Christkindlesmarkt
Nuremberg’s most famous annual event is the Christkindlesmarkt (christkindlesmarkt.de), perhaps the world’s most famous Christmas market, which animates the Hauptmarkt from the end of November until Christmas Eve, with 180 wooden stalls selling everything from Lebkuchen to Christmas decorations and traditional wooden toys. The market dates back to the sixteenth century and its history mirrors that of Nuremberg itself, having gradually dwindled in importance from the early years of the twentieth century until the Nazis returned it to the centre of the city they described as the “Reich’s treasure chest”. Despite the Altstadt’s destruction in World War II, the market was re-established as early as 1948.
Leni Riefenstahl and the Reichsparteitage
After the Machtergreifung (Nazi seizure of power) in 1933, the Reichsparteitage or party rallies became an annual ritual, attracting massive numbers of participants and hangers-on. A vast, self-glorifying Parteitagsgelände (party rally ground) was therefore planned, and though much of it – including the colossal Deutsches Stadion, which would have accommodated 400,000 spectators – was never built, what survives gives a powerful impression of the gigantism that was designed, in part, to shrink the role of the individual into insignificance and to create an overwhelming experience for the participants that appealed to the emotions, not to reason. The rallies had a wider audience too, for during the 1930s many foreign newspapers sent reporters to cover the event. Leni Riefenstahl (the regime’s favoured documentary-maker) used a crew of 170 and some ground-breaking camera techniques to record the 1934 rally for her film The Triumph of the Will; the crowning event of the 1935 rally was the special session of the Reichstag convened in Nuremberg to pass the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws.
Nuremberg’s sweet and savoury specialities
Slim, char-grilled Nürnberger Bratwürste are Nuremberg’s savoury speciality, and though the little sausages are served in high style in quite fancy restaurants, they’re never more delicious than when eaten hot from a street stall Drei im Weckla – three in a bun. One of the best places to try them is Bratwursthaüsle by the Sebalduskirche (Mon–Sat 10am–10pm; 3 im Weckla €2). More substantial savoury dishes are often served with Nürnberger Klösse (potato dumplings), which are good fuel on a wintery day and excellent for soaking up meaty sauces. You can buy Nuremberg’s famous sweetly-spiced Lebkuchen gingerbread – originally a Christmas treat, but now available all year around – at Wicklein at Hauptmarkt 7 (Mon–Fri 9.30am–6.30pm, Sat 9.30am–4pm) or from Schmidt at Plobenhofstr. 6 (Mon–Fri 9am–6.30pm, Sat 9–4pm). You can get gluten-free and diabetic versions from Fraunholz at Bergstr. 1 (Mon–Fri 9am–6.30pm, Sat 11am–4pm, Sun 10.30am–6pm).