Cultural Tours

Cultural Tours - Monday, July 21

Albrecht  Dürer's House

Today, we visited the house of Albrecht Dürer, who is one of the most famous

Renaissance artists. Dürer brought the Renaissance back to Germany, specifically Nuremberg, his home town. He was known for the realism in his paintings and the details in his woodcuts. Our tour was guided by "his wife." The tour guide was dressed in more traditional clothing of his time (early 1500s). She shared Dürer's history, as well as some "personal" anecdotes about the Dürer family.

City Tour

The second cultural tour we took today was an overview of Nuremberg and its culture and history. Stops included the Imperial Castle and the Beautiful Fountain. The Castle was absolutely stunning and it was intriguing to learn how many times it had been rebuilt over the decades. On several occasions, it burned down. During WWII, many sections did not survive bombings and warfare. Both the Fountain and Castle hold "legends" of the city. If you turn the brass ring on the Beautiful Fountain three times, you'll get your wish. At the Castle, there are horse hoof prints on top of one of the high walls and legend has it that a man who was going to be executed escaped down the wall on his horse. 

The tours taught me two main things about the German culture. First, they truly embrace their heritage. In addition to our early afternoon guide being dressed, I saw several other tour guides at different locations in "costume." Also, legends and folklore are apparent throughout different landmarks in the city. The second thing I learned was that the language barrier is not just a current battle. At the Beautiful Fountain, several of the Old Testament prophets are featured. One of the figures is Moses and he is depicted with two horns. This is a translation error from the Bible. The "rays of light" that appeared around Moses'

head was translated as two horns. Around Europe, Moses is often depicted this way. 

Cultural Tours - Tuesday, July 22 

Rothenburg & Nightwatchman Tour

After our two speakers in the morning, we hopped on a bus to Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber. The city is absolutely beautiful and looks like something straight out of a traditional "Christmas village." The city was bombed during WWII and when they went to rebuild it, they wanted to keep the original look and feel of the city. Words and pictures cannot describe the beauty in and around the city. While there have been a decent amount of tourists in Nürnberg, Rothenburg had more. The streets were filled.

In the center of the town is a beautiful church. During the time when it was built, it was believed that the church had to be at the center of the city because God is at the center of our lives. Also, from the aerial view, the church is shaped like a cross. The organ was huge and I wish we could have been there for a service.

My favorite part of the day was our Nightwatchman Tour. A costumed nightwatchman toured us around the city and described what life was like when the city was built. He taught us about the role of the nightwatchman, which was to protect the town, and about the history of Rothenburg. One of the main points I enjoyed from his tour was about how Rothenberg believed that politics, religion, and economics should be handled together. In order to achieve this, they built the church, city square, and town hall together. The church was the highest point though because it needed to be closer to God. Once again, I saw how much Germans love their country and its rich history.

Cultural Tours 3 - Wednesday, July 23

Erlangen Mayor Reception
We met with the mayor of Erlangen this morning and discussed the town, as well as

some of the politics of the area. He is the new mayor and just started in this position May 1. Erlangen has seven political parties and there is a 50-member city council. The biggest issues that Erlangen faces is public transportation and housing. The town continues to grow in population, but there is not enough space to build more housing. Also, transportation is limited to public buses, since they do not have access to the subway system.

I really enjoyed our visit with the mayor and I learned a lot of great things about the town that I really respect. First, they are globally minded. They have sister cities in multiple countries, including Riverside, CA. Our guide explained that during WWII, they were the enemy of the world. After the war, they felt obliged to create partnerships and have as many friends as possible. I thought that this was a great attitude and a great way to move forward from a rough past. Also, I respected the mayor for his answer as to how he manages so many political parties. He said that as mayor it is his job to take care of the city, and at that point it does not matter what political party he was affiliated with. He said he often has to step outside of his party to see all different views and manage collaboration and conversation. In America, our politicians do not see that way and tend to stick to their political parties.

The other two things I found very interesting about Erlangen is that it is the birthplace of the mp3 and they were the bicycle pioneers of Germany. Since the 1970s, they have taken great measure to be bike-friendly throughout the city. Majority of the community uses bicycles as their only form of transportation. Throughout Germany, bicycles are very popular and have become an extremely common form of transportation and Erlangen was the first to start that trend.

Bamberg City Tour
After our time in Erlangen, we traveled to Bamberg to tour one of the oldest towns in Germany. The churches were absolutely beautiful. Unlike a lot of the towns in Germany, Bamberg is primarily Catholic. During the time of Martin Luther, a lot of cities in Germany converted to Christianity, but not Bamberg. The rose garden at one of the churches was absolutely stunning and hosted more varieties of roses than I have ever seen. 

Cultural Tours 4 - Thursday, July 24 

Würzburg Imperial Palace
Our first stop in Würzburg was the Imperial Palace of the Prince Bishop. The Palace,

which is now maintained by the Bavarian government, boasts
340 chambers. The paintings in the palace are absolutely stunning. When you walk into the Palace, the entrance is very dark and this was done so that as guests entered the fresco on the ceiling would be the only thing they noticed. The painting, which is 700 m wide, represented the four countries of the world at that time - Africa, Asia, Americas, and Europe. The next room that guests would enter was the White Hall. While this room was elaborately decorated with stucco structures, it was completely white and gray and allowed guests a moment to "recover" from the stunning images they just saw. Then, they would enter the Imperial Hall, where the reception would be held.

In 1945, Würzburg was almost completely destroyed by a bombing from the Royal Air Force. After the bombings, the Americans remained in the city and assisted in rebuilding it. The ceiling fresco was not completely destroyed, but required updates. One of the rooms was completely decorated with mirrors. The bombings broke most of the mirrors. The city worked together to remake the entire room.

St. Kilian Cathedral
Like Bamberg, Würzburg is a primarily Catholic town. St. Kilian's Cathedral is a unique blend of architecture structure and hosts an organ with 6,000 pipes. When the cathedral was first built, it was decorated in the "typical" Roman decor. They updated it to feature a more baroque decor. After the damage of the war, the town was not sure which way to rebuilt it. They decided to combine the two styles and include more modern features. The blend resulted in a beautiful and extremely unique cathedral. At first glance, the modern art seems out of place, but it surprisingly works.

The one piece in the cathedral that truly amazed me was the menorah in the entrance. The masterpiece was donated by a local German family as a symbol of peace and reconciliation between Judaism and Christianity. Once again, I observed the culture of Germany when our tour guide mentioned the requiem to honor the bombings on March 16, 1945. The town gathers at the cathedral to remember that day and at 9 p.m., the start of the bombings, the bells of the church ring.

Cultural Tour 5 - Saturday, July 26

Nazi Documentation Center 
Today we visited the Nazi Documentation Center in Nürnberg, where the Nazi

marching fields and Zeppelin landing fields were located. Also, Nürnberg is where the Nazi party members went on trial after the war. In the first section, visitors receive a history of Hitler and the Nazi party. It goes through the main ideals of the Nazis, including "segregation instead of communication." The Center houses a multitude of documents, photographs, and videos about what occurred in the 1930s and 1940s. Hitler planned the marching fields and Zeppelin landing fields to help prepare the minds of people for war. Their was a parade route where soldiers would march to the German Stadium. The Stadium was a blend of Hitler's love of monument and the gigantic. He also built a building to house "his world senate," which would include 400,000 dictators. Only one of these projects was completely built. 

Even though we learn about the Nazi party and the Holocaust in school, there are a lot of things that seem to be left out. One thing that stood out to me from today was the history of the growth of Hitler. I mainly remember discussing the later years of his reign, but not any of the early pieces. I did not realize how long he was in power before the war. It was shocking and disturbing to learn that this man led the people for so long. It is odd to think that someone would not have stopped him, but one of the audio clips from today even discussed how it was difficult to see past the "seductive powers of the Hitler myth." 


In the videos, the amount of soldiers was astonishing. It is sad to think that so many people were able to be steered in the wrong direction. Another thing that intrigued me was how people allowed him to be "above all." One clip mentioned how people would join together in large parties because they enjoyed feeling "insignificant" and not an individual. The Nazi Documentation Center taught me more about Hitler, he is rise to power and the affect his power had on Germany and a large portion of Europe.