Nuremberg

Day 2 Nuremberg (bused from Regensburg)

The city was founded about 1000 years ago by an Emperor named Heinrich III and before the war, the city was one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Germany. From the 12th to the 16th century nearly all the emperors maintained their residence in the Kaiserburg (castle) and held their imperial diets here. At that time, Nuremburg was regarded as the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations. Most of Nuremberg was completely destroyed during WWII, (in 90 minutes!) and the historical building you will see today were mostly rebuilt, using the very same stone. WWII plays a major role in the city's history, considering that Adolf Hitler chose the city as the site for his annual Nazi party rallies. Later, the city became the famous location for the Nuremberg Trials.

Today the city is a flourishing metropolis.

In Nuremberg we took the WWII tour. Because we lost part of our day being bused to and from Regensburg. We were unable to get off the bus for all of the sights so I did not get many if any good photos.

The rounded exterior of the Party Congress Hall is a reminiscent of the Coliseum in Rome.
The Hall was designed to hold 50,000 people, but was never finished.

The Zeppelin Grandstand

We also saw the courthouse were the trials took place, the Jewish cematary.

Even today, the city is surrounded by it's sturdy 13th century defensive wall complete with fortified towers!

We had some time to enjoy the Christmas Market in Nuremberg after our tour.

The Friday before the first Advent Sunday, the Christmas Angel opens her market, reciting the solemn prologue from the gallery of the church of Our Lady. And as every year, by Christmas Eve, more than two million visitors from all over the world will have sampled the delights of the Christmas Market.

About 180 wooden stalls, festooned with red-and-white cloth, have given the Christmas Market it's name of "little Town from Wood and Cloth".

This is such a large market. I only wish we would have had more time to explore it.

Typical Christmas articles such as Christmas tree angels, ornaments, candles, toys as well as arts and crafts products can be found.

The hand painted ornaments were one of my favorite things we found.

What amazing talent.

Christmas in Europe has such a different feel about it. It truely had a Christmas feel about it that I can only imange what it was like before we turned it into the comericlaztion that it is today.

The Nuremberg market was my favorite.