Nuremberg

Ludwig II train carriage

This city has much to offer--too much of course for our brief stay.  Today we hoped to see the enormous German National Museum with a special exhibit on native son Albrecht Durer as well as art, cultural history, archaeology etc.  But we arrived at 10:30 to see a line that would have meant a considerable wait.  Seeing no one in the "online ticket" line, we decided to order tickets tonight and see the museum tomorrow.


Rob had noticed the nearby DB Railway Museum--another fantastic find.  We spent almost 3 hours learning about the history of the German railroad starting with the first train, the Adler, which was shipped in sections from England and reassembled in Nuremberg in 1835 for its inaugural run to Furth, 7k away.  The museum contains several historic trains including the lavish coach of Bavarian King Ludwig II and another used by Bismarck, the earliest existing coach, and the modern streamlined ICE 3.  The audio guide helped since most captions were in German.  Excellent  detailed exhibits covered the development of railroads in Germany through the 19th and 20th centuries, the war years, comparisons between DDR and GDR railroads, etc.  Finally at 2, exhausted and hungry, we found a Thai restaurant and sat and ate.

Rob remembers these Meccano sets

The meandering walk back to our hotel took us into three churches, through several squares and the outdoor market, past numerous towers (the walled city boasts many of these) and fountains.  We noticed the Toy Museum and decided to spend a few minutes there.  here too was a wonderful collection of all variety of toys from 1800 onwards--dolls, dollhouses, trains, mechanical toys, soldiers, and so on.  Many were made in Nuremberg which historically has been a center for toy manufacturing including Bing, known for its model trains.


Lastly a market stop for tomorrow's lunch supplies, and back to hotel at 6.  We will need to leave tomorrow afternoon and make some headway towards Heidelberg so that we can arrive Monday afternoon in time to pack and prepare the bike for storage.  We did check online for GN tickets but those were sold out for tomorrow, so we will try to arrive at 10 and see what the line looks like.  Perhaps we will visit the castle instead and leave the Museum for another visit.