With a quick visit to the tourist office, we discovered that the Dokuzentrum (Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds) was only open for a few more hours, so we hustled over to the museum, which was our main reason for coming to Nuremburg. We spent the next few hours learning more about the Nazis and Germany than we had ever expected. While it was a lot of information and a long time to be in a museum, we really found it interesting and laid out really well to give people a great explanation of this time period. At the end of the self-guided tour, we were able to step out onto a platform that overlooked the unfinished structure that would have been housed 50,000 spectators if it had been finished. Even now, you can see that it was going to be a magnificent architectural structure.
From there, we drove past Zeppelinfeld, where Hitler held many rallies and gatherings while he was in command. We didn't walk the grounds here as the weather was turning bad, but we were able to see the "Fuhrer's Rostrum" where Hitler would stand to speak.From there, we drove back west towards our "hotel" for the night, the Colmburg Castle! It is a 13th century castle that in 1964 was converted into a hotel, while still keeping the castle facade as well as many aspects inside. We arrived at dusk, and had a few hours to relax in our room before heading down to the dining room for dinner. Our room was large but cozy at the same time, with wood furnishings and a fantastic view into the valley below.
The next morning, we were blessed with sunshine and blue skies. We got up, had a hearty breakfast, then walked through the house and the grounds, taking it all in since we hadn't been able to do it the night before. The castle had lots of rooms, filled with old furniture and decorations. And the castle grounds were filled with flowers and trees, and even more spectacular views.
Sadly leaving Colmburg, we hopped back in the car and headed south towards Irsee, our next destination. Taking the German Romantic Road, we stopped at a few different towns, taking in the German culture, architecture and countryside. Our first stop was in Dinkelsbuhl, not far from Colmburg. This town is surrounded by castle walls and has a lot of great looking buildings that are filled with restaurants and shops. We got a map from the tourist office and made our way through the town, seeing as much as we could see, walking outside the castle walls at times, and hoping we could find another way back in. After a few hours, we ended our visit with a light lunch, sitting outside in the sun, and plotting our next destination.
From there, we passed through Wallerstein, Nordlingen, Harburg, and Augsburg seeing a few more castles and lots of German countryside. Often we found ourselves having to take detours due to road construction and ended up on extremely narrow roads through random corn fields. But it just added to the adventure and allowed us to see some tiny towns and lots and lots of fields.
Arriving at our final destination, Irsee, we headed to Irseer Klosterbrau, a hotel and brewery! We checked into our room and before heading up, we ordered two beers and sat at the outdoor tables set up so we could catch the last few rays of sunshine!
We took a self-guided tour of the brewery museum....
...then explored the rest of the grounds which housed several other buildings, two of which were part of the hotel and one was a church.
The rest of the night was spent drinking their beers, eating another hearty meal and getting a good night's rest as we still had two more days to go of our German holiday.
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