On my second day in Nuremberg I headed straight to the castle which was a good choice as few people there yet...actually not many people here really in general. Really friendly worker gave me some good advice on some sites as well as a free little guide book when he learned I was a prof...oh the perks lol. Great views from the castle and especially in the tower and yes I went up all 120 steps to get it. From the castle I headed to the city museum which was interesting. Also saw St. Sebold church which was mainly destroyed by Allied bombing in WWII as was a good part of the city (just like Munich). Now the city and church look old but really they are rebuilt. The chunch has a whole focus on the rebuilding as part of rebuilding German society...so creating way to deal with past. This is all part of what I study!
I then headed to 2 of the beautiful bridges in the city that span the river and help like know the north a day south parts of the old city or altstadt. I also enjoyed the market square which very sadly was where the Jewish sector of the city was located in the early Middle Ages before it was destroyed in a pogrom by merchants and the market replaced it. Nuremberg was a very large and prosperous independent city in the Middle Ages.
Next I hopped the subway to the site of the Nuremberg Trials after WWII. Fascinating with lots of reading. Unfortunately the court to was unavailable for viewing as it was in use that day...it is a working German court. The display also clearly distinguished the US and Europe Cort system traditions as in Europe they use independent investigators that share all info with the court. In the US we have an adversarial system and defense and prosecution work against each other. Germans showed how it was definitely decided to use US system and what that meant. While overall presentation of info was full and complete the German thoughts were included but responsibility was not doubted.
I then headed to the German railroad museum -1 I love railroads! Very good and section on WWII fascinating. The Germans had had strong RR unions which the Nazis destroyed and then the RR was so important in war transporting troops, suffering massive destruction and playing a key role in Holocaust! But today considered one of the best and largest.I love it!
After brief stop at German national museum which wasn't very good as mostly Middle Ages I headed for dinner at a nice biergarten...I wanted Wiener schnitzel! I met 3 young Canadiens from Vancouver who were not together but are now. The 2 young men are travelling on a whim wherever they decided to stop and one is history major in college and young lady is originally from South Africa via Zimbabwe who on Europe to see family and travel. Talked and laughed for several hours...funny to sit with students overseas but we had lots of laughs and stories.
Today I traveled to beautiful medieval city of Regensburg which was not bombed in war so still original and on Danube! It has site of Holy Roman Empire Reichstag! Building hundreds years old. Also a gorgeous palace still occupied by Princess oof Thursn and Taxis which goes back to Middle Ages. They were related to other German and Austrian royalty as well as British. I was only person on tour who understood what HRE was all about...lol and that these Princes were not sons of kings! Interesting that palace still occupied and was untouched by the war and has huge collection of furnishings etc. Unfortunate that both of the young male heirs at time were drafted and died on eastern front...one at Stalingrad...I learned as saw memorials to them in the family chapel. I'm always on lookout lol. I did take a boat tour on Danube which isn't blue lol but saw the great river cruise ships and they are nice unique and filled mainly with seniors. Cool way to see many great places and very intimate.
The town also has a great cathedral the largest in southern Germany and it is Catholic...so has decorations as opposed to the Lutheran churches of Nuremberg. The old chapel is magnificent as well in terms of its interior. Oscar Schindler lived here briefly at end of WWII... the man from Schindler's List. Saw few more churches and a dungeon and steps outside medieval Reichstag where Hitler stood and declared he would build a new Reich to the
Rival the Holy Roman Empire that had met there. Out tour guide was great young man who asked me and another person about his English as he is practicing because wants too move to America! Lol
So 2 great busy days and according to my iFit I walked 9 miles today and about 12 yesterday. I finished with dinner in Regensburg which is really lovely and original!
Tar long day on trains headed to Ostrava!
