Nuremberg

Greetings from Nuremberg. I arrived yesterday evening after a four-hour journey from Dresden. That the train was pretty much empty was a lucky stroke indeed, since I am lugging all of my bags with me and one of them, crammed with book purchases, weighs about 400 lbs. I was able to strew the luggage all around me in the "Großraumwagen" and it didn't bother a soul.

I'm staying in a wonderful little hotel called the Steichele that has a Restaurant/Weinstube (wine bar) attached to it. Last night I had an excellent whole grilled trout for dinner there, sweet and moist as could be. I have added wine to my beverage-ordering repertoire, since Nuremberg is in Franconia, Germany's main wine region. The trout was therefore accompanied by a really delicious, half-dry Müller-Thurgau -- fruity, "mineraly" and a little floral.

This morning I headed out to Luitpoldhain, the site of the infamous Nazi rallies and now home to the Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände ("Documentation Centre -- Nazi Party Rally Grounds"). In part of the looming, uncompleted Congress Hall, there is now a permanent "Fascination and Terror" exhibit. Topics covered in the very well laid out and informative rooms include the history of the rallies, the Nazi-era buildings in the area (many of which were destroyed in WWII) and Nuremberg-related events from the era, including the 1935 racial laws and the post-war Nuremberg Trial. I thought it was very well done. One of the more disturbing sections dealt with early education during the Nazi years, and included a display case filled with anti-semitic drawings and the inevitable caption Die Juden sind unser Unglück! ("The Jews are our misfortune") made by children in the 1930s.

The experience was marred only by the inappropriate behavior of some of the young German visitors. The exhibit halls are dark and somber, but that did not prevent giggling, running around and loud talking. The guestbook is also a study in banal stupidity, with some (again, I assume mostly young) idiots drawing Hitler sketches, others signing his name, and still others complaining in large letters that the exhibit is "langweilig" (boring). [Update: after I returned home, I had several e-mail exchanges with the museum's director about the guestbook. I was careful to avoid endorsing censorship, tried to remain analytical and set out a compromise proposal that I thought would work. To my surprise, in the end he agreed with me and undertook to implement the changes I suggested.]

Next I headed out to the neighboring city of Fürth to visit the fascinating Rundfunk (Radio) Museum. They have dozens of gorgeous old radios chronicling the history of broadcasting in Germany, with wonderful examples from AEG, Telefunken and Grundig, as well as a very interesting series of rooms on the role of broadcasting during the Third Reich that includes a display of "VE (Volksempfänger) 301" radios, mass-produced with the intent of making sure that every German home was equipped to be bombarded with Nazi propaganda.

I ate a quick lunch at Bratwurst Röslein, a Nuremberg institution --since 1431, they say -- that flaunts the slogan "Altstadt muss nicht teuer sein, kein Gericht über € 6,66!" ("The old town doesn't have to be expensive, no dish over $8.50!"). I had six rostbratwürste (unlike the fat, 8"-10" Thuringian ones, the Nuremberg specimens are very small, about the size of a finger). This was the smallest number offered (dubbed der Einsteiger, or "beginner"); they have increasingly larger portions up to a maximum of 20 glistening, juicy sizzlers, the so-called Würstl-König (Sausage-King). My much more modest portion came with some delicious warm, vinegary potato salad, and was washed down with a very good Tucher Urfränkisch Hell beer.

After lunch, I walked around the main market square, which was filled with vegetable and flower sellers as well as gingerbread stalls. In the pantheon of German Christmas goodies, lebkuchen (gingerbread) is to Nuremberg as stollen (a butter-drenched fruited sweet bread) is to Dresden and marzipan is to Lübeck (I still remember my visit to Niederegger there several years ago). In about a month, the square will be filled with Germany's largest, oldest and most famous Christmas Market, the Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt. Luckily, I can buy most all of these treats at Schaller & Weber on 86th & 2nd, so there's no need to lug any of it back (!)

I then stopped by the City Museum "Fembohaus" for the "NORICAMA", which is billed as a "52 minute multivision show on Nuremberg's history" that's "a fast, witty and informative symphony of pictures" and "a completely novel look at the city and its history." Let's just say that witty is in the eye of the beholder, IMAX has nothing to worry about, and the British actors who provided the English translation (available via headset) should all be sent back to acting school. One particularly irritating "dramatic device" was having an actress "play" the role of the city of Nuremberg itself, which resulted in ridiculous sounding lines like "After the 30 Years' War, I was left poor. What was I to do?" accompanied by images of the bedraggled 17th century town. All was put right, however, by my subsequent ascent to the Kaiserburg, the castle complex situated above a very steep rise in the north-west corner of the Altstadt, from which there are sweeping views over the entire city.

Afterwards, I wandered over to the St. Johannis-Friedhof, a beautiful cemetery next to the 14th-century Johanniskirche outside the city walls that's filled with very unusual graves. Each one is essentially a raised, coffin-sized stone platform, topped with (mostly red) potted flowers and elaborately decorated inscriptions. It's surrounded by a wall that creates a sanctuary from the surrounding street life, and there's a lovely little russet-colored church in the middle.

I had dinner at the Restaurant Heilig Geist Spital, a Nuremberg golden oldie (literally), located in a 16th century former hospital on an arched stone abutment jutting out over the River Pegnitz. It oozes atmosphere, and the food is pretty darn good. I had Leberknödel Suppe -- this time with one big rather than numerous small liver dumplings -- and a wonderful veal dish in a fresh mushroom, white wine and cream sauce. This time I tried a Scheurebe wine, whose grape is a cross between Sylvaner and Riesling, and it too was excellent.

I am here until around 3:00 pm tomorrow, and then it's off to Würzburg.