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| Make a wish at the Beautiful Fountain |
The Franken stadium in Nuremberg will host a number of group games in the highly anticipated 2006 FIFA World Cup. But this 1000-year-old city in the Franconia region of Bavaria has many other attractions.
Like a film set
With its ancient city walls, Craftsmen's Courtyard, Former Customs House, Nassau House, The Hospital of the Holy Spirit, Hangman's Bridge and 19-metre tall Beautiful Fountain, Nuremberg feels like a film set. And yet, 92% of the city was destroyed by Allied bombs in WWII. Photographs in the national museum show a flattened city. Nuremberg was seen as a symbol of the Third Reich: the first Nazi mass rallies were held here, and the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws were passed here in 1935. After the war, Nuremberg hosted the famous trials of Nazis for their war crimes and set about rebuilding itself. Today, the city boasts not only stunning architecture but great shopping as well.
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| The Christmas Market |
The Gate's guide to Nuremberg
The best time to visit Nuremberg is during Christmas. The special Christmas Market dates back to 1628 and attracts over 2 million tourists a year. There is also a Christmas market for kids. Nuremberg is also the birthplace of artist Albrecht Dürer. A tour of his house, a number of places that he painted and the National Museum, which houses some of his important works, takes 1.5-2 hours. Tel: +49 911-1331-241 www.kpz-nuernberg.de Tel: +49 911 233 61 23 www.nuernberg-tours.de
The city has a wide variety of accommodation, ranging from pensions to 5-star hotels. The Lucas Hotel (Tel: +49 911 227845 www.hotel-lucas.de) and Drei Raben Hotel (Tel: +49 911 27 43 80 www.hotel-drei-raben.de) are two lovely boutique hotels in the Old Town.
The narrow streets of the Old Town are filled with historic restaurants. Almost every town in Germany has a special local sausage, and Regensbourg and Nuremberg are particularly famous for their sausages. Indeed, there is a fierce rivalry between the town towns on this subject. Make sure to eat at one of Nuremberg's many sausage restaurants. Another local speciality served at these restaurants is carp which is caught in the river that flows through the Old Town. In December, you can also enjoy fresh game.
The trials of Nazi leaders such as Göring, Ribbentrop, Rudolf Hess, Rosenberg, Frick and Streicher were held in courtroom 600 at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, which is the city court today. The trials lasted 218 days, there were 240 witnesses and more than 300,000 statutory declarations were examined. Courtroom 600 is open on weekends from 13.00-16.00. Tel: +49 911 231 56 66. www.museen.nuernberg.de
