Here wo go again. Ray Charles sang it in 1979 already. Now it is our turn to sing it. And Linda and I have reasons to sing. After three years of self imposed quarantine we hit the road again. With our little Volkswagen Polo well leave The Netherlands, cross Germany, cross Czech Republic, cross Slovakia, slowly traveling from spot to spot. Near the border with the Ukraine we will turn and travel back via another route, slowly again, enjoying the trip. It will take us one month.
It is almost one month ago now that Linda and I left the Netherlands. It was cold, we had to wear winter jackets. Our first destination was Germany. We visited Mnster, where we saw the very spot where the Peace of Mnster was signed. In Berlin we went looking for traces of my father, who was forced laborer during World War II. At last we saw Dresden, the city which was destroyed in the same war and had risen from its ashes. And now after visiting Czech Republic and Slovakia, we are back again in Germany. It has beautiful weather now. We can leave our winter jackets in our suitcases. Walking in
It is only two hours by car from Plzen in Czech Republic to Nuremberg. We have an excellent hotel, Franconia City Hotel, near the centre. Actually it is the best hotel we have had during our trip. It is a small hotel, the is most cordial, the room is beautiful and the breakfast is absolutely great.
It is the first of May. The centre of the city is full of people enjoying the festivities, the end of the corona measures and the nice weather. While walking to the castle we see that Nuremberg has beautiful buildings. Again such a beatifull town, like we saw them in Slovakia and Czech republic, but different. Like Dresden Nuremberg was bombed during World War II. Many houses were destroyed, but not The Albrecht Drer Haus, which has only got some damage. Albrecht Drer has lived here almost 20 years in the 16th century. All his famous paintings are there, but all of them are copies. They were for safety reasons removed during the war to Mnchen. And they never came back. Well, just once for an exhibition. The local artists took the
The Albrecht Drer Haus is not the only building in Nuremberg which got some damage in WW II. The same happened to the Reichsparteitaggelnde der NSDAP. On YouTube you can see how the Swastika on top of the Zeppelinhaupttribne is bombed. You can still visit the Zeppelinfield. It was designed by Albert Speer, the General Bau Inspector for whom my father had to work as a forced laborer during the war. Standing on the very spot where Hitler used to give his speeches, you might get some megalomane feelings. And that exactly was the purpose of Albert Speer. The Zeppelinfield gives room for 300.000 people.
Nowadays the effect is broken by a row of trees. In front of the Haupttribne, the spot where the parades took place under the approving eye of Hitler, there is a trail where mororcyclists get their lessons. They swing around some orange pylons under the approving eye of their teacher. A bit further a lady gets badmintonlessons. On the lake in between the megalomane Congresshall and the Zeppelinfield float some pink toy flamingos.
used to take when he walked to his lectern. I almost fall over it, because the steps are too small for my long legs. Then I realize Hitler was a little man. Albert Speer knew that. Meanwhile Linda is taking pictures of the flowers which pop up out of the building. She is specially fond of the toadflaxes (Cymbalaria muralis) with their tender purple flowers.
When we walk at the other side of the Zeppelinfield, there where the spectators used to sit, we meet an old man with a rollator. I hardly can understand his German, but he is very angry. He talks about Stalin, Hitler and Putin. Sie sind allen gleich. When we pass him I hear behind me: Und auch Angela Merkel.
The designer of these monstrous buildings, Albert Speer, the man my father had to work for as a forced laborer, was condemned at the Nuremberg trials.
