On Thursday, March 24th, we had a dose of history and seriousness to our traveling adventures and drove to another spot in Bavaria. Nurnberg, Germany is famous for its connection to Nazi Germany during WWII. Adolf Hitler chose the city to be the site of Nazi Rallies and parties. After the war it was the location of the Nurnberg Trials, where leaders of the Nazi party were tried for war crimes. Today the same buildings that were used as Nazi headquarters are now turned into a history Museum of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party's rise to power.
The museum impressed all of us. The interior itself was powerful and aggressive. The walls were brick and the floors were wooden. The information and paraphernalia was red and black and had lights to accent the features and add drama and force behind the content. We all learned more than we had even been taught in school on how Hitler was able to fool the German citizens and how the German troops were really treated. It focused on the contradictions of the Nazis party: how the pubic saw Hitler through propaganda and what his intentions really were. There was some information on the Holocaust but mostly it focused on his rise to power and the actual buildings they used for headquarters.
This is the building today, now turned into a museum
A first edition copy of Mein Kampf
Larger than life images of the S.S. intensified the force of the Nazis party
Displays of German troop paraphernalia were in cased under the floor
This is how the building looked during the 1930's and 1940's. Today the Museum makes up part of the building
After the museum we walked around the lake to check out the rally grounds where thousands would march and where giant parties where held.
On the other side of the lake you can see the rally grounds from the Nurnberg Museum
This is another view of the museum. It was never completed. Hitler had plans to add a roof over the whole courtyard and add a giant eagle statue on the roof.
This is the rally grounds. It is still mostly intact today. There is a race track in front. The podium at the top is where Hitler would give his famous speeches to his troops.
This is me on top of the bleacher stands. On the other side is a main street of Nurnberg and train tracks
The giant door on the top of the structure
Oz is standing right where Hitler did
From the ground, this structure is massive. I can see why it was so impressive when Hitler would address the crowds below. You can barely see Oz and Doug standing there.
After the rally we walked back around the lake and we started to realize that even with all the bad and destruction that happened on these grounds we could still find beauty in the place. The day was warm and sunny. There were people out walking and enjoying the water. Beautiful swans and geese were swimming in the lake and there were lots of families on outings in the surrounding parks.
Grass blowing in the wind
At the end of the day we all left with a feeling that we experienced something larger than ourselves. As hard as it was to image the terrible things Hitler did to the world, we had an appreciation for the beauty that still continued in the town and how the people still used these historic landmarks as functional spots. Instead of hiding from what happened they are embracing the past and moving on to the future.
