Guten Tag! Today we visited the city of Bamberg. In Bamberg, we began the day in the freezing weather with a tour of the city by our group tour guide, Claus. An interesting and sad part of the city were the commemorative plaques for victims of the Holocaust in front of their local homes. Additionally, we saw multiple local high schools and one of the highlight features of the city, a river and surrounding houses similar to Venice. As we walked further into the city, we reached two bakeries and got a mid-morning snack of German coffee and baked goods. Finally, one of the last locations we visited in Bamberg was one of the oldest pubs in Germany in the world, founded in 1405. At the end of our tour, we took a bus into the Nuremberg city center for a short period of shopping and lunch.
After lunch, we visited the notorious Nazi rally grounds, both the amphitheater and the outdoor rally grounds. Both sites held tremendous weight to them, and I can confidently say that walking those grounds brought out an ominous feeling. Although both sites held a very dark tone to them, the group’s maturity and love for one another allowed for very vulnerable experiences to be shared and received in an amazing way. One thing that stood out to us was the amount of digital media that was influenced by the military parades that went through the Nazi rally grounds. Movies like Star Wars and The Lion King took many of their military scenes and modeled them after what we know as the Nazi war parades.
Toward end the day, we had three hours to roam around Nuremberg. Some of us chose to rent electric scooters, and we rode them around the old city. It was a great way to get around quickly and truly experience the vibe. One highlight on our “Scooter Sightseeing” was the Nuremberg Castle, which had an unbelievable view of the city. The streets of Nuremberg are certainly lively, with lots of shops and outdoor music. Walking through the streets as a full group, we had a brief dance party with a saxophonist on the street. For dinner, we had traditional German chicken, and then some gelato for dessert. We were joined by Lisa S., a German student from Nuremberg who studied at MFS for her 11th grade. This day was definitely the best of the trip, filled with emotional experiences; but experiences that certainly brought our group together. On to Munich tomorrow!
Aidan, Michael, and Andrew