7th September 1933
Nuremberg

Nürnberg (Nuremberg)

(Überroller-post - Allied occupation 20.04.1945)

Nuremberg is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 545,000 inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany.

Nuremberg held great significance during the Nazi Germany era. Because of the city's relevance to the Holy Roman Empire and its position in the centre of Germany, the Nazi Party chose the city to be the site of huge Nazi Party conventions: the Nuremberg rallies. The rallies were held in 1927, 1929 and annually from 1933 through 1938. After Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933 the Nuremberg rallies became huge Nazi propaganda events, a centre of Nazi ideals. The 1934 rally was filmed by Leni Riefenstahl, and made into a propaganda film called Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will).

At the 1935 rally, Hitler specifically ordered the Reichstag to convene at Nuremberg to pass the Nuremberg Laws which revoked German citizenship for all Jews and other non-Aryans. A number of premises were constructed solely for these assemblies, some of which were not finished. Many examples of Nazi architecture can still be seen in the city. The city was also the home of the Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher, the publisher of Der Stürmer.

During the Second World War, Nuremberg was the headquarters of Wehrkreis (military district) XIII, and an important site for military production, including aircraft, submarines, and tank engines. A subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp was located here, and extensively used slave labour.

Many Nuremberg Jews either fled from Germany during the Nazi era, or stayed and were then rounded-up and transported to various concentration camps where they were killed. At the end of the War in 1945, there were no Jews left in Nuremberg. There are many Stolpersteine installed in the streets of the city; these commemorate Jews who were persecuted by the Nazi regime.

On 2nd January 1945, the medieval city centre was systematically bombed by the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Army Air Forces and about ninety percent of it was destroyed in only one hour, with 1,800 residents killed and roughly 100,000 displaced. In February 1945, additional attacks followed. In total, about 6,000 Nuremberg residents are estimated to have been killed in air raids.

Nuremberg was a heavily fortified city that was captured in a fierce battle lasting from 17th to 20th April 1945 by the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, 42nd Infantry Division and 45th Infantry Division, which fought house-to-house and street-by-street against determined German resistance, causing further urban devastation to the already bombed and shelled buildings. Despite this intense degree of destruction, the city was rebuilt after the war and was to some extent restored to its pre-war appearance, including the reconstruction of many of its medieval buildings. Much of this reconstructive work and conservation was done by the organisation 'Old Town Friends Nuremberg'. Today 25 % of Nürnbergs buildings date to before World War II and the old town is a declared protected area, so the northeastern half of the old Imperial Free City had to be largely reconstructed.

Between 1945 and 1946, German officials involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity were brought before an international tribunal in the Nuremberg trials. The Soviet Union had wanted these trials to take place in Berlin. However, Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the trials for specific reasons:

• The city had been the location of the Nazi Party's Nuremberg rallies and the laws stripping Jews of their citizenship were passed there. There was symbolic value in making it the place of Nazi demise.

• The Palace of Justice was spacious and largely undamaged (one of the few that had remained largely intact despite extensive Allied bombing of Germany). The already large courtroom was reasonably easily expanded by the removal of the wall at the end opposite the bench, thereby incorporating the adjoining room. A large prison was also part of the complex.

• As a compromise, it was agreed that Berlin would become the permanent seat of the International Military Tribunal and that the first trial (several were planned) would take place in Nuremberg. Due to the Cold War, subsequent trials never took place.

Following the trials, in October 1946, many prominent German Nazi politicians and military leaders were executed in Nuremberg.

The same courtroom in Nuremberg was the venue of the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, organised by the United States as occupying power in the area.

In order to come to terms with the role Nuremberg played during the Third Reich, the city established the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award in 1995, awarded every two years to individuals or groups defending human rights worldwide.

Source: Wikipedia

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