Reichsparteitagelaende

As was my plan, I got a haircut today! It went pretty well. This is the result.

This is the Zeppelin Field, which, along with the Congress Hall, is the most intact of the structures built by the Third Reich. In the film, Triumph of the Will, Hitler gave a speech here to the Hitlerjugend, the Hitler Youth. He stood on the podium with the iron railing seen here. The building behind him had an immense swastika on top, but when the Americans invaded Nuremberg, they dynamited it. The explosion was captured on video, and is one of the most famous images of the European Theater.

Neither part of this video was taken by me. Skip to 0:09 for the kaboom.

Looking out at the field from the stairs above Hitler's podium. As you can see, it's still an active municipal park, with a running track, lanes for an auto racing circuit, and two sections of original grandstand. Notice the grass growing on the stands to the right -- the Nazis intended these grounds to last a thousand years. They won't last another 50 without upkeep.

It was incredibly creepy standing here. I took one picture, left, and didn't look back.

The swastika would have been above this structure.

These stands, where Hitler's Honor Guard would have stood during the rallies, are still in active use. Fans cheer on their favorite drivers in an annual auto race around the city that starts here.

These stones were mined, shaped, and set by slave labor. Every block contributed to someone's death.

Is this a sports stadium or a bunker? Albert Speer's architecture is designed to evoke simultaneous terror and awe. In the Congress Hall he channels the Roman Empire; here, a military base.

The aforementioned Congress Hall is a tribute to Roman architecture. It was to be a meeting place for the Party Congress, one of the many reasons for the Reichsparteitage.

Today, it is called the Dokumentationszentrum, and it is Germany's official Third Reich museum. It tracks the rise of National Socialism from Hitler's youth to its fall at the end of the war and the Nuremberg Trials.

Relics of the Party's rise to power...

...and its fall.

The inner ring of the Congress Hall would have featured a massive rotunda with seats for the Party Congress.

German Word of the Day / Deutsches Wort des Tages
Reichsparteitagelaende :: Nazi Party Rally Grounds
Die Reichsparteitagelaende sind noch Benutzt; Autorennen und Volksfeste finden da statt.
The Nazi Party Rally Grounds are still used; auto races and Volksfests take place there.