NurembergAug 20, 2011
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Cruising The Main-Danube Canal
Robert "Enjoys" The Lunch Entertainment
Zeppelin Field And Hitler's Rostrum
| August 20, 2011 Just north of Regensburg at Kelheim we had left the Danube and entered the Main-Danube Canal, an engineering marvel first conceived of by Charlemagne in 793 A.D. Completed in 1992, it is 106 miles long and has 16 locks with a total lift/drop of 1332 feet. We continued cruising the Canal on Saturday morning in nice weather but the Sun Deck was closed due to the many low bridges we would have to pass under. In fact, the wheelhouse would be lowered hydraulically at each bridge with the Captain poking his head up through a hatch in the roof to navigate. I took this opportunity for some quiet time in the Viking Danube’s Library to catch up on my Trip Journal writing. Unfortunately, the internet service was too sporadic and slow to do any online updates for long periods. Brenda caught up on some more reading and enjoyed the relaxation as well. Late morning we arrived at our docking station in Nuremberg, an austere industrial location on the Canal just outside of town providing no strolling or sight-seeing opportunities. Lunch on board included some local musical entertainment, for which Cheryl and Robert had ringside seats, much to his dismay. You can see from the picture the look of sheer pleasure on his face as they merrily “oom-pah-pah-ed” behind him. We had paid for the optional World War II Excursion here in Nuremberg and the buses arrived in the blazing heat of the afternoon for our departure. As we drove away, our guide Matthias, a history student, gave us a background talk on Nuremberg’s role in the rise of Nazism and a bit on its being the site of the War Crime Trails following the war. Our first stop was at the parade grounds of the Zeppelin Field, the exact spot where Hitler spoke to huge Nazi rallies, seen in many of the documentary movies of that era. We then moved to the Congress Hall, a huge uncompleted replica of Rome’s Coliseum and the Documentation Centre of the Nazi era. Our tour of the Centre was self-paced with audio guides and many stations at which to stop and hear of the rise of the Nazis and their many horrible atrocities. To our dismay, the tour was only for one hour and we ran out of time just as we reached the section on the end of the war and the War Crime Trials. Fortunately, our next stop was at the court house where the Nuremberg trials were held. We joined a second busload of our fellow passengers and were directed to Courtroom 600, where the worst of the Nazis were tried and which was the actual film location of the movie “Judgement at Nuremberg”. We were very fortunate to be here on a Saturday as the courtroom is still active during the week and is unavailable to guided tours. The other group’s guide, Andreas, gave us an informative and animated talk about the Trials, the defendants and the outcomes that really made the historical perspective come to life. Our final stop was in the centre of the old walled medieval city of Nuremberg, much of which was destroyed during the war and had to be rebuilt. Pre-war Nuremberg was one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Germany and was considered a showcase for Franconian craftsmanship. While Brenda headed to the shops for souvenir hunting, I joined Robert, Cheryl and Helen for a snack and a beer in the shade, escaping from the heat temporarily. As we departed the city core we went by the famous executioner’s house in the outer city walls in our happily air-conditioned coach. We followed our ``Summer Dinner`` in the dining room with drinks on the temporarily opened Sun Deck in the finally cooled evening air. |
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