Nazi Party Rally Grounds

The Nazi party rally grounds (Reichsparteitagsgelände) covered about 11 square kilometres in the southeast of Nuremberg. Six Nazi party rallies were held there between 1933 and 1938.

Only Zeppelinfeld, Luitpoldarena and Große Straße were finished. The Kongresshalle, Zeppelinfeld and the Große Straße have been under monument protection since 1973 as significant examples for NS architecture. The grounds were planned by Hitler's architect Albert Speer, apart from the Congress hall, which was planned by Ludwig and Franz Ruff. Today the whole site is a memorial, and parts are used as the Norisring motor racing track.

On 30 August 1933 Hitler declared Nuremberg the 'City of the Reich Party Congresses'. The Party Congresses were a self-portrayal of the NS-state and had no programmatic task. The unity of the nation was to be demonstrated. In a propagandistic way a relation was to be drawn between the NS movement and the glory of the medieval emperors and the meetings of the Imperial States which were held in Nuremberg.

The 'Ehrenhalle' was built by the city of Nuremberg according to a plan of German architect Fritz Mayer. It was inaugurated in 1930, before the Hitler era during the Weimar Republic. It is an arcaded hall with an adjacent cobbled stone terrace with two rows of pedestals for fire bowls. All fourteen pylons remain virtually intact and have not been ignited since the final Nazi party rally in September 1938. Originally the hall was to be a memorial site for the 9,855 soldiers from Nuremberg who were fallen in World War I.

The Congress Hall is the biggest preserved national socialist monumental building and is landmarked. It was planned by the Nuremberg architects Ludwig and Franz Ruff. It was intended to serve 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 design is inspired by the Colosseum in Rome. The foundation stone was laid in 1935, but the building remained unfinished and without a roof. The building with an outline of an 'U' ends with two head-buildings.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Kurt-Schmidtpeter-Weg 10, Nuremberg, Germany

Details

Founded: 1933
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Germany
Historical period: Nazi Germany (Germany)