Pegnitz River, Nuremberg

Pegnitz River flowing though Nuremberg – © David H. Enzel, 2024

The Pegnitz is a river in Franconia in the German state of Bavaria. The source of the river is in the town of Pegnitz which has a population of about 15,000 inhabitants. The city of Bayreuth is about 27 km to the north. The Pegnitz meets the Rednitz in Fürth to form the Regnitz river. The Pegnitz is about 113 km (70 mi) long and flows through Nuremberg (population 545,000). Nuremberg, shown above, is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and the 14th-largest city in Germany. Nuremberg Castle and the city’s walls, with their many towers, are among the most impressive in Europe. 

Nuremberg held great significance during the Nazi era from 1933-1945. The German Nazi Party chose the city to be the site of huge Nazi Party conventions: the Nuremberg rallies. The rallies were held in 1927, 1929 and annually from 1933 through 1938. After Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 the Nuremberg rallies became huge Nazi propaganda events, 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 ordered the Reichstag to convene at Nuremberg to pass the Nuremberg Laws which revoked German citizenship for all Jews and other non-Aryans. Between 1945 and 1946, the top surviving German leaders were tried for Nazi Germany’s crimes, including the crimes of the Holocaust. Their trial was held before an International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Courtroom 600 in Nuremberg, shown below. The cross was not present during the IMT but was added later by the post-war German government.

Courtroom 600, Nuremberg Palace of Justice, Nuremberg Germany – © David H. Enzel, 2024