church in Nuremberg

Nuremberg, Germany

Nuremburg is located on the Rhine-Main-Danube canal. This 106-mile-long canal connects the Main River (a tributary of the Rhine) to the Danube allowing ships to pass between the North Sea and the Black Sea. Now an important waterway allowing river traffic across the continent, construction was finally completed in 1992, nearly 32 years after it started. The population of Nuremburg is over 500,000. Although 90% of its old town was destroyed in WW2, 3 miles of the old city walls still stand with original gateways and watchtowers. Nuremberg has some remaining medieval buildings including half-timbered houses and gothic churches. A 5-day battle there between US troops and German Nazis near the end of WW2 ended with the US capturing the city, followed by the first international war crimes tribunal in history which revealed the extent of German atrocities and resulted in death sentences for some top Nazi officials. On the lighter side, Nuremburg is famous for making toys. It even has a toy museum.

church in Nuremberg

The hottest month is July and the coldest January. Snow can fall between November and March. Winters are cold and summers pleasantly warm. Average temperatures run from winter lows in the upper 20’s F to summer highs in the mid 70’s F. Nuremburg has about 70 rainy days per year with annual precipitation averaging between 25 and 28 inches. Tourist attractions include castles, churches, historical landmarks, tunnels, museums, and a zoo.

Viking Skirnir in Nuremberg

Nuremberg River Cruise Port

In Nuremberg Viking Skirnir docked at the side of the Main-Danube Canal in between a lock and a bridge. The other side of the river was all industrial with a lot of metal recycling places. There were lots of other ships docked along the canal too. Ours happened to be right across a path from some recycling bins and garbage cans, which the crew made use of.

lock at the end of the path

From the ship there was a path along the canal where people could walk, but getting into town required a bus ride. We walked down to the lock and back, and up a little hill next to the ship, which was a 4K walk. The ship was about 6k from the old town area.

Nazi structure

Nuremberg Through History Tour

Viking river cruises include a tour at each port. The included tour in Nuremberg was called Nuremberg Through History. It started with a bus ride through town. It went past several of the major Nazi sites from World War 2. One was the infamous Zeppelin Field where Nazi rallies were held. The guide said that youngsters are brought there on field trips and though that part of their history is shameful to them it is important that they all learn about it so it is never repeated.

crumbling remains of Nazi rally grounds

Some of the old Nazi sites are in disrepair and crumbling away. Other buildings are fully intact and have been converted to other uses after removal of any Nazi symbols. One old Nazi building is now a Burger King. In another town the guide said local flags are often displayed on state buildings, but rarely the German flag due to the shame of that part of their country’s history, though we did see German flags displayed in several towns that we visited as well as some we passed by on the ship.

entrance to the castle

After the bus part of the tour people had the option to take a bus directly to the Christmas market or to walk up to a castle and then down to the market. We went with the walk. The castle was not far from the bus stop and had a dry moat around it.

inside the castle grounds

Part of the walls from the original walled city of medieval times remain intact, as does a small portion of the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg, which has stood there for over a thousand years.

Imperial Castle of Nuremberg

Restoration was done to the destroyed parts of the castle to make it look much the way it did before the war. Although the majority of the old town area was destroyed by allied bombs in World War 2, it has been rebuilt to appear like it did before. So it looks like historical buildings, but most of them aren’t really that old.

hill by the castle

From the castle we walked down a fairly steep hill into town.

cobblestone street

Streets in the area were made of cobblestone.

some of the buildings are colorful

There are some colorful buildings.

gingerbread booth at the Christmas market

Nuremberg hosts one of the world’s oldest and best known Christmas Markets having been held there since the 1600’s. It’s called Christkindlesmarkt which translates to Christ Child Market. Gingerbread was quite popular there with many booths selling it. Gingerbread there is like giant soft cookies dipped in various flavored glazes rather than the cakelike treat Americans are familiar with.

Christmas market

The Christmas market was mostly between a fountain that resembled the spire on top of an ornate church and an actual old church that was pretty ornate on the outside.

Christmas market

After just over an hour to spend at the Christmas Market the busses came to return everyone to the ship. Rather than loading people up as they arrived and sending each bus on as it filled they waited until there were enough busses for everyone. People who got to the meeting spot first had to wait a long time out in the cold. The actual bus stop was several blocks away from where we were told to meet, probably to keep early arrivals from sitting on a warm bus instead of standing out in the cold, though people who did go far enough to investigate if those were our busses were allowed on.

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