Excursion: Day Two - Nurnberg

Part 1: The Medieval Center
On this day we do a bit more driving.  We leave Leipzig and go several hours to Nurnberg, arriving about 10:30AM.  The streets of the old city center are narrow and wiggly, but our amazing bus driver manages to find a parking place by driving BACKWARDS down a street and right into a slot.  Marie, the busdriver, can do things with that bus I cannot do with my car!

So we some time down in this area.  We officially came to see the Frauenkirche and its original clock.  At noon, the bells chime and the mechanical figurines do various actions.  This is one of the oldest such clocks in Europe.

However, a much more impressive church was also just off the market square; St. Sebald.  This is a glorious gothic edifice.  There are lots of other buildings around it, so getting a complete overview is difficult, but this shot is a good sense of the experience outside:

Inside, the Gothic vaults soar to the sky, and the stained glass is quite nice as well.

After lunch in the area -- as well as some delightfully large, local gingerbread cookies -- We headed over to our next stop.




Part 2: Nazi Party Rally Grounds and Documentation Center
Before the Nazis officially took power, they were staging massive events in Nurnberg on various fields and built environments.  They had big plans for various constructed projects here on the Rally grounds, but most were unfinished or never started due to the war.  Still, what is here is quite extensive.
The largest edifice is the incomplete Congress Hall.  Even unfinished, the thing is massive.

This shot is from Nurnberg's city site.  No way for me to take this.

These are mine.  Hopefully the truck gives a sense of scale.

We walked around the entire site, ending up at the famous field where Hitler spoke to the masses on many occasions.  Quite eerie.

We sat up in the stands designed by Albert Speer, Hitler's favorite architect, and got some quite moving stories of what it was like growing up in post WWII Germany from our guide, Dirk.  The way he worked his personal narrative into the larger framework of what we were seeing was quite effective.

Once back to the Congress Hall, we went inside to the exhibition.  The visitor's center and exhibit center was designed by architect Gunther Domenig as a shard insertion into the existing mass.  This lightweight spear of steel and glass is very effective at creating a contrast with the existing building, humbling it a bit.

Finally, off to Munich!


Part 3: BONUS
As it happens, our hotel in Munich is nearby to the opera center.  The Vienna architects Coop Himmelb(l)au have designed a temporary structure for some current experimental operas, so a few students and I go over to get a look.  It is a bit rainy now, and at dusk, so the picture is not vibrant.  But you get the idea.