NUREMBERG AND LEAVING THE SCENIC RUBY FOR BUS TRAVEL TO VILSHOFEN

Nuremberg

Nuremberg appears to have been chosen as a place for Scenic Tours cruise passengers to visit because it held great significance during the era of Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler chose the city to be the site of huge Nazi Party conventions that became known as the "Nuremberg Rallies". These rallies were held annually at Nuremberg from 1927 to 1938. After Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933 the Nuremberg rallies became huge Nazi propaganda events. The Zeppelin Grandstand – named after the landing of one of Count Zeppelin‘s airships in 1909 – was constructed on the Zeppelin Field and became the central venue for staging the Nazi Party Rallies. The architect Albert Speer chose the ancient Greek Pergamon Altar as a model for the massive grandstand where Adolf Hitler would stand on a raised rostrum (Führer Rostrum) to address huge audiences of the Nazi faithful. Construction of the marble and brick grandstand commenced in 1935 and was completed in 1937. After the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 most of the original structure was demolished. The Zeppelin Field rally ground could hold as many as 100,00 people.

The Zeppelin Grandstand and Zeppelin rally ground as they appeared at the height of Nazi power in 1938

During World War II, Nuremberg was the headquarters of Military District XIII, and an important site for military production, including aeroplanes, submarines, and tank engines. The city was severely damaged by Allied strategic bombing between 1943 and 1945. On January 2, 1945, the medieval city centre was systematically bombed by the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Army Air Forces and about ninety percent of it was destroyed. Nuremberg was rebuilt after the war and the reconstruction included some medieval buildings and the city wall.

Some remnants of Nazi architecture can still be seen in Nuremberg. Hitler planned massive neo-classical building projects in Nuremberg that would exemplify the power and stability of his "Thousand-Year Reich". Most of these buildings, including the massive Kongresshalle modelled on the Roman Colloseum, were never completed because of World War II, and the Deutsches Stadion (German Stadium) never went beyond the first excavation when the hole filled with groundwater. I doubt whether these decaying remnants of Nazi architecture would excite the traveller's interest.

On the Scenic Tours visit to Nuremberg, we visited the Zeppelin Field and saw what remains of the grandstand. We then visited the so-called Palace of Justice which survived the bombing and was used as the venue to try surviving Nazi leaders for war crimes. The front of the building was covered with scaffolding and we were not allowed to enter and view the courtrooms. I did not see any reason to take my camera out of its case on the Scenic Tours visit to Nuremberg. The Palace of Justice and what little remains of the Zepellin rally ground can be seen below.

Both images courtesy of Google and Wikipedia.

I felt that the visit to Nuremberg was wasted time that could have been better spent on longer time at Vienna or a visit to the Old Town in Koblenz on the Rhine.

We returned to the Scenic Ruby to hear the devastating news that we would have to transfer to buses for the next stage of our journey because the Main River was too low to allow Scenic Ruby to pass over it between Nuremberg and Regensburg. We would miss passing over the elevated stretch of the Main-Danube Canal and would not be docking at the medieval city of Regensburg. We would have to embark on the Scenic Tours boat Scenic Emerald at the tiny town of Vilshofen on the Danube. Our experience on the Scenic Ruby had been so enjoyable that it was probably inevitable that Scenic Emerald would be unlikely to match that experience. However, intending travellers by boat with Scenic Tours between Amsterdam and Budapest deserve to know what we found unsatisfactory about Scenic Emerald and the rest of the cruise to Budapest so that they can form their own judgment. I also strongly advise anyone intending to cruise with Scenic Tours between Amsterdam and Budapest to read the views of others who have experienced that journey with Scenic Tours on the Tripadvisor web-site. See below.

TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS OF SCENIC TOURS CRUISING BETWEEN AMSTERDAM AND BUDAPEST

Tripadvisor is a highly respected international travel advice company and it provides over 70 reviews by travellers who have cruised from Amsterdam to Budapest with Scenic Tours. See the reviews.

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