Nürnberg

media type="youtube" key="j60HNKv3F28" height="286" width="400" 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 annually from 1927 to 1938 in Nuremberg. After [|Adolf Hitler's rise to power] in 1933 the Nuremberg rallies became huge [|Nazi propaganda] events, a centre of Nazi ideals.
 * Nuremberg i**s a city in the [|German] [|state] of [|Bavaria], in the [|administrative region] of [|Middle Franconia]. Situated on the [|Pegnitz river] and the [|Rhine–Main–Danube Canal], it is located about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of [|Munich] and is [|Franconia]'s largest city. The population (as of December 2010) is 505,664. The "European Metropolitan Area Nuremberg" has 3.5 million inhabitants.

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 anti-Semitic [|Nuremberg Laws] which revoked German [|citizenship] for all [|Jews]. A number of premises were constructed solely for these assemblies, some of which were not finished. Today many examples of [|Nazi architecture] can still be seen in the city.

During [|World War II], 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. Extensive use was made of [|slave labour].[|[][|7][|]] The city was severely damaged in [|Allied strategic bombing] from 1943–45.

On January 2, 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 17 April to 21 April 1945 by the US [|3rd Infantry Division], [|42nd Infantry Division], and [|45th Infantry Division], which fought house-to-house and block-by-block 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 some of its medieval buildings. However, the biggest part of the historic structural condition of the old Imperial Free City was lost forever.

[|Nazi Party Rally Grounds]