Memorium: Nuremberg Trials
Thursday 22 December

Today we spent much of our time at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice where there is an extensive exhibition on the 1945/1946 war crimes trials, entitled ‘Memorium’.

We left Rothenburg after breakfast and took the train to Nuremberg. The Palace of Justice is a short walk from the Barenschanze UBahn station.

  

Courtroom 600 is where the trials of 21 Nazi leaders for crimes against peace and humanity took place after the Second World War. This is still a working court and was not available for visitors today but the story of the war crime trials is told with a visual display and audio guide which covers a whole floor of the Justice building. As well as information about the background to the international justice system which was set up in the years between the two World Wars, and the role the Nazi defendants had played in the war, there was fascinating historic sound and film footage of the trials.

After our visit there we took the train back to the city centre and enjoyed a wander through the extensive Christmas market. The Nuremberg Christmas market has the reputation of being the biggest and best in Europe!

We had snacks from the stalls for a late lunch: three little spicy sausages in a roll for Ian and a roll with pickled herrings for me.

There was a dance performance by a large group of school children in brightly coloured peasant costumes which we enjoyed watching, although we quickly moved back when they started to pull audience members into the dance too. They were collecting donations for a Ukrainian earthquake appeal so we contributed to that instead!

Late in the afternoon we enjoyed some terrific crepes in a nearby café – dark chocolate filling for me and apple sauce, cinnamon and sugar for Ian.

By around 4pm it is quite dark here and there are Christmas lights on all the city-centre buildings and looped across the streets. It really adds to the romantic atmosphere at the Christmas markets – although it’s hard to capture in a photo!

We caught the train back to Augsburg and it felt like we were actually returning home after our trip to Rothenburg  and Nuremberg, especially when our host, Klaus, dropped in with gifts of a scenic calendar and a bottle of wine.