Sunday, March 31, 2019

FRANKENFORT & NVREMBERGA - A 2019 Cultural Pilgrimage




 
Folowing our autumn trip in Berlin & Westphalia. Stars alligned that the days of early Spring will be the proper time to return again to Germany.

This time to visit two famous southern German cities. Frankfurt & Nuremberg.  Both known for things that at times are totally opposite to each other. From the Medieval times up to 20th Century era.The clash was inevitable. You know, the Rothschilds, the stock market and trader's rule vs The Iron Teutonic spirit.

Part I - FRANKFURT

I had the chance to visit again this modern metropolis 15+ years ago. Back then I had not saw much, if nothing at all. Only the railway station and then some suburbs. Upon our arrival in the impressive architecture-wise railway station, it took only a few min to understand why several Germans in the past referred to this city as "The America of Germany". Indeed the center of Frankfurt, looks more than a classic modern american town than a German city. Not to mention the "people" that were walking around which are anything you can imagine but Germans.
Anyway, to keep it short. There are for sure several relics of the past to see.
Some of them, the really well-preserved house of Goethe, the old city center that it was "liberated" (democratic word for "destroyed") during the 2WW but it was rebuilt exactly as it used to be. The cathedrals near the city river, the old opera house. Also, the boat trip that I had really ignored in the past now becoming a really favorite thing of mine as they give you another perspective of the city.  Also you can compare how things were and how do they look now. Skyscrappers were also intresting to see. 

Some photos are following:









 Part II - NUREMBERG

A return to the medieval heart of Frankonia.  The most German of all German leaders, named Nuremberg in the 30s the "most German of all German cities" and if you take walk on it, whithin few minutes you`ll realize that even today, 70 plus years after, this is not far from the truth. 
Again, an arrival to an even more impressive train station than Frankfurt to meet our guide for a 4-hour tour that took us from early Medieval up to WW2 times. Visiting monuments and listeninings stories from these eras in a grey rainy day was giving a certain magic and aura of the city. As it was expected, some of the later stories flavored with a bit of politically-correct touch. Still, the tour in general gives you a deeper sight as it contains details that either you can`t remember in their full depth or not knowning at all. That was on the first day. The days after, we had the chance to visit more museums, places etc 
Ofcourse on the top of it, stand the world famous Zeppelinfeld or the Reichparteitagelande (Nazi party rally grounds).  A really vast area that most non-German people these days know from Rifenstal's Triumph of The Will. Personally, its my 2nd visit there , but this time had the chance to visit it twice and also enter inside the unfinished Colloseum that was destined to be for the NSDAP congress. Nowadays a museum with the usual propaganda but with some very intresting original items from this era.

Other places that worth a visit :  The Albrecht Durer house, the toy museum, the Imperial castle of Nuremberg, The city museum Fembo-Haus and ofcourse exausting but culturally very rewarding walks all around the old city center. 
Some photos are following:













Coming Next : Besieging Mediolanum




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