Nuremberg Part Zwei

Coupled with the interesting Nazi sites we visited was the amazing Christmas market in Nuremberg. 

Christmas in Germany is steeped in tradition.

And it's really fun…

Christmas is another occasion for the Germans to come together and CELEBRATE... that's what I'm discovering their festivals are all about… gathering and celebrating.  There's a real sense of community. It's like someone is throwing a party and EVERYONE comes.  As we pushed our way through the crowds I kept thinking, "Did ANYONE stay home??" And it seems that Germans don't mind crowds.  Every festival we have been to has been PACKED, with the Christmas markets being no exception.  As we learned about the Nazi Party rallies mentioned in the previous post, it kind of all came together in my head.  It began to make more sense how Hitler was able to capitalize on the German's love of gathering and celebrating and turn his "rallies" into an opportunity to successfully establish his party ideology and absolute authority.  Am I making sense?  No?  Ok, just look at the dang pictures. 

I can't get enough of their chocolate covered fruits on a kebab…. my favorite of course being the chocolate covered strawberries.  But at 4.50 euro a pop, it can quickly add up!

The girls LOVED the kinder market.  Even though it was JAM packed. 

Gluhwein or their Christmas wine is sold all over the place and people stand around drinking it everywhere.  Of course, we ask for the "kinder punch" which is like spiced apple cider. 

Nuremberg is famous for its gingerbread.  Too bad I don't like gingerbread

Selfie on top of the cathedral overlooking the market.  Trying to give you an idea of the amount of people there.  

The girls hung out at their Toy Museum for hours… a respite from the crowds.  It was a huge blessing since they're not really into the market scene.

Caroline "licking" the salt off her pretzel.  She is so weird. 

We happened upon a brass ensemble and organ concert in a beautiful cathedral.  We sat and listened to this guy rock out to Bach on the organ.  It's one of those times where you have to pinch yourself…. listening to Bach in a German cathedral… so cool!

Magical, yes

Nazi Party Rally Grounds… Another Great Place to Take the Kids

Kind of creepy having Hitler on my blog, I know.

So, we went to Nuremberg over Thanksgiving for a few reasons… first and foremost was to see some friends who we knew while living in Virginia.  They are currently posted in Paris and wanted to meet up in Nuremberg.   Part of the attraction of Nuremberg is that it has a huge Christmas market, which opened the weekend we arrived … but what really piqued my interest was the Nazi history in this beautiful medieval city. Turns out Hitler chose this place to be the location of the annual Nazi party rallies in the 1930's.  And it also served as the location for the famous Nuremberg Trials of 1945-46 where 23 Nazis were tried as war criminals following the collapse of the Third Reich.  

So, have you ever seen those clips where Hitler is standing before a HUGE audience spewing forth all sorts of angry impassioned nonsense?  That footage was probably taken in Nuremberg. Turns out there wasn't just one rally ground, but there were several arenas, fields, colosseums, etc that he had built exclusively for holding these massive rallies that lasted for several days. And the Germans came by the droves.  The Zeppelin field alone could hold 100,000 people. There isn't much left today, but you can go to the Nazi Documentation center which has a very informative museum and the original colosseum, and the Zeppelin Field, where a few relics remain. 

So here's some old pics of the Zeppelin Field I found online.

 See the giant swastika on top?  The allies blew it up when they came through.

So, here's what remains of the Zeppelin Field today:

Same podium where Hitler stood.  Kinda creepy, but kinda cool

The steps where the Fuhrer descended to give his speech

The museum explained how Hitler was able to gain such a loyal following.  It talked about the cult of personality, where Hitler purposefully made himself to be a larger-than-life figure… a savior of Germany.  On the other hand, the Germans at these rallies, were made to feel like part of an important community, but at the same time, very small and insignificant as individuals. 

An original copy of Mein Kampf,  personally autographed… nice touch. 

An original poster showing the designated signs people had to wear.  The columns read: politician, criminal, immigrant, jehovah witness, homosexual and asocial(?)

Caroline, helpful as always, holds the map for Ben to read as we make our way to the rally grounds.  

Love parallel parking in Europe!!

On to the courthouse.  This was a special treat because I got to go by myself while Ben stayed back with the kids at the apartment.  

Goering, second highest ranking Nazi official next to Hitler is on the far left.  He was to be Hitler's successor.  He committed suicide the night before his execution.  Watched some of his testimony and his denial of any personal responsibility is flabbergasting. 

The very courtroom where the trials were held is still used today for criminal cases.  Wow!

These three scumbags were at the top of the Nazi hierarchy but committed suicide before they could be caught.  Goebbels had his six children and wife poisoned before he took his own life.  Sick, isn't it?

The original benches where the defendants sat

Other high ranking officials that were tried and sentenced were Rudolf Hoss, the commander of Auschwitz, and Hans Frank who we learned about in Poland… ruthless governor of occupied Poland.

And good ole' Walter was there.

It goes without saying that I get an absolute thrill seeing these historical sites… standing in the exact places where such significant events happened.  I can't help it.  It certainly helps to lessen the sting of being far from home during the holidays.

Blessings

Thanksgiving was pretty awesome this year.  We went to Nuremberg and saw WWII sites and enjoyed the opening of their Christmas Market.  I will post about it in the not so distant future.

But FIRST we ate a Thanksgiving feast at the Strongs, our friends from church.  They've been so good to us.

  I made the rolls.  Ben made the sweet potato casserole.

Once again, C totally skipped out on the Thanksgiving feast and opted instead for peanut butter on toast with chocolate chips on top.  She couldn't have been happier.

James was a hit with the kids

And we enjoyed the company of friends from the ward

And we finished our Thankful Tree

It looks kind of jacked up, but whadaya gonna do?

I collected the leaves and here is what everyone wrote down.  Bear in mind some of the blessings mentioned are general and some are what we appreciated specifically that day

Ben:

Reading Arabian Nights with Emily

Got to see the Sea of Galilee

Sunshine

Hot Chocolate

Safe flight

Friends

Family

Read Emily's journal entry to Grandma Fae

PSL (haha, only I will ever know the meaning of this one!)

Beautiful girls at home

Music

Walking Emily to school

Marinda:

Healthy baby

Making craft with Caroline

Benny Boy

Apostles and General Conference

Emily, Caroline, James

Reading my scriptures

Good health

Met someone who speaks French

Walked home on a cold day/memories of mission

Mom and Dad

Great in-laws

Remembering Dad today

P&Q/ My bed (it had been a rough day)

Sisters

Clean clothes (I had done a lot of laundry that day)

friends

feeling the spirit at church

Emily:

A rainbow

Eating dinner

The Cat in the Hat

Daddy coming home

My favorite songs (her iPod playlist)

Helping Mom and Dad make breakfast

Making Jamesy Wamesy laugh

All of the kindergarten kids

Playing with Jamesy Wamesy

Caroline, I like playing with her

Watching Snow White today, but it doesn't work

Lunch

Making James laugh all day

Puzzles I did today

Putting the stickers on the peacock I made

A flower

Making the dinner

I am thankful for making leaves again

Watching the Princess and the Goblin on tv

Having fun with Ellie and doing starfall

Doing piano lesson

kindergarten

Thanksgiving

All of the princesses

Caroline:

Emily

Cat

Pat

James

Grandma and Grandpa

Cat

When Jamesy Wamesy smiles

Nana

preschool

Josie

Cat 

(She didn't quite grasp the concept.  She was just really excited that she can spell and write "cat" now so she wanted to write it almost every night.  Go figure.)