Nazi Rally Grounds

In the book Difficult Heritage, Sharon Macdonald shares two approaches on remembering. “One approach to difficult heritage is to obliterate it – to remove it from view. Another, related, is to ‘mutilate’ or ‘deface’ it – a procedure that might make its origins unclear and that is often perceived as removing its power or ability to ‘give testimony’” (p. 52). Thinking back to our trip to the Nazi Rally grounds, these two approaches can be applied. In one sense the city of Nuremberg has tried to maintain the grounds to the highest possible standards. Our guide said that the city alone pays nearly 5 million Euros per year to keep the grounds maintained.  They have built a beautiful museum and the grounds themselves are nicely manicured. But in another sense, it seems as if they have “mutilated” it by re-purposing it. 

Upon arrival, I noticed many activities going on that were obviously not things that happened during the war. What stood out to me were the people boating in the man-made reservoir when you enter the grounds. Albert Speer, who was tried during the Nuremberg Trials, was responsible for the construction of this reservoir, which served as the main water feature. Initially, this reservoir served as decoration and water supply, but today people can go and rent boats and enjoy a day in the water. The fact that people can go and enjoy something that was once used by Hitler as a place to show the excellence of the Nazi party and celebrate their success is disturbing to me. While the city has tried to maintain the grounds, their efforts almost seem pointless to me if they are going to allow people to come on a sunny afternoon and enjoy a leisurely ride in a boat with friends and family.