Thursday 14th September
This morning we are docked at Nuremberg, the forecasted drizzling rain is continuing, the sky is dark grey, very uninviting. Outside our window sits a river boat from another continent the paddle Steamer Mississippi Queen, during the night did we make a wrong turn, to wake up on the wrong river?
No, apparently a local floating restaurant. The bad weather is real, a forecast temperature of only 12c/54f. It is a grey day, for what in my mind is a grey city, the famous or infamous capital of the Nazi party, where many of their propaganda rallies where held in the 1930’s. Then later of course the scene of the war crime trials conducted by the allies at the conclusion of the conflict.
We dress, warmly for our morning out and after breakfast board our coach for the city tour, with rain jackets zipped or buttoned up and umbrellas in our arms, not for insurance today they will most definitely have a use.
Tours were available that focused particularly on the Nazi regime, but we decided for the overview approach. We are still in the Main-Danube canal, and this is a berg city therefore the castle and medieval town is on a hill, in fact Nuremberg means just that castle on a rocky hill. The medieval part of the town still exists, its walls thick and foreboding have stood for centuries. Archeological evidence suggests a town was here since 850AD, but the first documented evidence is recorded in a edict signed by the then King to allow a noble man to marry a servant girl in 1050AD. No wonder, Germany was the place of faery tale legend. Of course in those day the vast part of Europe was just a series of small kingdoms, Germany didn’t exist until hundreds of years into the future.
Before sea travel and the discovery of the new worlds, Nuremberg was well placed as a cross roads for trade from, north, east, south and west, all roads seem to lead here and the town prospered. Once sea travel was established, sea port towns became the place for merchants to be and so Nuremberg declined.
Our city tour takes us past the Nazi, headquarters and the site of the courts used for the Nuremberg trials, courts that are still in use today. Ninety one percent of the city was destroyed during the allied bombings, today the facades are restored where possible, with more modern structures behind them. Once through the walled city gates and up at the castle we disembark. The medieval city is built like a fortress, the outer wall contains a waterless moat the inner wall contains the castle and the city. If the enemy managed to breach the outer wall then they had to cross open ground, where cross bow slots stood at the base of the castle to pick off the invaders. If the invaders managed to swarm passed here they had to climb to the entrance gates that faced into a another courtyard and fortification that they would again be subject to arrows from above raining down on them. If they stormed the gates, breaking through the enormous doors they then had to pass through a stone tunnel about fifty meters long, the tunnel had large square holes built into it so that all manner of material could be dropped onto the remaining invaders from above, no boiling oil though apparently that was a myth. Needless to say the castle/city was never breached in a thousand years, except by again the allied bombers who of course had the advantage of aircraft. Much less of the inner city was destroyed but still enough that major restoration works still continue today. If the castles and palaces we have visited prior today where the places of princes and princesses then this must be the place of the Overlord. Built for strength and durability without too much fancy decoration.
From here we can look over the walled city and beyond from above, a view dominated by red terracotta tiled gable roofs, dotted with copper church spires and domes.
From here we head back to the market square for some free time to wander around, the market square is setting up for a local craft market, the rain continues to pour down, not cats and dogs but more kittens and puppies but never the less business may not be that good this afternoon.
Dominating the square is the Frauenkirche (“Church of Our Lady”) a church made of brick in 1352 and completed in 1362. The most notable feature of the church is the Männleinlaufen, a mechanical clock. The clock was installed in the church in 1506. The Holy Roman Emperor is shown seated with the prince-electors surrounding him. The clock mechanism is activated at midday, when a bell is rung to start the sequence and is followed by the trumpeters and drummer. Then there is a procession of the electors around the figure of the Holy Roman Emperor.
The clock was installed to commemorate the Golden Bull of 1356, this was the basis of the constitution that stood for 400 years and so called after the golden seal used on the document that features the Holy Roman Emperor but no Bull!. We have to be back in the square by 12.00pm to see this work. It seems that since visiting the clock exhibition at the British museum the clocks we have seen are even more remarkable and fascinating. Another fascinating object in the square is a colourfully enamelled and gilded water fountain. Called the Schöner Brunnen it dates back to the 14th-century.
Picking a direction we move off to explore, the side streets leading off the square are full of fruit, vegetable and flower market stalls very colourful. Here you can buy artichoke flowers with their rich violet hued blossoms, put them in a vase and admire them, then cook and eat the hearts later.
Our umbrellas are fully deployed as the rain continues to fall, I spot a women’s store full of colourful winter sweaters for a Amanda and in she goes successfully picking up a couple of German made tops that will help keep the cold away until we reach Singapore. It is soon time to head back to the square where there is now a food stall, selling the local equivalent of a sausage sizzle. This is local fare, lots of options are chalked up on a display board (in German). We buy the “three sausage in a bun”, only because we have had a heads up from the guide and we can see locals buying the same option. We add mustard that we pump from a container. Three small sausages lined up in a crusty role, the sausages are spicy and even more so with the american style mustard, a simple tasty meal for Euro $3.00. We share this, serviettes in one hand umbrellas in another, cameras in another plus handbags etc. a bit of a juggling act but we manage.
Then to the gingerbread stall for a small heart shaped piece of gingerbread with the word “Oma” iced onto it “Grandma” this should throw the wolves off the scent.
We turn to look at the cathedral clock, just few minutes to go, the minutes turn into seconds and on queue the chime starts ringing, the drummer starts drumming, trumpeters start trumpeting and the little painted figures go round, finally a chime counts out the hours and at twelve stops. The whole process taking five minutes or so. We rendezvous with our guide and walk to our buses pleased to be out of the rain and looking forward to lunch onboard the River Duchess.
We are soon back on board, greeted by a waiter with warm peach tea refreshing and warming at the same time. We head for lunch, the soup is gaining a fast reputation as the meal to have especially after a cold wet morning. Today the soup is a rich slightly spiced tomato, very good. Warmed up we take a break in our cabin, as the ship again moves off down the Main-Danube canal. During the afternoon we start the process of rising towards our highest elevation. The locks are phenomenal pieces of engineering, using gravity alone we are raised to our maximum elevation. The locks tower above us as we enter them, maybe three or four times the height of the ship itself.
We have returned to the lounge for a demonstration on how to make authentic apple strudel, the head chef runs through the recipe and process with his pastry chef. Then we enjoy one they have prepared and baked earlier with a little cream, delicious, the key ingredient is the rum they soak the raisins in. The chefs top tip, always try the ingredients before you cook, especially the rum. Bence our tour director gives us a précis on tomorrow’s events then as the lounge crowd dissipates we enjoy a glass of wine as the scenery changes to green rolling hills and farmland. Shortly after at 5.30pm we reach the highest elevation of the trip 413 Meters, this milestone is marked by a grey concrete modernistic monument on our right with a wide base that tapers up to a point. Then we begin our downward descent through another set of huge locks we start our run, no longer are we floating upstream but now downstream towards the Danube.
Tonight we decide to skip dinner, we really have to regulate what we eat, the food is a tsunami that is hard to keep at bay, as good as it is. A glass of the local Pinot noir and a cheese platter is all that we can manage tonight. Tomorrow we reach Regensberg and a new adventure.