Trip to Germany: Nuremberg (Day 5)

We left Rothenberg ob der Tauber and headed to Nuremberg. We said goodbye to Meka and June. Rachael wasn't interested in visiting Albrecht Dürer's house, so I went over there by myself. This was a really special trip for me, because Dürer is such a fascinating artist who was able to achieve international fame through his prints (the printing press was invented a few decades before Dürer's career). It was also special to be in Nuremberg and think about how the city climate fostered Dürer's career, since artists were not required to work within a guild system in this city. Dürer lived in the right place at the right time. Today this is the only surviving home of a 15th century artist from Northern Europe, and it is especially lucky that this building exists since 90% of Nuremberg was bombed during WWII.

The painting on the left is a copy of the original self-portrait by Dürer (which I saw in the Alte Pinakothek). The copy was purchased by the Nuremberg City Council in 1786 and for a time was even thought to be the original painting, until the Swedish poet Atterbom corrected the error in 1817.

There is a modern section added onto the original house which has gallery spaces. A docent dressed up as Agnes was giving a tour to visitors, but I wasn't able to follow along since the tour was in German!

Dürer and his wife Agnes had a very large house, especially since they didn't have any children.

I was really struck by all of the circular window panes in the upper story of the original house. Dürer depicts similar circular window panes in his print "Saint Jerome in His Study" (1514).

One room had a copy of a matrix for the Emperor Maximilian I engraving (1519). It was neat to see all of the intricate lines and the depth of the engraving, since I'm only familiar with the print itself.

After leaving the house, I met up with Rachel and we visited the Dokumentationszentrum, where Nazi Party rallies used to be held. The National Socialists first began to hold Party Rallies in Nuremberg from 1927-1929. The grounds were bombed heavily during WWII, but this site remains probably the best example of Nazi-era architecture that exists today  I was struck by how the architect Albert Speer intentionally designed the space so that the visitor's eye would be drawn to where the Führer was located during rally events. It was also interesting to learn that the participants of these rallies did not go with the intent of learning something new, but to have the experience of participating. In a way, these rallies remind me a little of performance art.

Part of the remaining architecture that gives a sense of the original intended appearance of the Nazi Party rally grounds. However, construction work for the site as a whole (which would have covered 11 square kilometers) was abandoned to a large degree with the beginning of WWII on September 1, 1939.