Nuremberg: During the Nazi Era

[4th of a series of posts about my late October travels to southern Germany]

Nuremberg was considered as the major center of the Holy Roman Empire. In an attempt to mirror the greatness of the medieval past, Hitler and his Nazi Party chose this city to establish a power base and hold their political and military rallies. Hitler’s ambition and dream of building his own empire is reflected in the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds (Dokuzentrum), a huge building and surrounding edifices that still exist today in the form of a museum established in 1994 inside the Congress Hall. Had Hitler prevailed, there were plans in place to build plenty of additional monuments and structures in the area that were supposed to glorify his political beliefs and stature as a ruler of the empire he imagined would be his.

To Germany’s credit, the museum contains permanent exhibits that educate the public of what led to Hitler’s rise and fall in an objective manner, painfully sensitive to his evil deeds. It is a highly informative forum presented in chronological order, replete with pictures and films. A must for those who want to learn more about this dark part of history. The acreage of what remains of the grounds reveal Hitler’s megalomania.

docu-center

Spread the Word

[3rd of a series of posts about my late October travels to southern Germany]

Psalm 146
Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul;
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.

Chapels, churches, and cathedrals visited:

Bamberg Cathedral, Bamberg
bamberg-cathedral

St. Stephan Church, Bamberg (Evangelical Lutheran)
st-stephan

Regensburg Cathedral, Regensburg
regensburg-cathedral

Alte Kapelle, Regensburg
alte-kapelle

St. Lawrence Church, Nuremberg (Evangelical Lutheran)
st-lawrence-church

St. Sebald’s Church, Nuremberg
st-sebald

Mountain chapel near Schloss Hohenschwangau, Schwangau
chapel-in-schloss-hohenschwangau

St. Michael’s Church, Munich (King Ludwig II’s burial place)
st-michaels-church

Frauenkirche, or Cathedral Church of Our Lady, Munich
cathedral-church-of-our-lady

Church of the Holy Spirit, Munich
church-of-the-holy-spirit

Better Schlosses and Gärtens

[2nd of a series of posts about my late October travels to southern Germany]

Schloss, castle, palace
Ah, to live like royalty,
One can only dream.

Schlosses, castles, and palaces visited:

New Residence, Bamberg
new-residence

Imperial Castle, Nuremberg
imperial-castle

Dachau Palace, Dachau
dachau-palace

Nymphenburg Palace, Munich
nymphenburg-schloss

Residenz, Munich
residenz

Castles of Ludwig II (no interior pictures allowed for the first two castles):
Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau
neuschwanstein-castle

Linderhof Royal Palace, Ettal
linderhof-palace

Herrenchiemsee Royal Palace, HerrenInsel (supposed to be a copy of Versailles Palace)
herrenchiemsee

Barreling through Bavaria (Bayern)

[1st of a series of posts about my late October travels to southern Germany]

Extensive travel
North and south Bavaria,
A joy ev’ry day.

germany

Bavarian cities and towns traveled:

 Nuremberg
nuremberg2

Bamberg (a large part of it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
bamberg

Regensburg (its medieval center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
regensburg

Graswang Valley
graswang-valley

Oberammergau
oberammergau

Prien am Chiemsee: HerrenInsel and FrauenInsel
prien

Dachau
dachau

Munich
munich

Country Bumpkin

duncan

My name is Duncan,
A close cousin to the pumpkin.
Let me be your jack-o-lantern
I promise I can frighten.

BOO
How’d I do?
Did I scare you?

Watch what you say
For I’ll make you pay
By showing up one day,
To take you away . . .

Happy Halloween!

Fifty Words Story Collaboration: A Great Fall

Another fun expanded 50-word story collaboration with fellow blogger, Poet Rummager, and the story posted on Dead Donovan’s SlasherMonster Magazine.

Dead Donovan's avatarSlasherMonster Magazine

bookhandsfall

He felt dizzy and fell hard; his head bleeding profusely. Running to him, she, too, tumbled. Her arm snapped, and she screamed.

She crawled painfully to him. “Are you okay, Jack?”

He winced. “There’s something wrong with the well water, Jill. I feel sick. Tell everyone not to drink it.”

“Oh, Jack,” Jill bawled from her inability to stem his hemorrhage. Even more so as she tried to get up, feeling the jaggedness of her broken bone. A dark shadow fell over her and Jack, accompanied with the sound of flapping wings. Looking through her tears, she saw a creature with an eagle’s head, wings, and a lion’s body.

The griffin ululated, as it hovered close to her. She swore that if she hadn’t pulled back, its beak would have pecked one of her eyes. Instinctively shutting her eyes tightly and holding her breath, she could hear the beating of…

View original post 328 more words

50 Word Story Collaboration: Jerome

This story I wrote below is posted in SlasherMonster Magazine; I expanded Poet Rummager‘s 50-word story, Jerome (the first 50 words).

Dead Donovan's avatarSlasherMonster Magazine

jeromes-eyes

 

She had a long day at work and couldn’t wait to go home and just look into Jerome’s eyes. She smiled, entering the apartment.

“Honey, I’m home!”

She walked over to a cupboard and took out a jar. She stared into it, and Jerome’s eyeballs, suspended in formaldehyde, stared back.

Three Days Earlier

 

Stella mesmerizes Jerome with her open-topped sandwich. He loves to eat, and Stella makes sure she gives him a sandwich every day to keep his interest.

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” Stella recalls her mother saying to her. Since she locked eyes with Jerome’s periwinkle blue twinklers over two months ago at an all-employee staff meeting, she’s committed herself to winning him over everyday in the lunch room.

As Jerome wolfs down the sandwich, his eyes equally devour the curvaceous intern now passing by. Stella tracks Jerome’s gaze and turns…

View original post 706 more words

New World Disorder

Image: Pixabay

Image: Pixabay

The tall ships sailed
Outward bound
Fated to find a new world
To be conquered

Land ho!
Much to see, o!

Round up the bands
Of natives and their lands
Create new brands
Under the explorer’s commands

‘Tis a new world order
With a rebound border

Survival of the fittest
Along with a long list
Of those willing to enlist
To put up their figurative fist.

Hurricane

disaster

Image: Pixabay

El Niño
Gone loco,
Upset La Niña,
So no buena.

Category four
A lethal score,
Mother Nature,
Such a player.

Making waves
Like mad raves.
That’s her way,
We get no say.