Nuremberg

On Saturday we visited the walled city of Nuremberg. Although the town was destroyed in bombings in the last months of the war in 1945, the town was reconstructed with the old streets. Some buildings and the fortress or palace were reconstructed in the old style, while many buildings were rebuilt new, but retained some of the features like roof windows, and a four-story limit to height and red tile roofs. Looking over the city from the fortress, the red roofs of the city are very dramatic. Judy and Barbara and Jake took the shuttle back to the ship for lunch, but I stayed and visited two houses and the inside of the castle and had a famous sausage sandwich for my lunch. Jake took the return shuttle and met me at the market fountain at 2:30, and we took a walk on the wall rampart and visited the art bunker. The large rooms were secretly carved under the castle in the sandstone in about 1940, because town leaders were worried that the town might be bombed by the allies, although the Nazis told them there was no danger. Many of the art and decorations from the churches were stored and saved in the art bunker when the town was bombed in early 1945. There were many cellars carved in the sandstone below each brewery, to provide a cold area for beer brewing all year long. These cellars were connected and stocked with food and water as bomb shelters, and few people from Nuremberg were killed in the bombing raids.

 

Fortress and watch tower for enemies and fire

 

Red tile roofs of Nuremberg 

 

Elaborate merchant sign

 

Old house built along city wall

Decorative tower above well in market square 

Moving clock figures in church wall at market

Hitler used Nuremberg as the center for his political rallies because railroads branched from Nuremberg to all parts of Germany. Evidence of the second world war, which caused such destruction throughout Europe, has been mostly erased during the rebuilding of Germany. I visited some historical houses and the castle rooms and the toy museum that showed the history of toys manufactured in Nuremberg. 

 

Ceramic stove in wealthy house

 

Meeting room in wealthy merchant house

 

Main room in castle

 

Dining room in printer and artist house

Kitchen of printer and artist house  

Bunker for storing art of Nuremberg  

Generator for air conditioning art vaults 

Toys manufactured in Nuremberg  

Detailed doll house furnishings 
A metal Noah’s ark set- biggest go first