Germany Life

NURNBERG
We stayed two nights in Nurnberg. There is a lot more to see if we get back there again. The city has a castle and many museums and is a mixture of modern and old buildings. We are not into SHOPPING much but this town had blocks and blocks of fancy shopping stores. Luckily for us they were closed because of Easter so I am assuming the crowds were light because of that. Our hotel was great. The Hotel Deutscher Kaiser http://www.deutscher-kaiser-hotel.de/english/history.htm Great location, old building, very well maintained/renovated, quiet rooms, great breakfasts and wonderful friendly staff. This city has a lot of history also, we only visited a few of the sights but they were really interesting. The Germanisches National Museum was one of the best ones I've been to and I especially appreciated that they put almost everything in English as well as German so I got a lot out of the signs.

The tickets are from the Castle Museum.
I put a red circle around the location where the Hotel Deutscher Kaiser is that we stayed in.

This is the Hotel Deutscher Kaiser today.

This is the Hotel in 1889

Inside St. Lorenz (Lawrence) church, decorated for Easter.

The inside of St. Lorenz Church, built between 1243 and 1315.

St. Lorenz Church down the street

The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) built between 1352 and 1362.

The Frauenkirche church in the background,
the fountain in the Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) foreground.

Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain)

Gothic Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) which was erected around 1385 but subsequently replaced with a replica (the original fountain is kept in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum).

Entrance to the Imperial Castle built around 1050

Looking back through the arch ( dated around 1050)
you can see a modern crane ,
the tops of the Egidien church and a modern high rise.

Views from the castle

The well for the castle. These candles are lowered down on the tour so you can see/hear how far down the well water resides, 47 meters (154 feet)

the castle church chapel and the well house

castle as seen from below

In the castle museum there are many displays of weapons and armor

In 1515, Albrecht Dürer, a native of Nuremberg, mapped the stars of the northern and southern hemispheres, producing the first printed star charts, which had been ordered by Johannes Stabius. Around 1515 Dürer also published the "Stabiussche Weltkarte", the first perspective drawing of the terrestrial globe. He was a painter,engraver, printmaker, mathematician, and theorist

Albrecht Durer's House from 1509 to his death in 1528. The house was built around 1420.

We really enjoyed the Germanisches Nationalmuseum.
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Nuernberg-32898/Things_To_Do-Nuernberg-Germanisches_Museum-BR-1.html This is a good English link to the museum.
We could have spent a lot more time there. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. With current holdings of about 1.2 million objects, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum is Germany's largest museum of cultural history. I am so glad they had signs in both German and English, unlike the Mannheim museums.

In particular I like the clothing section. I took photos of some of the period clothing that Christina and I have been interested in making sometime.

Various hoops

dresses and stays

I thought these sleeves where amazing

The embroidery on this mans jacket was awesome

I liked this mans jacket also, uses embroidered tape.

There is an entire display case wall of shoes, here is an example of some from 1720.

Several craft mans tools, and machines where set up in shop like settings. I like these tools, like this lath, that have the treadles like the old sewing machines also had.

Another part of the museum that was very different and I liked a lot was the floor of old musical instruments. I only took a few photos, there where so many interesting and beautiful instruments.

Pianos

This harpsichord type instrument opened from a wooden statue of a woman.

Nazi Party Rally Grounds - We saw a little of this on our way out of town. We didn't get to the museum but saw the old grand stands and grounds where the Zepplin landed. The stands are falling apart and are costly to maintain. Now the area is used for car races and rock concerts.

this is what it used to look like. After the war the swastika was blown up that was on top.

In 1945 the U.S. Army blew up the swastika, here is the gif of it being blown up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:98-animate.gif

This is what it looks like now.

only part of the structure is left

part of the grand stands

ROTHENBURG ob der Tauber
Red Fort on the river Tauber
This is a place we want to go back to often. Especially when things start growing and it is warmer. But even at Christmas time this would be a great place to visit. In September the town turns back into medieval times with costumed people, that would be fun to see. There is a lot more to see than we had time for. Buildings go back to 1170 but there was a town there before that around 970. There are museums we didn't have time to visit. There is a lot of history, both good and bad to learn about this place. We thought about buying a sword for the fireplace that we don't have, medieval dress for me, a beer stein (we got one in Nurnberg), and a "Willkommen" sign. But at another time maybe we will get something to remember our time in Germany. Next time we will do the "Night Watchman's Tour" and will stay in one of the many cute hotels. The views all around the walled city are wonderful. I did have to try another Schneeballen but I liked the long sausage that I had for lunch better. Rothenburg has appeared in several films, notably fantasies. It was the inspiration for the village in the 1940 Walt Disney movie Pinocchio. It was also the location for the Vulgarian village scenes in the 1968 family movie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.