Cruising Europe: Nuremberg

The trip to Nuremberg was in fact the very best part of this day. This is the section of the trip that brings us through the Main Danube Canal and has the greatest number and height of locks. Between Bachhausen and Hipolstein we pass the Continental Divide and the rivers begin to flow in opposite directions we are at the highest place on earth that can be reached by boat, more than 1300 feet above sea level! The Hipolstein lock just after the Divide, with a 24.76m drop, offered incredible views and appreciation of these engineering marvels.

While waiting at the single channel pass at Hipolstein a local expert hopped aboard and offered a fascinating talk on the system of locks. While the canal was opened in 1992 for traffic, it was actually Charlemange who first envisioned the waterway more than 12 centuries ago. While his efforts mostly failed, King Ludwig I of Bavaria tried it again in the mid-1800s and created a canal that operated until 1945. The reconstruction of the present Main-Danube apparently caused lively debate over environmental and economic consequences. In the end the economists largely overestimated projections and the canal still only transports 8 million of it 18 million ton capacity. The environmentalist underestimated the positive aspects of the project in controlling water to help manage both droughts and floods. It is believed, for example that the damage of the recent floods would have been far worse without the control of the locks. Most interesting to me though was the fact current use of the canal shows that the 56% of use for cargo is going down and passenger travel, currently at 39%, is going up! This was apparently unpredicted. When the locks were first built with small side roads at the docks etc., it was believed that “no one would ever take that long to get from point A to point B” so there was no need to plan for passenger or recreational traffic.

Despite the recent floods, the current challenge, linked to the heat wave, is low water levels. The extreme low water levels mean that we are forced to move very slowly through the canal and that messes with our schedule. The cruise director on a river boat clearly has to be a flexible good problem solver who can think on her feet. Our plan was to arrive in Nuremberg to begin a tour in the early afternoon. The slower progress on the river meant that we wouldn’t arrive until late afternoon so things were quickly rearranged and we were let out on the top of a lock, walked down a very long hill into an open area where Danielle had rearranged to have the tour busses meet us. We then drove into the city to pick up some local guides and we were on our way! The only thing that was beyond anyone’s control was the temperature! Although it has been getting gradually warmer each day, today was the first day of unbearable heat. I’m afraid it may have affected my perception of Nuremberg as a larger city that in many ways was like any other big city. Much of the city had been destroyed during the war and so much of what we saw was obvious reconstruction. It seemed to have little to offer that we hadn’t already seen by way of architecture and although its significance during the Second World War and the history of the Nuremberg Trials is indeed fascinating, there was not enough opportunity to truly appreciate that on this trip.

This evening our local entertainment included two Bavarian beer experts and our study and sampling of local Lagers, Pilsners, Dark and Wheat Beers was quite a nice way to end our day – prost!