No trip to Germany
is complete without some reminder of World War II and the Holocaust. Today
we will visit the concentration camp at Dachau.
Here is what is left of the original depot.
A sculpture added in front of the administration building, which is now
the museum.
These empty foundations are where the rest of the barracks would have
been.
Here is part of the site plan.
In the back area, there are a number of small chapels for the various
religions; this is the Jewish chapel.
Here is the perimeter fence, including moat and electrified wire fence.
The old cremation area.
And the new cremation area.
This is just a sign on the small entry gate, not like the huge "Arbeit
Macht Frei" sign in Auschwitz.
Here is a map of the various concentration camps, to give you a scope
of the overall extermination project. The displays in the museum were
pretty sterile, and did not convey the horror they might have.
The statue of the imprisoned population.
One barrack has been preserved and/or rebuilt.
Again, with the clean wood and no artifacts, you cannot really get a
sense of the horror.
On the road again. We stop for a toilet break and lunch. They have a
nice system on the Autobahn: you use the bathroom for 70 cents, and you
get a coupon good for 50 cents off in the stores or restaurants. That
way they pay for the bathroom upkeep and still encourage business.
We drive the Romantic Road and end up at Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We
have a lovely hotel which is inside the old city walls. Our room is on
the third floor on the left.
Here is the view from our room out to the city walls.
It is called the Prinzhotel Rothenburg.
We go for a walk around this charming city. Here is the window display
in a bookstore.
During the rebuilding efforts, the various cities had the option to try
to rebuild to capture the old ways, or to build for the future. Rothenburg
is one of the places where they chose to rebuild the old world charm.
Us taking a short break in front of the well in the main square. The
red cords are listening devices, so Noel can give us information without
shouting, while we walk around the city.
More shots of the main square.
Kimberly and I set out for our own walk, and end up at the English gardens
on the other end of town.
The view off of one side from the English gardens.
And the other side looking back toward the city walls.
The main church. You do have to like the flying buttresses.
Wade decides to climb the city wall.
Here is the view from one of the arrow slits.
And the view back to Kimberly on the patio in the hotel.
We walk around the city some more after dinner. Did you know Birkenstocks
come from Germany? Hans did. Wade did not.
And the main square at twilight. It doesn't get much more charming than
this.
