Any discussion of Nuremberg’s history has to include its role in Hitler’s Third Reich and World War II. Unlike Regensburg, the medieval old town of Nuremberg was heavily bombed during the war and most of historic buildings were destroyed and rebuilt.

We did not arrive in Nuremberg until around noon today. All morning we sailed up the Danube and into a canal with an amazing lock system that was our major source of entertainment (Really! It was interesting!).

Our tour of Nuremberg began after lunch. The first hour was by bus as we drove by the Nazi rallying sites, including the Deutsches Stadion, a neo-classical structure resembling the Colosseum that was never finished, and Zeppelin Field. Our guide was Annette, a young woman who studied singing at the conservatory in Nuremberg and who is a member of a group called History for Everyone. Their mission is to educate the people of Nuremberg and visitors about all aspects of its history and to ensure that the Nazi atrocities never happen again. Hitler chose Nuremberg as a place for the Nazi party and the Nazi Youth to convene because of its location and relevance to the Holy Roman Empire. Nuremberg also became the site of the famous war trials in 1946-48, partially because Nuremberg was the site for Hitler’s rallies, but mostly (according to Annette) because the Palace of Justice had not been damaged much and it had a prison next door, making transport of criminals less of a security risk.

The next part of our tour was a walking tour of the walled, historical part of the city. As I mentioned before, many of the medieval buildings were destroyed in World War II and rebuilt in the same medieval style. The center of the old city is the Hauptmarkt where the famous Christmas market is being constructed this week but won’t open until the first week of December. On one side of the square is the beautiful Gothic Frauenkirch and an amazing fountain, Schöner Brunnen.

Paul and I did not return to the ship after the walking tour because we had tickets for the ballet, so we had a lot of free time to wander around the walled city. At one point we wandered the wrong way and found ourselves in the red-light district. I encouraged Paul to walk a little faster.

The ballet was at the Nuremberg State Theater, home of the Nuremberg Symphony, Philharmonic, and Opera.  The hall is smaller than I expected, but very comfortable and we had good seats, right in the center of the orchestra section. This ballet, Don Quijote is a relatively new work by Goyo Montero with music by Owen Belton, a sound designer who was commissioned for this piece. I didn’t really like the music much, but the ballet was visually stunning. I couldn’t take pictures of the performance, but you can see some on the theater’s website. It wasn’t classical ballet, but it was very compelling, and it was good to see so many young people in the audience.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to the Viking Var. We’ve had a wonderful vacation, but I must say, I’m ready to go home.