Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [309]
At the northwestern edge was the Luitpoldarena, designed for mass SS and SA parades. The area is now a park. South of here, the half-built Kongresshalle (Congress Hall) was meant to outdo Rome’s Colosseum in both scale and style.
A visit to the Dokumentationszentrum (Documentation Centre; 231 5666; Bayernstrasse 110; adult/student €5/2.50; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun) in the north wing of the Kongresshalle helps to put the grounds into some historical context. A stunning walkway of glass cuts diagonally through the complex, ending with an interior view of the congress hall. Inside, the exhibit Fascination and Terror examines the rise of the NSDAP, the Hitler cult, the party rallies and the Nuremberg Trials. Don’t miss it.
East of the Kongresshalle, across the artificial Dutzendteich (Dozen Ponds), is the Zeppelinfeld, fronted by a 350m-long grandstand, the Zeppelintribüne, where most of the big Nazi parades, rallies and events took place. It now hosts sporting events and rock concerts, though this rehabilitation still causes controversy.
The grounds are bisected by the 60m-wide Grosse Strasse (Great Road), which culminates, 2km south, at the Märzfeld (March Field), which was planned as military exercise grounds. West of the Grosse Strasse was to have stood the Deutsches Stadion with a seating capacity of 400,000. Things never got beyond the first excavation, and the hole was filled with groundwater – today’s Silbersee.
To get to the grounds, take tram 9 from the Hauptbahnhof to Dokuzentrum.
NUREMBERG TRIALS COURTHOUSE
Nazi war criminals were tried for crimes against peace and humanity in the Schwurgerichtssaal 600 (Courtroom 600; 231 5666; Fürther Strasse 110). The courtroom was closed at time of writing due to building work and the installation of a permanent exhibition, but is scheduled to reopen in early 2010.
Held in 1945–46, the trials resulted in the conviction and sentencing of 22 Nazi leaders and 150 underlings, and the execution of dozens. Among those condemned to death were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Wilhelm Frick and Julius Streicher. Hermann Göring, the Reich’s field marshal, cheated the hangman by taking cyanide in his cell hours before his scheduled execution.
Many suppose the Allies opted for Nuremberg for symbolic reasons, but their choice may have simply been down to the layout of the building, one of few such complexes to survive the war intact.
To get there, take the U1 to Bärenschanze.
GERMANISCHES NATIONALMUSEUM
One of the most important museums of German culture with over 1.3 million items (not all of which are displayed), the Germanisches Nationalmuseum ( 133 10; Kartäusergasse 1; adult/concession €6/4; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun, 10am-9pm Wed) is strangely underrated and undervisited. It features an archaeological collection, arms and armour, musical and scientific instruments and toys – but the jewel in its crown is the art section. This varied exhibit not only boasts exquisite paintings, but also sculpture, historical garments, porcelain and glass objects. Long-running renovation work at the museum means some sections may be closed.
As you might expect, local lad Dürer gets top billing. The works on display give an insight into the artist’s enormous prestige at the Holy Roman court; his commissions included portraits for emperors Charlemagne and Sigrimund, whose faces appeared on the doors of the imperial chambers. The artist’s celebrated Hercules Slaying the Stymphalian Birds confirms his superb grasp of anatomical detail and a flash of mischief (Dürer put his own facial features on the Greek hero). The many other gems include Albrecht Altdorfer’s Victory of Charlemagne over the Avars near Regensburg, whose impossible detail tests the human eye.
The museum’s main entrance is on Kartäusergasse, which is dominated by the Way of Human Rights, a row of symbolic, white-concrete pillars (and one oak tree) bearing the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Each 8m-high pillar is inscribed in German and, in