We headed out to the
Congress Hall and had no trouble finding it, the exhibit was very informative and I did learn a few things I didn't already know, although I am fairly well versed on the topic from my own research and readings over the years.
The Congress Hall is huge, about twice the size of the Colesseum in Rome and built in the shape of a horseshoe. If you imagine this with each end of the horseshoe having a rectangular shaped foot and each foot being a building with four walls and an open courtyard inside. These 'feet' are about fives or so stories high and the size of an average apartment block. On one side you have the Documentation Centre and on the other you have a twin building now used by the Nuremberg Symphony. The main curved part of the building is empty, other than being used for some storage.
This building is the one of the best and last remaing examples of Nazi architecture. It was designed by
Albert Speer, Hitler's architect. They certainly didn't think small, in any sense of the word. The entire project including this building, the Zepplin field, the never built `German Stadium`which was to seat 400,000 people and the other buildings cover an area of 11 hectares!
The Nazis never used the Congress Hall as it was never finished, construction was abruptly halted in September 194?. The open air portion was to be covered and it was to be a giant theatre type space for the party rallies.
We managed to make it half way through the exhibit, both of us with our English audio guides, and then decided to speed things up and listened to only some parts of the rest. The whole Nazi story is interesting to me from a PR perspective, but sickens me at the same time and becomes depressing quickly. So we wrapped it up and went outside to take some pictures of the building which is very impressive in its size and overall garantuan proportions.
The daylight was beginning to fade so we made our way down the "Great Road", which leads in the direction of the castle in the old town as a way of mentally and physically linking the Nazi's with the old Imperial regime. This is the sort of mind games the Nazi's excelled at. This was quite a walk. The brochure suggested it will take you an hour and a half to do the circuit and they weren't wrong! If you've ever been to Downsview Park in Toronto, imagine walking the perimiter and you will have an idea of the scale of this place.
As we walked along the Great Road, or Hitler's parade route really, we could see the remains of raised stone steps along the side. These had been built so spectators could stand in awe of the military might as it passed by. Much of it was overgrown, but the actual parade roadway looked like it had been laid yesterday.
Finally we came to a quiet footpath that would lead us through thick woods for a bit then past the old stadum where the Hitler youth had once gathered to worship their leader. Suddenly, as we rounded a bend the forest yielded to acres of asphalt and roadways and there on the left was a row of monothic pillars.
Constructed of huge blocks and filled with steps in between. Each had once supported a form of Nazi symbolism, an eagle or perhaps a giant swastika. These giant structures went on for several hundred metres. We quickly realized that this was the outline of the Zepplin Feild and the main grandstand was on the other side opposite to where we were standing.
As we made our way around the perimiter of the field I was a bit disappointed as the entire site seemed to be fenced off. Fortunately, this fence was only to close off what had once been the Zepplin field, which I was not as interested in visiting. We were there to see the grandstand. The main grandstand was quite open and a sign warned; "Enter at your own Risk". They should have had that up in Hitler's day.
Finally, we made our way to the main grandstand and I walked up to the top of the dilapidated, yet still impressive structure and stood in the spot where the madman had once stood over hundreds of thousands of admirers and followers.
Looking out onto Zepplin Field I tried to imagine, not the present tractor-trailer trucks, open grass field and soccer pitch, but the the thousands of faces and raised hands of Hitler's minions who witnessed this nut first hand, hanging on every crazed word, each one facing him. It was easy to see how the ego can take over. I could almost hear the chants of "Sieg Heil" and "Heil Hitler" in the chilled autumn air.
A bit of mist and fog began to move in and the street lights came on. As we walked away, I looked back and trying to envision the huge red banners and hundreds or anti-aircraft lights that had been used to create Hitler's so called 'Cathedral of Light' it was easy to see how the average man would have been swept up in this well orchestrated madness.
We made our way around the other side of Lake Dutzendteich and were presented, for the first time, the monolith that is the Congress Hall in all it's glory. The place is so huge, we had never really seen it all at once when we were actually in it and walking around it. Seeing it from across the lake as the sun faded, it was impressive and beautiful and terrifying all at once.
 |
| Nazi Party Congress Hall At Dusk. Nuremberg, Germany |
is the great value for your money and even in the old city centre prices were more than reasonable. 
were even more sadistic and inhumane than I had imagined. 
and North Africa
. Some were concentration camps
and some were death camps
. Auschwitz functioned as both and Auschwitz II is the most infamous and largest of any of the camps. 
is the original camp here and houses the indoor museum (technically speaking the entire place, both camps are museums and UNESCO World Heritage Sites) with emotionally moving exhibits in an attempt to explain some of the terrible things the Nazis did here. 
and intellectuals were brought here. Then, as the murderous Germans streamlined their killing machine, the focus was put on the Jews. Auschwitz I is where the famous gate with the sign overhead that reads "Arbeit Macht Frei"; a sick lie which translates roughly to "Work Makes You Free". Work was just one more way to kill in this place. As prisoners went to work each day they were made to march to the tempo of the prison orchestra. This was an added bit of Nazi humiliation, for good measure. 
The exhibits and museum are inside the original barracks buildings where the first prisioners were held. These barracks had originally been a Polish army barracks. The Nazis took control in September, 1940 when they invaded Poland at the beginning of WWII
. These are the actual buildings and rooms where people were brutalized, tortured and killed. This way of experiencing the place really helps the visitor to empathize and imagine what it might have been like to have been held here. 
. We thought we were entering a posh restaurant and were surprised when we came into what was basically a beer hall. Big steins of beer were everywhere, sauerkraut, sausage, cherry vodka shots and cute boys and girls serving the happy crowd. filled the room .They were surely growing big muscles under the massive platters of food they were delivering to hungry patrons. 
: October 16, 2010.
which was unintelligible to me. I have come to realize that the Polish
and Germans
have a bit of an edge when they speak English
and can come across as being bit abrupt, but I think it is generally not intentional, just a different inflection than what the average English
speaker is used to. In this case, the guy was very busy and overwhelmed, and I can certainly understand. 
word. There was a bank machine near by so I used that instead and withdrew cash, as it is less expensive than using a Kantor. 
It is now 10:00 am local time, or 4:00 am EST. This train is very late. We are still a couple of hours west of Warsaw
.
on, covered with a fluffy blanket and snoring a deep resonating snore that is full of sleep satisfaction.
(a sleeping car that sleeps six in bunks) and didn't sleep well at all. This time around we booked regular seating with big upholstered seats and were looking forward to a comfortable ride.
on the ipod. Soon I was asleep. I was out cold until I felt David poking me in the side: His remedy for loud snoring. 
Central Station at 12:20 pm. I just had the best cup of tea ever, and met a lovely young lady from the UK who is also going to Warsaw.
, featured a prominent church and several restaurants and shops. We went to a restaurant called Alex for some dinner, it was okay, but nothing spectacular. Once we finished eating we set out in the direction of the castle.
but we couldn't be sure. It certainly looked like it to both of us. We knew it was closed, and this place certainly was. Later, a quick internet search would reveal that our memories were intact and we were right. This was the 'Hitler Hotel' as we had come to call it. We read that Hitler preferred to stay here as it was close to the train station and it was an average 'everyman' type of place. Another bit of PR from Hitler.
This building is the one of the best and last remaing examples of Nazi architecture. It was designed by Albert Speer, Hitler's architect. They certainly didn't think small, in any sense of the word. The entire project including this building, the Zepplin field, the never built `German Stadium`which was to seat 400,000 people and the other buildings cover an area of 11 hectares!
As we made our way around the perimiter of the field I was a bit disappointed as the entire site seemed to be fenced off. Fortunately, this fence was only to close off what had once been the Zepplin field, which I was not as interested in visiting. We were there to see the grandstand. The main grandstand was quite open and a sign warned; "Enter at your own Risk". They should have had that up in Hitler's day.
We are on the Deutschebahn ICE train headed to Nuremberg.
We left the very large and impressive Frankfurt main station at 12:54, much later than we had expected due to us sleeping much later than expected, but we are feeling refreshed and looking forward to seeing the rebuilt medievil city of Nuremberg 
and the museum at the old Nazi Party Congress Hall. 
and then tomorrow night we take another train (or several different trains to be precise) to Krakow
.
, which are huge, much bigger than any I've seen. I saw a field full of turbines when we were decending on the plane, I wonder if these are the same ones?
intact and departed our train and started the search for our train to 
