"nuremberg, germany" a Nürnberg Travel Page by doug48

nuremberg is considered by some to be the most "german" of german cities. nuremberg is located in the region of franconia in northern bavaria. from 1050 to 1571 nuremberg became an important trading town. during the middle ages nuremberg was called the "unofficial" capital of the holy roman empire. although the holy roman empire was based in frankfurt the imperial diets (reichstage) met at nuremberg castle. the cultural flowering of nuremberg in the 14th and 15th centuries made it the center of the german renaissance. during this period nuremberg produced the great german painter, albrecht durer and the sculptor, peter vischer the elder. in the 1800's the composer richard wagner used nuremberg as the background of his opera "die meistersinger von nuremberg". nuremberg's fortunes would drastically change with the rise of adolf hitler and the nazi party.

because of nuremberg's relevance to the holy roman empire adolf hitler chose nuremberg for the nazi party political rallies. these rallies were an annual event from 1927 to 1938. in 1935 leni riefenstal's film on the the 1934 nuremberg rally, "trumph des wilens" was seen all over the world. this film was the some of the first images of nazi germany seen by an international audience. also in 1935 hitler ordered the reichstag to convene in nuremberg to pass the anti-semitic "nuremberg laws". these laws revolked the rights of german citizenship to jews. nuremberg was to suffer greatly during WWII. the medieval city center of nuremberg was bombed in january and february 1945 and 90% of it's historic buildings were destroyed. over 6,000 people in nuremberg were killed. after the war nuremberg again became world famous as the location of the nuremberg trials of nazi leaders. later nuremberg's medieval center was carefully restored and most of it's reconstructed medieval buildings can be seen today. the former nazi party grounds just outside the city is now an outdoor "museum". for those interested in art, architecture, and histrory nuremberg is a very interesting place to visit.