It was raining in Munich this morning. Gathering some weather information, it was predicted to be less likely to be raining to the north. Therefore, picking between Salzburg and Nuremberg for a day trip was easy. The train from Munich to Nuremberg passes through some hop-growing areas that I recognized from similar farms in Oregon. Large fields with 15-foot high poles strung with wire to hold the hop vines (now just low shrubs).

It was a good choice! Other than some wind and being generally cold, there were broken clouds and sunshine today in Nuremberg. After arriving via ICE train around 11, I walked into the old city on the main street down toward the river (and main shopping area), then continued uphill to the castle. I visited a few churches and had some grilled bratwurst for lunch on the way. After a tour of the castle museum and grounds, including a long circular staircase up the large tower, I went back to the central market area to find a bus to the Nazi Documentation Center. It was already 3:30 by then, so I had to go quickly through the excellent exhibits on the history of Germany from the end of WWI to the beginning of WWII. The English audio guide was quite good, but all the signage was German. I had a quick walk outside to see the unfinished congress building that houses the Documentation Center, and catch a glimpse of the Zeppelin Field where the National Socialist Party held rallies. Then a city tram carried me back to the Hauptbahnhof and I am now on an ICE train back to Munich. It is very full but I did get a window seat.

This is the last blog entry for the trip as tomorrow is all train and planes back to Denver. By the way, Checkers arrived in Durango last night as planned.

A note on being unfamiliar with signage. To get to the Hauptbahnhof or central station, one must exit the station below ground level and continue underground until coming up at a point where crossing the adjacent streets is possible. Otherwise you end up on an island only accessible to buses and trams. Coming back into the station via tram (ground level), I knew that I needed to go back downstairs, but once in the underground, I could not figure out where the station was. I came up twice only to resume my search in the tunnels. I was looking for signs that said Hauptbahnhof, but finally realized that the whole station is called that. What I needed to look for were signs that said DB for the Deutsches Bahn regional trains. Nuremberg is the second largest city in Bavaria, so has a commensurately large central station, with both U-Bahn and S-Bahn services as well as regional trains (like Munich).

ICE trains commonly travel over 200 km/hr.

Tower at main gate to old city across from Hauptbahnhof.

Yes, southwest Indian jewelry for sale in Nuremberg. By the way, many Germans are interested in Native American lore and relics.

Clara Church, like most buildings here, is made of red sandstone.

The interior of Clara Church is very simple.

The huge St. Lawrence Church has an interesting history. It was completed as a Catholic Church, but not furnished until after the reformation, as a Lutheran Church. In common with most buildings here, it was partially demolished by Allied bombs toward the end of WWII.

It is one of the larger churches.

Very impressive interior.

Lots of symbolism above the main doors.

A river runs through it, the old town that is! The Pegnitz River.

The Frauenkirche was built on a swampy area where the two separate old walled cities were joined by Emperor Charles IV.

A Catholic Church, it has a Star of David on the floor of the altar as a reminder that the church was built on the site of a Jewish synagogue.

Lunch was here at Bratwursthausle, a cozy restaurant with tables around a central BBQ grill. Notice all the smoke from the chimneys. The menu is simple; just choose the number of small sausages that you want (6, 8, 10, 12) and a side dish of sauerkraut, potato salad, or creamed horseradish.

Enjoyed a good dark beer (Doppelbock) with my wurst. Pretzels are on each table (1 €).

Interesting ad on the way up the hill to the Imperial Castle (Kaiserburg). No, I didn’t visit the place.

A door into the upper courtyard.

The castle chapel.

The museum has lots of exhibits, including these sharp objects to wound or kill one’s medieval  enemies.

I climbed the tower for views.

This part of the castle is now used as a youth hostel.

View into the old city. The steeple in the center is St. Lawrence Church.

Back out of the castle and down the hill to the river…

I hopped on a bus to Doku Zentrum. The buses, here and elsewhere, have screens showing upcoming stops. My stop was the end of the line.

The Dockumentationszentrum (Nazi Documentation Center) is built into part of the unfinished National Socialist congress hall. It’s purpose is to document the rise of Hitler’s Third Reich, the causes of the atrocities and the trials that occurred after the war here in Nuremberg.

It was starting to rain, and getting late, so I did not walk to the Zeppelin field where the infamous rallies to National Socialism were held in the 1930s. The rostrum and backdrop are visible in the distance.

Checkers left on the S-Bahn for the airport early this morning. She has three flights back to Durango.

So I toured Munich to see what I could before it started raining late this afternoon.

National Theater where Richard Wagner’s operas were first performed in the 19th century.

Max Joseph, aka Maximilian I.

Hofgarten

Where Checkers would likely be found if she lived here!

Came upon this Palm Sunday procession at the back of Frauenkirche, whose twin onion dome towers are a symbol of Munich. I could hear the service from a block away; there were musicians and singers in the procession, which was broadcast through outdoor speakers.

It is hard to see the twin onion dome towers of Frauenkirche from within the city center.

The Town Hall glockenspiel only performs at 11, noon, and 5.

Heiliggeisrkirche. There are many churches in the city center!

The Jewish synagogue, with the first ten numerals in Hebrew on the doors. I visited the Jewish Museum next door and learned about the history of recorded music, especially vinyl records.

Asam church, built by the brothers of the same name in 1740, is only 30 feet wide to fit into the row of houses and businesses on the block.

Inside the Asam church; lavish decorations.

Gilded grim reaper in the foyer of the Asam church.

Another old Roman gate; this is Sendlinger Tor on the south side.

Outside Sendlinger Tor by a few blocks, the Paulaner Brauhaus and restaurant welcomes thirsty travellers!

A relaxing place for lunch on Sunday, when many other businesses are closed.

Dark wheat beer (7% abv) was my favorite of the three that I tasted.

We needed extra sleep this morning. But around noon we arrived at the Dachau concentration camp memorial. Powerful and sad place! Afterword, we spent the remainder of the day (until 5) at the Deutsches Museum. At sunset, we were in Marienplatz for a beer and then dinner in the Ratskellar.

Sign at the bus stop confirms that we are at the right place. There were many English-speaking folks on the bus.

There is a lot of empty space at the Dachau memorial. This is the assembly area between the barracks and the administration buildings. The memorial site was reconstructed in the 1960s.

Guard towers and fencing to keep prisoners in.

Reconstructed crematorium and gas chambers are difficult to comprehend.

It is admirable that the state of Bavaria maintains this site and that it is widely visited.

!!!

Entering the Deutsches Museum.

Marienplatz and the clock on the Rathaus. Too bad it was already done with its show for the day.

But we enjoyed a beer together on our last evening in Germany.

Dinner at the Ratskellar consisted of potato soup, then sausage and sauerbraten.

One of our travel books described the cute little BnB we stayed at as “Lord of the Rings” esque.

Where are the drinking hobbits? The dark strangers in cloaks smoking pipes?

Well, like the hobbits in Bree, we didn’t find our wizard. We did, however, leave this morning with a quest: to explore inside the walls of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. 

Most of the streets in Rothenburg look like this, or are even narrower. 

Every building is cuter than the next, and they are all squished together in endless rows of pure old-town adorable. It is slightly frightening that cars drive through here, though.

This is the main town plaza, the most open space in the whole town inside the wall. 

You may be able to see spires peeking above the rooftops in that last picture. That’s the Lutheran Church of Saint Jakob’s, which we went to near the end of our stroll. 

A view towards the front of the church. 

I believe it was Aldous Huxley who wrote of the high vaulted ceilings and shimmering stained glass in churches as having ‘transporting’ effects. Even if one isn’t religious, the views alone can be breathtaking. According to Huxley, the ethereal nature of the design transports the viewer into another realm entirely.

This impressive wood relief stood opposite the organ on the second floor. The detail can hardly be captured in photo. 

Before long, it was time to say goodbye to the walled city, and we were on our way to Heidelberg. 

SO MANY TRAINS. 

Our destination in Heidelberg was yet another castle, Heidelberg Castle. Part of this castle was incredibly well-preserved; other pieces were crumbling. In a way, I found this endearing. And everyone knows ruins are way more fun to explore. 

The juxtaposition of preservation and crumble.

The real reason this was a destination for us geeks was the museum it housed, a museum about the history of German pharmacy. 

Super excited! 

I read every English word in the place. There is little more fascinating to me than the history of the  pharmaceutical industry. I typically get the American perspective, of course, where the events of the last few decades are the most interesting. Here I got to delve further back in time. 

You can’t not think this distillation apparatus is cool. 

They had various versions of a pharmacy set ups, each one evolving slightly with time.

This was the first display. Each one had just as many mysterious jars and trinkets as the last. The two statues are Asclepius and his daughter Hygieia, both important symbols of healing. The exhibit was fascinating. They even had an entire room dedicated to the raw materials – plant, animal, and mineral – that went into the creation of various remedies. The history started before common era and brought us all the way to modern pharmacueticals. 

Dad more or less dragged me away, and we waved goodbye to the castle. 

One last silly castle picture! 

We were gifted with some fantastic views on the Philosopher’s Walk, where we kept looking around for statues of old dead dudes. It turns out to be a walk less dedicated to history and more to nature, but you can still stroke your beard as you walk along if you have one. 

And…. Oh yeah. The walk was actually closed due to construction. 

That wasn’t about to stop us.

A view of the castle from across the river. 

At one of many view points. 

We wandered back into town as the sun was setting.

And, unless you count the train I’m currently sitting on (I do), that was the end of our day. Cheers!