Tales of destruction and re-building in Nürnberg

On my last trip to Nürnberg I visited three of the top three sights (the Documentation Center at the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, the Imperial Castle and the DB Railway Museum) in-between the racing, so I was keen to mop up some the sights that I didn’t make it to last time.

The first stop on my list was the Museum Tucherschloss und Hirsvogelsaal. The story of the Tucher family’s mansion proved to be unexpectedly fascinating. The mansion had been on the list of the Reich’s protected monuments, ensuring that extra measures were taken to prevent damage and given special military surveillance if air raids were imminent. None of this was enough to prevent the destruction of all but the outer walls on the night of 2nd January 1945.

A small but fascinating exhibition in the mansion charts the history of the building from the 1530s, through near destruction, to its reconstruction. The terrible photos of the devastation wrought on Nürnberg and the ruins of the mansion in 1960 made it clear how astonishing this feat of rebuilding has been. It might only be the detailed story of one building, but it really helped me understand what happened across the city.

Today, the Tucherschloss offers a recreation of the living quarters of the family, a treasury with some of the most beautiful artworks to have survived and a garden filled with modern sculptures. A recreation of the Hirschvogel Hall, an early renaissance marvel, was added in 2000.

City Museum at Fembo House

The next stop on my mini-tour was the City Museum in Fembo house which is really worth seeing. The history of the city is really well documented, included those buildings lost forever after the destruction of the 1940s, but this Renaissance mansion has some fantastic interiors to enjoy (including the “Beautiful Room” from the Peller House, which was removed from its original location before its near complete destruction).

The permanent exhibition of A crown – power – history, in an out-building at the City museum, provides a fascinating and richly illustrated overview of the history of the city, that shouldn’t be missed.

The final stop on my day’s sightseeing, at the Historic Art Bunkers picked up the same threads. The story of Nürnberg’s efforts to protect the treasures of the city (and artworks looted from across Europe) in deep bunkers, 24 metres below the foundations of the Imperial Castle, proved to be a fascinating way to spend an hour – and one that I would highly recommend.

Our tour guide led us through the complex (aided by audio guides in English) on an appreciation of the ingenuity of the protective measures put in place in the bunkers. The necessity of the complex was demonstrated by the destruction of 90% of the city on one night in 1945. Our guide took us through the story of what followed, from a mountain of rubble to the partial reconstruction of the old town that we see today.

Historic Art Bunker

Other stops on my itinerary, all of which were worth seeing, included the Schöner Brunnen, a replica of a beautiful gothic fountain; the Frauenkirche (1362); and Albrecht Dürer’s House. There are still places that I haven’t managed to visit, such as the unusual Pigeon museum, the German Games Archive at The Pellerhaus or the Faber-Castell Museum. Maybe I need a third trip…

Gallery

Raceday at the Norisring

It is not unusual to see a clash of cars at the Norisring, particularly with the tight hairpin at the grundig-kehre, but the DTM race on the Saturday far exceeded the norm. Three safety cars and one full course yellow were required to handle a crash-filled race that saw the 27 car field reduced to just 11 finishers in the space of an hour. Keeping out of trouble helped Thomas Preining score Porsche’s first win in the championship.

Alessio Deledda’s battle scarred Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo at the Grundig Kehre

The grundig-kehre was the perfect spot to witness the madness of this race, with its four rolling restarts, including the bravery of those drivers attempting to go four abreast into the hairpin. The madness was not confined to the main event as the DTM Trophy race that followed had its fair share of safety cars and restarts. Thankfully, the DTM Classic Cup that rounded off the day’s racing was altogether more restrained!

The Franconian Monaco

The Norisring is one of the world’s most unusual motor racing circuits, a temporary street circuit which threads its way around the remnants of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. It is sometimes referred to as the “Franconian Monaco” and is the highlight of the DTM race calendar, often attracting VIPs. I’ve been to see the racing here once before, but was pleased to have another opportunity.

The circuit is short and fast, with a really tight hairpin bend and some unforgiving concrete walls. At it’s centre is the Steintribune (1936), formerly the Zeppelin Grandstand, which Albert Speer modeled on the Pergamon Altar. The grandstand was an intentionally theatrical setting for the party rallies, decorated with a giant gilded swastika at its centre and a pulpit for Hitler to address the massed crowds.

The Steintribune in 2005

In the post-war years, the steintribune was substantially reduced, with colonnades and pylons removed, creating a relatively simple and low maintenance open grandstand. Today, this gets used just once a year for what has long been one of the most prestigious races in the German motorsport calendar.

Friday is usually the best day to visit during a race weekend if you want to get a good feel for the circuit as the tickets traditionally allow you to wander round all the grandstands and take in the spectacle from every angle, whereas Saturdays and Sundays you have to buy a ticket for a seat in a specific grandstand. I wasn’t able to explore on the Friday this time, but I managed it on a visit in 2005 during the DTM race weekend.

Choosing a grandstand for raceday is tricky. In 2005 I spent raceday from the packed steintribune, which was a rather special experience, but the spectacle of the opening lap race down to the hairpin at the Grundig-Kehre in 2022 was something to behold. However, it’s fair to say that most races here are action packed and every grandstand should present plenty of excitement. The Norisring website has a great set of grandstand photos and views that can help you make a choice.

Overall, it’s an interesting experience coming to the races here, but one day I must stop by when cars are not hurtling around and get a better appreciation for the history. If you visit outside of a race weekend there are tours that allow you to see inside the stone grandstand, including the rather surprising “Goldener Salle” (1939) decorated with marble and a gilded mosaic ceiling.

At one time it seemed like time was running out for a proper look around as the deterioration of the complex accelerated. However, the local authorities are now investing millions in the refurbishment of the Zeppelin Field to ensure that this warning from history continues to be heard.

Circuit photos from 2005

Woe, woe and thrice woe at Heathrow

The launch of direct flights with British Airways from London to Nürnberg presented a perfect opportunity to make a second visit to the city, some 17 years since my first visit, to fulfill a long abandoned plan to mop up the sights I missed last time. Within a day or two of the announcement I had booked myself a ticket to fly and another for the Norisring Nürnberg 200 Speedweekend.

It seemed like a foolproof plan for a short weekend but it didn’t take long to unravel. My original outbound flight was cancelled and then rescheduled for a day later, leaving me with race tickets I couldn’t use. As the big day approached I nervously noted the routinely poor timekeeping of the flights and the absolute chaos unfolding at London Heathrow. What had I let myself in for?

Travelling light probably spared me some of the pain, but there were plenty of signs of the lingering chaos at Heathrow. A long and slow queue awaited at security, then once I got airside the departure time for our flight kept getting pushed back. It didn’t stop there – once our gate was announced everyone trooped off to find the doors locked. Now I understood why there were long queues blocking the corridors wherever you went in the terminal!

Once we eventually made it on board the Captain explained the reason for our lengthy delay. Our plane, an Airbus A320, had come out of the maintenance hangar much later than expected and then that delay was compounded by a long wait for someone to tow it onto the stand. In the end we took off at 8pm, almost four hours late, but thankfully we made up a bit of time on the way over.

Late arrival

We finally reached our gate at Nürnberg at 10.10pm, 3 hours and 10 minutes later than scheduled. My evening plans were trashed, but I was just relieved to have arrived. Luckily, the journey at the other end was mercifully short – a 15 minute journey on the U-Bahn to the main railway station followed by a short walk across the road to my hotel. It was good to be back in the city, ready to reacquaint myself with the delights of the Norisring in the morning.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted to be able to travel again but the price we are now paying for the ruthless discarding of staff by the airport and airlines is now painfully apparent. I felt most sorry for the passengers flying back from Nürnberg who would inevitably still be making their way through Heathrow at midnight.