Nazi use of architecture in WW II
Uploaded by Andyakameaty on May 24, 2007
Upon coming to power, Hitler vowed to bring Nazi Germany back to the “good old days” - to its former glory. He did this through many means throughout his reign as both chancellor and Führer. Many of which are now famous worldwide - the massive army building and propaganda campaign just being one of such. But something that is perhaps all too often overlooked is the Nazi use of sculpture and Architecture within Germany.
During his youth Hitler applied to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and was rejected both times. He was told that he excelled in architecture, which he later realised to be true.
[i:001397ae7a]"The purpose of my trip was to study the picture gallery in the Court Museum, but I had eyes for scarcely anything but the Museum itself. From morning until late at night, I ran from one object of interest to another, but it was always the buildings which held my primary interest."[/i:001397ae7a]
(Mein Kampf, Chapter II, paragraph 3).
It is quite fitting then that Hitler should use his fascination with architecture and sculpture to his advantage within Nazi Germany. Hitler already regarded many ancient cultures such as the Romans and Greeks as being early forms of the Aryan race and admired their architecture greatly, and as previously mentioned Hitler wanted to restore Germany to its former glory. Therefore he replaced the semi-contemporary architecture with the more classical, ancient architecture which gave way to the first nationalist architecture. Whilst doing so he (or rather Speer) modified it. This was so that it did not simply recreate the past, but to bring Germany a new future through the ideals of the German and/or Aryan past.
Albert Speer was the chief architect in Nazi Germany and designed many of the buildings situated in Germany today including the Nuremburg Zeppelin field and the German Pavilion. He constructed his architecture without using reinforcement techniques or concrete to give what he called “ruin value”. The idea behind this was that years from being built the buildings would leave “aesthetically pleasing ruins” much like the roman coliseum or Greek theatres. This idea pleased Hitler who enjoyed the idea of Immortal fame. In general there were 2 different forms of Nazi architecture. The neo-classical style was usually used on imperial and state buildings and on buildings in urban areas. In the countryside a more relaxed form of völkisch was often used with a focus on folklore...