Although Stuttgart is wealthy, I think whoever wins has a lot of work to do. Stuttgart is easily the ugliest place that I have visited in Germany. It seems rude to mention it since Allied bombing during World War II explains the absence of almost any of the charming old buildings that attract tourists to cities like Heidelberg. Stuttgart additionally tore down many of its few remaining prewar buildings during the 1960s. As a result, one of Germany's richest cities is blighted with the awful architecture of that period.

In contrast, Nürnberg (Nuremberg) has a charming Alt Stadt (old town) filled with prewar architecture. One of my kind hosts there mentioned that Nürnberg "has so much history." Rather undiplomatically, I replied "perhaps too much." She expressed that it is a shame that a short 15-year period had overshadowed the previous 1000 years. I agreed but could not help privately thinking that Nürnberg had been rather busy during that short period between the anti-Semitic Nürnberg laws and the annual massive Nazi rallies. The postwar trials of leading Nazis may have helped the city redeem itself though it further indelibly linked the city with the rise and fall of the Nazi regime.

I'm afraid that the weight of history never really quite left me in in Nürnberg even as I admired the architecture and had a great time speaking to about 200 lively gymansium (high school) students about American politics. After all, Nürnberg has become such a byword for Nazi-style fascism even in America. In 1992, some commentators dryly commented that Pat Buchanan's speech would have fit in nicely in Nürnberg. No one had to explain to the American public what they meant.

Nürnberg has turned the former site of the annual enormous Nazi party rallies into a document center and museum. The museum reviews not only the horrors of the Nazi period but attempts to explain how the regime used propaganda and the rallies to help retain its hold on the minds of the German people. I saw several groups of German students trundling through it so the museum is not ignored. Still, it was jarring to see students filling in class assignment sheets while gossipping and laughing among themselves much as kids in my class did when we visited the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum even though the subject matter is a bit different.

One byproduct of World War II is apparent during the question-and-answer period after each of my talks about American politics. I have now spoken about American politics to groups from around the world. Wherever I go, I invariably get questions about America's support for Israel. The questions sometimes even veer in the direction of "Do Jews really run your country's elections and government?" Except in Germany where the subject is never mentioned. It reminds me of Sen. Edward Kennedy's silence during the Clarence Thomas hearings. On some issues, people know they have no moral authority. However, that does not save me from getting an earful about Iraq.

Tübingen and Heidelberg both have even prettier and more charming old towns than Nürnberg without quite so much historical baggage. Or maybe university professors like myself are just partial to college towns. In any case, both manage the clever feat of attracting many tourists but without becoming touristy. As university towns, they have more than their share of both bookstores and bars. Heidelberg is holding a street fair tonight in the old town with lots of bands that seem to play mainly covers of English-language tunes. The excellent local beer also is flowing freely. Maybe too freely? One exuberant young man just tried to moon me through the window as I sat typing this!