nuremberg (nürnberg)

On Sunday afternoon (November 30th), we hopped a train from Munich to Nürnberg, which is home to Germany's largest and most famous Christkindlesmarkt, located on Hauptmarkt square.

Nürnberg was a very important medieval trading crossroads, and was a stronghold of the Holy Roman Empire. You have probably heard of Nürnberg in relation to the Nazis. The NSDAP held its annual Reichsparteitage (party rallies) there at the Nazi party rally grounds from 1923 to 1938. After WWII, in 1945 and 1946, an international tribunal tried German officials for war crimes in the famous Nürnberg Trials. As our very favorite travel writer, Rick Steves, says, "Today's Nürnberg is coming to terms with its Nazi past. Though the city tries to recast itself as the 'City of Human Rights,' its reputation as Hitler's favorite place for a big rally will be hard to shake."  Nürnberg's history also reminds visitors that anti-semitism predates the Nazis. Jewish people were historically forced to live in a swampy area close to the river until towns in Nürnberg merged and the river land became valuable. Charles IV then allowed his subjects to force out the Jews, and 600 were killed in the process.

Nürnberg former Nazi rally grounds are now Luitpoldhain park, and hold the Nazi Documentation Center, which Steves calls "a superb museum" that does its best to answer the question "How could the holocaust happen?" 

We stayed at the Lucas Hotel (recommended by Steves), and I recommend it to you as long as you're not afraid of stairs. :) It's so pleasant. There is a great cafe on the entry level and a good restaurant downstairs at the level of the river in back. So although the restaurant is in the "cellar", it has windows and a great view! :)

If you ever stay here, ask for room 401, which sleeps two people (in two separate twin beds right next to each other, which was standard in all the hotels we stayed in), is very private, and has fantastic views of the river. (Claire and her grandma slept in the room next door.) This was the view out our windows.

After we had settled in and quit panting from the bag drag up the stairs (I got off easy, but my husband and mother-in-law got a serious workout), we set out to explore the Christmas market.

 

Bob and Marilyn (Bob's mom) and I had come here about ten years ago, before Claire was born, but I didn't remember much about it except that I'd enjoyed it. (On that particular trip my luggage had been left behind on my bed in Virginia, so it was nice to have clothes and makeup this time.)

 

That first evening was quite crowded, because it was the first weekend of the market, and everyone was out enjoying the start of advent.

As we walked we got distracted by this store just for dogs. :)

The market takes place in the square in front of the Frauenkirche (Our Lady's Church). The church is located on the site of a former synagogue, and there is a Star of David on the floor inside.

The little markers at one end of the stalls and the church at the other helped keep me oriented. I'm not great with directions, and always need big markers. :D

This is the Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) and was originally erected around 1385, but was replaced by a replica in the early 20th century. There are lots of important figures all over it, and if you want to know who they all are, you should Google Schöner Brunnen, because all I remember are King Arthur, Charlemagne, and King David. It's a very eclectic group of both the sacred and profane. :)

Here are Marilyn and Claire's hat looking at Zwetschgamännla, which are little prune people.

I loved these big stars, but they were electric (220v). Besides, how would they fit in my luggage?

I seem to have taken a lot of photos of candy. :) I'm not a big fan of nougat candy or marzipan, but it sure was pretty.

These potatoes made of marzipan cracked me up.

I loved the warm candied nuts in paper cones . . . the cashews were the best.

I didn't think any glass ornaments would survive a plane ride home, but they were fun to look at.

This was as close as we got to an inflatable Santa or snowman or similar during our entire trip. :)

There is a sweet little island across this bridge that we explored.

There are so many charming toy stores in Germany.

I don't know if you can see the crows in this photo (look carefully at the branches of the trees at left), but there were hundreds of them that came out at night, and left when the sun came up in the morning. They were LOUD right before sunrise. But they looked so cool in the tree branches.

I really did get a lot of mileage out of our good view. I hung out the windows whenever we were in our room, watching things.

We got a little snow one day we were in Nürnberg. Claire was so excited. It was her first time to ever be in falling snow. It was wet snow that melted quickly, but it was snow.

I bet you know who this witch and these two kids are. I haven't felt a real need to introduce Claire to the non-Disney versions of the works of Die Gebrüder Grimm yet, because really, they're pretty scary.

Our original travel plans had involved spending a day and night in Rothenberg, but once we'd gotten our luggage to the fourth floor of the Lucas, it seemed wise to leave it there as long as possible. :D And there was so much to see and do in Nürnberg that we decided to stay through Tuesday night (December 2nd).

Here's a gigantic version of the wooden Christmas pyramids. If you want your very own smaller version, you can find them online at Käthe Wohlfahrt. We spent a lot of time in the Käthe Wohlfahrt shops in Nürnberg. (There are two). They're super! :) The mother store is in Rothenberg.

My favorite part of vacations are just walking around looking at stuff. I could just walk around looking at stuff all day long every day. The world is so interesting.

This is Sebalduskirche (St. Sebald's Church). I strongly recommend the Sebald Salad at the Cafe Sebald west of St. Sebald's Church for dinner. Marilyn and I both agreed it was one of the best salads we'd ever had. (Cafe Sebald was another Rick Steves recommendation, and is a good place to eat when you're getting tired of bratwurst and carb-heavy traditional German fare. It's very charming on the inside, but none of my photos turned out because it was dark and I was eating while photographing.)

We also enjoyed lunch one afternoon at the Goldenes Posthorn. It has traditional Franconian specialties like bratwurst cooked on an open fire, and used to be Albrecht Dürer's favorite hangout.

When I am in charge of the world, all neon signs will be removed and replaced with these kinds of signs.

Despite her severe jet lag, suspicion of non-American food, the cold (above freezing most of the time, but still chilly for a California kid), and lots and lots of walking, this kid was just a trooper. She was game for anything.

The architecture is all so interesting.

One afternoon we were looking for a place to warm up, and stumbled across this great little cafe. I'm sorry that I can't remember what it's called, because you should go there.

We took a carriage ride around town that started here.

I spent a lot of time trying to keep Claire's hat over her ears but out of her eyes.

I loved the walk across the bridge back to our hotel each night.

Believe it or not, I have more Nürnberg to show and tell . . . but the castle is best saved for another day. And Bob has something to say about it, so stay tuned. :)