Site of a former Nuremberg synagogue burnt during Kristallnacht

     “On the 10 August 1938 on the orders of Streicher, the Great Synagogue and the adjacent Jewish community building were torn down, under the pretext “that they were spoiling the look of the city.” The synagogue’s Jewish Stone, a remnant of a medieval synagogue that served as the base for the Holy Ark, was saved by a non-Jewish architect.  On Kristallnacht, which took place throughout the Reich, at 2.00am, SA men armed with sticks gathered in the main city square and set fire to the Adas Israel synagogue, and the Ahiezer prayer hall.”

http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/nuremberg.html

Just next to the Synagogue memorial

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007908

Katzenberger Case, March 13, 1942

     “Leo Katzenberger was a prominent Jewish businessman in Nuremberg who owned a wholesale shoe business and a number of stores throughout southern Germany and who was a leading figure in the Nuremberg Jewish community. Beginning in 1932, he rented an apartment and a small storefront in his building at 19 Spittlertorgraben to Irene Seiler, the daughter of a non-Jewish friend. Although his business was “Aryanized” in 1938, he was still considered well-off and continued to own his building and rent space to Seiler.

In the spring of 1941, Katzenberger, who was 76, and Seiler, who was 30, were accused of having a sexual affair and arrested on charges of race defilement (Rassenschande). Under interrogation they steadfastly denied that there was any sexual element to their relationship and asserted that it was merely a longstanding friendship in which Katzenberger helped Seiler as a father would help a daughter. The judge who initially investigated the case was unable to find sufficient evidence that sexual intercourse between Katzenberger and Seiler had occurred and delayed bringing the case to trial until further investigation. Then, in March 1942, following a sworn statement by Irene Seiler in which she also denied the charges, the case was brought before the Nuremberg Special Court and presided over by the notorious Nazi judge Dr. Oswald Rothaug.

There was great public interest in the proceedings and the court was crowded both days. In what was a deliberately orchestrated show trial, Rothaug referred to Katzenberger several times as a “syphilitic Jew” and an “agent of world Jewry.” There was no question of the outcome. The court convicted Katzenberger of race defilement and imposed the death penalty by applying not just the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, but also the Ordinance against Public Enemies (also called the Folk Pest Law) of 1939. The latter law — which permitted the death penalty if the accused exploited wartime conditions to further his or her crime — was used against Katzenberger on the grounds that he secretly visited Seiler “after dark.”

The written findings of the case reveal a series of inconsistencies and perversions allowed under the Nazi system of justice. The accused were arrested on the basis of rumors and innuendo; their sworn statements were twisted and used against them to further the aims of the prosecution; and the verdict was written to meet a predetermined outcome of guilt. It was a public demonstration designed to inflame antisemitic feeling and justify the extraordinary measures put in place to persecute Jews and other so-called enemies of the regime.

Irene Seiler was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to two years of hard labor. Leo Katzenberger was beheaded on June 2, 1942, at Stadelheim Prison in Munich.”

Around the corner kids enjoying this modernistic water fountain on a very hot day

An unintended smiley face on the tower.

Beautiful Fountain

“Built ca. 1358-1396 by construction supervisor and stonemason Heinrich Beheim.  The 19 m tall stone pyramid rises from the octagonal basin like a Gothic church spire, narrowing in three stages to the finial.  Four rows of 40 stone figures represent the world-view of the Holy Roman Empire.  The railing with the famous brass ring that can be turned, and has been replaced several times, was made in 1587.” Nuremberg and Furth Tourist Booklet

Durer home and museum on the far left and the half stone and half concrete house on the right.

I saw an exhibit of Durer drawings at the Courtauld  in London.  As I was participating in that life drawing group every Sunday, seeing the Durer drawings was quite amazing.

Albrecht Durer Statue

The laying of the foundation stone for the monument to mark the 300th anniversary of his death in 1828 was a national event, as was the official inauguration in 1840. The Albrecht-Dürer monument was the first monument in Germany to be erected in honour of an artist, designed by Christian Rauch and cast by Jacob Burgschmiet.  http://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/sightseeing/places-of-interest/monuments-and-fountains/d/nuernberger-denkmaeler-und-brunnen-albrecht-duerer-denkmal.html

Der Hase—Hommage à Dürer (The Hare—a Homage to Dürer), Nuremberg, Germany

     “This dazed or possibly dead rabbit seems unaware of the swarm of mice that shares its busted-up crate. Positioned outside of Albert Dürer’s house in Nuremberg, the nightmarish sculpture by Jürgen Goertz is a satiric take on a much more pleasingly proportioned bunny—the one immortalized in Dürer’s watercolor Der Feldhase.”

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-ugliest-public-art/13

Der Feldhase  by Durer

Not VanGogh but an electrical box.

Not sure what these are but I’ll have to try one when I next see them.