Nazi Documentation Center

The Nazi Documentation Center is located in the immense Congress Hall, a lakeside walk away from the Nazi Party Rally Grounds in the southern suburbs of Nuremberg.As the largest Nazi structure still standing, the Congress Hall itself is of note; it was intended as the meeting place of the Nazi Party and was to have a roof and seating for 50,000 delegates; modeled on the Colosseum in Rome, it was never completed but is still staggering in its proportions. Today much of it is derelict, with the great central space overgrown by self-rooted trees and weeds, but it’s still a stark reminder of the obscene power of Hitler’s Fascist regime.
Although the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra gives summer concerts here, most of the Congress Hall stands empty, but in 2011 the Nazi Documentation Center opened inits north wing. A marvel of modern architecture by Günther Domenig, it sits bizarrely boxlike above the Congress Hall and its purpose is to educate people to ensure that Nazism can never happens again. Using the Nuremberg Trials of 1945 as its central focus, the permanent exhibition is entitled ‘Fascination and Terror’ and through the use of film, documentation, models and eyewitness statement, it delves deep into the mindset of a country seemingly hypnotized into accepting the tragedy of the Holocaust.

Practical Info

Located at Bayernstrasse 110, the site is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Adult admission costs €5, while it costs €3 for seniors and students. A family ticket costs €10.50. Take Tram Line 9 or Bus line 36, 55, 65 to Doku-Zentrum, or train S2 to Dutzendteich Bahnhof.