This past weekend, we traveled to Nürnberg and Rothenburg ober der Tauber. I'll tell you a little about Nürnberg first. (Man, Rick Steves should hook me up with a job)!!
Nürnberg is really old. There's even a house dating back to 1338 and a pharmacy dating back to 1486. So obviously, people have been hanging out here for a long time. Adolf Hilter also liked the place, and his aim was to make it the capital of the National Socialist Party (Nazis). An architect was hired to plan everything, and everything was set to go until America came to save the day. Haha...that's not exactly how it happened, but I just wanted to say that. Anyway, all the plans were in place. Laborers were working day and night to complete the plans. A capital building was partly built. A huge stadium that could hold 400,000 people was planned, and the sight of many of Hilter's speeches was completed. It was quite eerie to see all of this, because we were able to walk on the actual platform where Hilter gave so many of his speeches. You could imagine all of the hundreds of thousands of people standing there listening to these false promises thinking that this man was going to change Germany to make it a wonderful place. So many empty promises; so many lives lost, and for what? It made me really sad. Even the architecture that the Nazis used was very concrete and bland, but it was also so big; larger than life. You could see that it was truly Hilter's aim to take over the entire world removing the Jews, the Christians, and any other religion that exhalted itself above the power of the Nazi party. Sound like a story you've heard before from the Bible? It reminds me of when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to Pharoah, and they were tossed into the fire. God ultimately received the glory in that situation, so sometimes I wonder why so many had to die in the Holocaust. I know I can't see the broad scheme of things, but it is just plain sad. I know that God saved and protected so many of the Jews, but I wonder what His purpose was or is in so much persecution taking place. Don't think I am doubting God. I know that if anything good happened from the Holocaust it would have to be our awareness to the dangers of the persecution of one religious group by another. I really do believe that in such a horrible situation that God was revealed to so many, and that His purposes, while they are unknown to us, were made known to many. Maybe the world is a better place because of the sacrifice. What do you think? Let's think about this for a minute. Sorry I am on a bit of a tangent right now. Can you imagine being a Christian during this time period? People had to honestly think that Hilter was THE antichrist and that Jesus was coming back on his chariot of fire at any minute. I wonder how many people found Jesus during that time. I mean, even during the cold war, there were so many Americans who honestly thought that they could be nuked at any time. I wonder where their hearts stood with Jesus. Maybe we have to go through things such as war so that we are reminded who is ultimately in control. It sure isn't us, and thank God for that!! Anyway, these are just some things I have been thinking about. Here's some pictures of Nürnberg:
On the River
I love all of the flowers on the houses and buildings in Germany.
Really old Pharmacy (1486). Just remember that America wasn't discovered by Columbus until 1492!
This house dates back to 1338. How do I know? Well, there's a plaque on the wall in front of it that tells me. haha.
Rothenburg ober der Tauber is honestly a place I know nothing about. All I know is that it's old, and a lot of tourists go there. There is, however, a really cool medieval wall that surrounds the town that you can actually walk in and circle most of the town. We did get to put our heads into the stocks which was kinda cool in a weird sort of way. Here are some photos:
Taken from inside the wall around the city.
Part of the city square
I am supposed to look like I am dying. Yeah, I can sing a little, but I surely can't act. haha.
Danny's the happiest guy you'll ever see in the stocks.
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