Nuremberg trip report

We had an overnight stay in Nuremberg in January. I had been there for two short stays before, but it was the first time for my partner. We stayed at the Hotel Steichele, which has been run as a hotel by the same family for 100 years, though the building is much older. We found it very comfortable and convenient to everything. We could walk almost everywhere.

The only time we took public transport was right after we arrived, when we headed off on the tram to the Nazi Party Rally Grounds and a museum called the Documentation Centre. The Congress Hall, housing the museum, loomed over the tram stop reminding us of the Colosseum (on whose design it is based) - enormous and very impressive. Nearby was a huge frozen pond on which kids were skating when we went in.

The museum was excellent and gave a detailed account of the rise of the Nazis, the construction of the rally grounds, the hierarchy of the movement, the holocaust and the trials. The story as told by the museum was fascinating and sobering. At the end of the (independent, with audioguide) tour through the museum you walk out to a viewing platform where you look out over the arena, which is quite impressive. Unfortunately it was close to dark by this point (5.00pm) so we left and caught the tram back to town.

By the time we got back to the centre we were looking forward to some of the famous Nuremberg sausages and beer. We went to Barfuesser and ordered beers and shared a sausage plate with sauerkraut and black bread. Very delicious. Suitably fortified, we walked through the beautiful old city area, across the river, through the remains of the Christmas market, and back to the hotel for a quick rest before heading out for more sausages and beer at what is apparently the oldest sausage restaurant in the world, Zum Gulden Stern, not far from the hotel. This was another very good meal in a pleasant atmosphere, with a mixture of tourists and locals.

The next morning we needed an early start to do some serious exploring of Nuremberg, which had impressed us so much the night before. After breakfast we went for a long walk through the old town to the northern side where we explored the Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle) and then followed the town wall back to our side of town and the hotel.

Unfortunately it was then time for the short walk back to the train station. We thought Nuremberg was beautiful and would return.

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Thanks for your report. Your description of the Documentation Center makes it sound very interesting. I%26#39;m looking forward to trying a Nuremberg sausage.