GERMANY - DAY 8

We left Dresden and headed towards a tiny little village of fifty inhabitants tucked away in the hills known by the locals as 'Little Berlin'. Like Berlin, Modlareuth became a symbol of the divided Germany. After the end of the Second World War, the Tannbach stream flowing through the village initially became the line of demarcation between East Modlareuth in the Soviet occupied zone and West Modlareuth in the American occupied zone. When the two German states were founded in 1949, the Thuringian part of the village was East German territory and the Bavarian part belonged to West Germany.

The separation of the two parts of the village started in 1952 when a high wooden fence was built between the two. The 700 metres of concrete wall which divided the village for 23 years were erected in 1966.

We then made a quick fifteen minute stop in Bayreuth where the brave faced the rainy weather of a photo of the Wayner Festival Theatre. It is related to Richard Wayner who wrote about Jews describing them as enemies of not only Germany but the world as a whole. Wayner was an inspiration for Hitler. On the whole he was not a very nice man.

We continued on until we got to Nuremberg. Here we braved the wind and rain and took an orientating tour of the city. In the main centre there was this wonderful fountain that had a special part. Three quarters up the fence there was a ring included in the fence that moved. Supposedly you turn the ring three times and make a wish and it is suppose to come true. The girls enjoyed climbing up and turning the ring. Who knows they may get their wishes (what ever they are).

After that we went to lunch at the world's largest Bratwurst restaurant. Boy of boy do German's like meat, meat and more meat. They don't eat vegetables, except for red cabbage. This huge platter of meat came out with dumplings and red cabbage. The meat was nice but have developed a carving for broccoli or corn or peas, anything except cabbage.

After lunch we continued our tour of Nuremberg. We saw a door leading down underground and found out that it is the entrance to medieval rock cellars up to four stories deep which were primarily used to make and store beer. During the Second World War they were used by the people during bomb raids.

We found this ugly statue of a mad looking hare which the girls just had to have a photo with. Take about scary. Next we walked up the castle at the top of the hill for awesome views of the town. The girls got lost in the garden (wishful thinking). It is amazing to think that most of these places we have been to have been totally destroyed during the war and rebuilt to reclaim their history. To look at the buildings, you would never know that most of them have been built in the last sixty years.

After our wander around the old town we headed back on the bus and made our way to the Rally Grounds Documentation Centre. Here we learnt about the history of the Third Reich, the Nazi party rallies and much more. It was a little overwhelming but I think it's important to know about this terrible time in history in the hope that it never happens again.