Nuremberg and WWII

We had a guest for breakfast today. A little cafe along the castle walls served a lovely coffee and croissant, but we were joined by a very cheeky and unafraid little bird who was taking the crumbs and feeding their young.

From breakfast we walked to the Palace of Justice. Still a working courtroom, we went to see the place where the Nuremberg Trials took place in 1945/6. It was eerie to stand in Court Room 600 on the 2nd floor, where Nazis including Rudolf Heß, Hermann Göring and Albert Speer stood trial for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The superb exhibition on the 3rd floor showed how the Court was created, how the trial progressed and its outcome, as well as the other Nuremberg Trials and the subsequent impact on the world to the modern day. We spent nearly 3 hours there listening to the audioguide including excepts from Nazi documents presented as evidence and footage from the trial itself.

From there, we caught a train to the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds. This huge site held Nazi Party rallies including some of the most famous footage in the 'Triumph of the Will'. The temporary exhibition in the Congress Hall here was equally excellent, showing the impact of propaganda in the Nazi regime. This hall was built to hold 50,000 people as a congress hall for the Nazi Party - it was never finished, but what was built is huge and leaves you in no doubt about the intention.

We walked from here around the lake to Zeppelin Field. Here, some of the most famous footage from Nazi Party rallies was taken. The large grandstand remains today, although the swastika was blown off the top of it after the war. Standing on the grandstand and looking out over the vast space where ranks of soldiers stood under the eyes of Hitler and other senior Nazis, the emotions it creates are pretty heady and unpleasant. It is so important to remember these events, but so horrifying to do so as well.

Finishing off around the lake, we headed back to Nuremberg centre, and after a wander through the streets, retired to the hotel after a long, fascinating and painful day.Read more