The Zeppelin Tribune after its 1937
completion (Bock, 1938).
US troops detonate Zeppelintribüne swastika
Albert Speer -The architect of the devil
Nazi party rally grounds 1940
Nazi party rally grounds (in German Reichsparteitagsgelände) is the name
of a site in the southeast of Nuremberg (UGN: 49.43° N 11.12° E), where
the Nazi party rallies were held from 1933 until 1938. It includes the
Congress Hall, the Zeppelin Field, the Märzfeld (March Field), the
Deutsche Stadion (German stadium), the former Stadion der Hitlerjugend
("stadium of the Hitler Youth", today Frankenstadion) and the Große
Straße ("great road"). The party grounds were planned by Hitler's first
architect
Albert Speer (except of the Congress hall, which was planned by Ludwig
and Franz Ruff).
Today, the whole site serves as a memorial. Parts of the area are
today used as the Norisring motor racing track.
The buildings
Luitpoldarena
Hall of Honour in the Luitpoldhain
Since 1933 the parkway of the Luitpoldhain (literally translated:
Luitpold grove) was replaced by a strictly structured deployment areal ,
the so called Luitpoldarena, with an area of 84,000 m². Opposite to the
Ehrenhalle (Hall of Honour) a tribune was built. At the Ehrenhalle
itself now primary a commemoration of the dead of the Hitlerputsch (Beer
Hall Putsch) of 1923 took place. Tribune and hall were connected by a
wide granite way.
In this area during the party convents the deployments of the SA
and the SS with up to 150,000 people took place here. The central
"relic" here was the "Blutfahne" (Blood flag), which was allegedly
carried by the Beer Hall Putsch rebels and was soaked with the blood of
one of them. At the Blutfahnenweihe (Blood flag consecration) new
Standarten (flags) of SA- and SS-units were "consecrated" by touching
their guidons with the Blutfahne.
Luitpold Hall The Luitpold Hall (Luitpoldhalle) (built 1906) had an
outline of 180 m x 50 m and provided place for up to 16,000 people.
During the party convention the party congress took place here. The
facade was changed in a monumental style.
Interior view of Luitpold Hall before re-modelling by the NS regime (Germanisches
Nationalmuseum Nürnberg).
Original façade of Luitpold Hall (Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg).
The Luitpold Hall with the re-modelled façade during the NS era (Stadtarchiv
Nuremberg).
Opening of the 1934 “Party Congress” in Luitpold Hall (Documentation
Centre).
Congress Hall The Congress Hall (Kongresshalle) is the biggest
preserved national socialist monumental building and is landmarked. It
was planned by the Nuremberg architects Ludwig and Franz Ruff. It was
planned as a congress centre for the NSDAP with a self-supporting roof
and should have provided 50,000 seats. It was located on the shore of
and in the pond Dutzendteich and marked the entrance of the rally
grounds. The building reached a height of 39 meters (43 yards) (a height
of 70 metres was planned) and a diameter of 250 meters (278 yards). The
building is mostly built out of clinker, the facade was faced with
granite-panels. Especially the outer facade is (amongst others) oriented
at the Colosseum in Rome. The laying of the foundation stone was 1935.
The building stayed unfinished, especially the roof is missing. The
building with an outline of an "U" ends with two head-buildings (areal
photo). Since 2000 in the northern of both buildings the documentation
center "Faszination und Gewalt" (fascination and terror) is placed. In
the southern building, the Serenadenhof, the Nürnberger Symphoniker have
their domicile.
Great Road (Große Straße) The great road is almost 2 km (1.25 miles) long and 40 meters (44
yards) wide. It was intended to be the central axis of the site and a
parade road for the Wehrmacht. It reached from the Congress Hall to the
Märzfeld, the construction work was finished in 1939 (it has never been
used as a parade road, because due to the beginning of World War II, the
last rally was held in 1938). The pavement was made of granite in black
and gray with edges of exactly 1.2 meters (1.3 yards). After the war,
the road has been used as a temporary airfield for the US Army.
Große Straße (Congress Hall in the background)
Zeppelin Field The Zeppelin Field (in German: Zeppelinfeld) is located
east of the Great Road. It consists of a large grandstand (Zeppelinhaupttribüne)
with a width of 360 meters (400 yards) and a smaller stand. It was one
of Albert Speer's first works for the Nazi party and was based upon the
Pergamon Altar.
In the 1970s, the pillars were removed. The rest of the stand is
intact and used as the centerpiece of the Norisring motor racing track.
From 1947 to 1995 the Nurnberg American High School, a DoDDS
facility, used the field (called 'Soldiers Field') for high school
football and soccer.
Along with his plans for the Welthauptstadt Germania
("world capital Germania"), Albert Speer made the plans for the world's
largest stadium which was to be located on the rally grounds. Derived
from the Circus Maximus in Rome, it would have offered 400,000 seats.
In 1938, the construction began with the excavation. It was
stopped in 1939, but during the whole war, the casting pit had to be
kept dry from entering ground water. After the war, the northern half of
the pit filled up with the water and is today called Silbersee (silver
lake), the southern half was used to deposit the debris of the destroyed
downtown Nuremberg.
Märzfeld The Märzfeld (March Field) was a representation and
parade ground for the Wehrmacht. Its dimensions were 955 x 610 meters
(1,061 x 677 yards). The construction began in 1938 and had never been
finished, after the war, the accomplished constructions were demolished.
Today, on this part of the site are apartment houses.
At the southern end of the "Great Road" was created in 1938 with the
construction of approximately 800 x 1000 metre "March field started. The
name of this further, huge deployment site should be adapted to the
restoration of military sovereignty of the German Reich in March 1935
recall. The field itself was - much like the Zeppelin field - as a venue
for staging parades and review of the Wehrmacht.
The field should be around March of about 14 meters high spectator
stands (for about 160,000 people) surrounded, which stands at regular
intervals by 26 per 40-meter-high towers would have been subdivided. In
the middle of the south-east flank was a total of about 60 meters high
official gallery, which by a group of figures would have been crowned:
This created by Josef Thorak statuary group should be in the middle of a
female allegory of victory.
When the war began in March 1939 the field was a third complete: 11 of
the 26 planned towers had been built.
In the postwar years, the March Field from the American army as a
storage area and a small military training area. The mid-sixties was the
site of the city of Nuremberg, the March Field in the towers were
dynamited the years 1966-67 and the quarrystone Lärmschutzwällen
construction material or as a terrace plates sold. Today is located on
the former March Field area and Others "Paula neighborhood as part of
the satellite town long water.