Servus aus Nürnberg, Germany
Greetings from Franconia, a distinct northern region of the German state of Bavaria. I travelled efficiently from Munich courtesy Deutsche Bahn with a virtual ticket through an app on my phone.
Nürnberg (Nuremberg in English) is a beautiful city with an old town center preserved from the Middle Ages. At least that’s what you’d believe if you just walked its cobblestone streets. During World War II, what took centuries to build up was destroyed in less than an hour of bombs on January 2, 1945.
What you see today was painstakingly rebuilt after the war. It’s astonishing how much was put back in place but also sad when you realize how much was lost. I would have loved to have experienced Nuremberg in all its original fachwerk and timbered glory.
Views of old Nuremberg actually survive due to the work of Leni Riefenstahl and her 1935 Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will. It chronicled the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters:
Today, Nuremberg maintains several busy pedestrian thoroughfares surrounded by quiet streets along the Pegnitz Rived within the old city walls. It’s a perfect place for wandering without any specific destination. I found myself pausing to absorb tranquil scenes as I’d round a corner.
If you want to find classic German settings, follow a river. Since towns first grew up along the water, this is where you find the oldest places. Nuremberg offered plenty of interesting stone and suspended bridges across the slow-moving waters of the Pegnitz.
Across the northern end of the old city footprint, Nuremberg’s might fortress provided a commanding view of rust-colored roof tiles and church steeples stretched out before you.
I hiked to the top and enjoyed the near-perfect weather offered this early April day in Germany. You can’t beat sunny conditions, 60 degrees and no wind (something we rarely experience back in Oklahoma).
Descending back into the city center, I found myself stopping to admire handsome clusters of buildings glowing in the setting sun or interesting details like street signs and doors.
It was getting late and I was ready for dinner. I took a seat along a wooden table covered in ubiquitous Bavarian blue and white outside the busy Augustiner Zur Schranke. Promptly I was enjoying a tall Weißbier.
Nuremberg boasts its own special version of sausages which are small and grilled to perfection. Why are they shaped this way? In the Middle Ages, the city gates were locked at night. Legend has it that Nuremberg innkeepers found it practical to create sausages small enough to pass through keyholes so they could serve guests during the evening.
One thing that strikes me now in my latest visits to Germany is the increasing number of electric vehicles. I see plenty of big BMWs, Audis and Mercedes plugged in at charging stations that seem to be cropping up along every street.
Nuremberg will be a great base to explore several interesting towns in the area including Fürth, Lauf an der Pegnitz and Hersbruck. I’ve also heard there’s a hike not far from here beginning in Weißenohe that visits five different Franconian breweries. Sign me up!
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