I'm not sure if I talked about Nuremburg, so if this all sounds familiar, skip down. We took a day trip into Nuremberg last Tuesday and spent most of our time touring the museum that houses most of the Nazi collection. You would think that after years and years of a fine American education (I will pause to allow that small drizzle of sarcasm settle) that we would be prepared for everything we saw there. Quite honestly, I had no idea about some of the stuff presented to us. Yes, I know about the concentration camps (the KZ) and Hitler's supposed neurosis, but I had no idea of the extent that nationalism took hold of this country after the Treaty of Versailles. I think it was the planned architecture that really surprised me. Hitler's architect, Albert Speer, was hired on as a compliment to Hitler's meglomania and his job was to build these over-the-top and massive buildings to symbolize the power of the German National Socialist Worker's Party. It was daunting to learn about the plans Hitler had; plans such as making Berlin the capital of the world. The museum itself is housed in part of the old Reich Congress, a huge uncovered dome. But then there was a fire and we had to evacuate, no joke.
We also walked around the city and found the marriage fountain. This is a gorgeous fountain dedicated to letting everyone know that marriage, for the most part, sucks big time. We also visited Albrecht Durer's house and his "wife" Agnes gave us a tour. We also visited the toy museum where a special exhibit of sci-fi toys was being displayed. Nifty, in my opinion.
Okay. Nuremberg finished. Obviously, I spent my weekend in Berlin. Not so obvious, I was deathly ill. If I did not have the H1N1 strain of the flu, I had a whole new one because it was horrible. Even now, almost a week later, I still feel pretty week and have a diminished appetite. But Berlin. Notably, Unification Day was going on this weekend and so it was a big party. Going along with that, were able to see the parts of the wall that were left standing. It was hard to imagine myself seperated from the world by a concrete wall... and well, men with guns of course. But I tried to imagine how it would be if this wasn't 2009. It was so easy for us to step back and forth through Checkpoint Charlie, but even in the 1980's the travel allowances were strict. I also visited the Bauhaus exhibit, the Museum of German History, and became an expert at subways.
I'd like to go on, but I really must study for a German test tomorrow. No one let me forget I need to write about the glass trip!
Cheers!
