Nuremberg, Germany

Thurs 4th Sept

The rain was pouring down as we arrived in Nuremberg, but fortunately our camp site was just a stone's throw from the reason why we chose to stop here: the former Nazi rally grounds. I never really realised that the massive monuments and stadiums from Hitler's propaganda movies actually existed, nor that they had all been built specifically to house the Nazi rally parties from the early 30's onwards. They're still standing, although a bit in ruins, but there's more than enough left to get a very good picture of what went on here.

Map of the Nazi Rally Ground ruins

The site is enormous and even the new Nuremberg football stadium that seats over 50,000 spectators only takes up a small corner of the grounds. You could fit around 5 stadiums in the area that Hitler had set aside as the headquarters for his party get-togethers. The buildings included massive stadiums for parades and military demonstrations, fields filled with bunkers for housing all of the party members, and an enormous Congress Hall which was never completed but now houses the Dokumentation Museum. To build his vision, Hitler had a large city recreation area bulldozed and filled in some of the local lakes but today the area has been returned to its former natural beauty, with the exception of the eerie ruins that now serve as skate parks for the local kids.

Nuremberg's Dokumentation Museum

But the star attraction is the Dokumentation museum in the former Congress Hall. It takes you through the entire story of how Hitler gained power in Germany, as well as explaining the Nazi rally events held here to gain support throughout the country, and finally ends with the Nuremberg trials where a very tiny percentage of the Nazi party was tried and hanged for War Crimes. We didn't get a chance to explore the old town due to the rain, but the rally grounds alone were well worth the short stop.

View Nuremberg Photo Album