 525 British Lancaster bombers rained fire and destruction on this ideological Third Reich center. Now, the city is a symbol of postwar prosperity and is swarming with active, busy people: longtime residents and Gastarbeiter, (foreign workers). It is a notable industrial center, still associated with its traditional gingerbread products and handmade toys. Nurnberg eggs, the first pocket watches, were made here in the 16th century.
Visitors here can see the ruins of the ramparts that once surrounded the city along with more modern sites, such as the Justice Palace where the War Crimes Tribunal sat in 1946. The Zeppelinfeld Arena, the huge amphitheater where Hitler staged his dramatic Nazi rallies from 1927 to 1935 is here. Hitler’s architect, Albert Speer, constructed a "concrete Mecca," today turned into a park with apartments, a trade fair, and a concert hall (Speer’s Congress Hall) which is larger than the Coliseum in Rome, has become a recording studio and warehouse. The most popular tourist shrine seems to be the Albrecht Durer House, just a short walk up the cobble stoned Bergstrasse from the Durer Monument and St. Sebald Church. This structure is the only completely preserved Gothic house in Nurnberg. The first floors are sandstone, surmounted by two half-timbered stories and a gabled roof with a view of the town below. Exhibits inside the house are devoted to Durer’s life and works. Furniture is period and original etchings and woodcuts, along with copies of Durer’s paintings, are on display.
Visit the Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds to gain a greater understanding of the events in Nurnberg which shaped world history. Regular guided tours are given to Courtroom 600, permanent and changing exhibitions and to the rally grounds.
Nurnberg is a major toy center and it devotes a huge museum to toys, hand-made and machine-made, filling three full floors. Some date back to medieval times and there is a very extensive and amusing at times dollhouse collection, and a mechanical Ferris wheel. The Germanisches Nationalmuseum (Germanic National Museum) is the largest museum of German art and culture and is located just outside the medieval city walls. It covers the entire spectrum of German craftsmanship and fine arts from their beginnings to the 20th century. Prehistoric and early historical sections contain finds from the Stone Age and from the burial sites of the Merovingians. The extensive painting and sculpture sections include works by Albrecht Durer and Veit Stoss, a sculptor and woodcarver known for his "nervous" angular forms and realism. A great variety and richness of German handcrafts are here, along with an important library and archive.
