Albert Speer

:For the son of Albert Speer, also an architect, see Albert Speer (the younger)

First Architect of the Reich

Troost died in 1934, and Speer was chosen to replace him as the Party's chief architect. One of his first commissions after his promotion was perhaps the most familiar of his designs: the Zeppelintribune, the Nuremberg parade grounds seen in Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda masterpiece, Triumph of the Will. In his autobiography, Speer claimed that, upon seeing the original design, he made a derogatory remark to the effect that the parade ground would resemble a "rifle club" meet. He was then challenged to create a new design.

Related Topics:
1934 - Zeppelintribune - Nuremberg - Leni Riefenstahl - Triumph of the Will

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The grounds were based on ancient Doric architecture of the Pergamon Altar in Turkey, but magnified to an enormous scale, capable of holding two hundred and forty thousand people. At the 1934 Party rally on the parade grounds, Speer surrounded the site with one hundred and fifty anti-aircraft searchlights. This created the effect of a "cathedral of light," as it was called by British Ambassador Sir Neville Henderson.

Related Topics:
Doric - Pergamon Altar - Turkey - Anti-aircraft - Searchlights - British - Ambassador - Sir Neville Henderson

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Nuremberg was also to be the site of many more official Nazi buildings, most of which were never built; for example, the German Stadium would have held another four hundred thousand spectators as the site of the Aryan Games, a proposed replacement for the Olympic Games. While planning these buildings, Speer invented the theory of "ruin value." According to this theory, enthusiastically supported by Hitler, all new buildings would be constructed in such a way that they would leave aesthetically pleasing ruins thousands of years in the future. Such ruins would be a testament to the greatness of the Third Reich, just as ancient Greek or Roman ruins were symbols of the greatness of their civilizations.

Related Topics:
Aryan Games - Olympic Games - Ruin value - Third Reich - Greek - Roman

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In 1937 Speer designed the German Pavilion for the 1937 international exposition in Paris. Speer's work was located directly across from the Soviet Pavilion and was designed to represent a massive defense against the onslaught of communism. Both pavilions were awarded gold medals for their designs.

Related Topics:
1937 - German - 1937 international exposition in Paris - Soviet - Communism

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Speer was also directed to make plans to rebuild Berlin, which was to become the capital of a "Greater Germany" — Welthauptstadt Germania. The first step in these plans was the Olympic Stadium for the 1936 Summer Olympics, designed by Werner March. Speer also designed the new Reichs Chancellery, which included a vast hall designed to be twice as long as the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. Hitler wanted him to build a third, even larger Chancellery, although it was never begun. The second Chancellery was damaged by the Battle of Berlin in 1945 and was eventually demolished by the Soviet occupiers after the war.

Related Topics:
Capital - Welthauptstadt Germania - Olympic Stadium - 1936 Summer Olympics - Werner March - New Reichs Chancellery - Hall of Mirrors - Palace of Versailles - Battle of Berlin - 1945

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Almost none of the other buildings planned for Berlin were ever built. Berlin was to be reorganized along a central three-mile-(five km) long avenue. At the north end, Speer planned to build the Volkshalle — an enormous domed building, based on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The dome of the building would have been impractically large; it would be over seven hundred feet (over two hundred meters) high and eight hundred feet (three hundred meters) in diameter, sixteen times larger than the dome of St. Peter's. At the southern end of the avenue would be an arch based on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but again, much larger; it would be almost four hundred feet (120 m) high, and the Arc de Triomphe would have been able to fit inside its opening. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 led to the abandonment of these plans.

Related Topics:
Volkshalle - Domed - St. Peter's Basilica - Rome - Arch - Arc de Triomphe - World War II - 1939

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During his involvement in the rebuilding of Berlin, he was allegedly responsible for the forced deportation of Jews, evicting them from their houses to make room for his grand plans and for re-housing German citizens affected by this work. He was also listed as being present at the 1943 Posen Conference, although he supposedly left early.

Related Topics:
Jew - Posen Conference

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Speer did have an architectural rival: Hermann Giesler, whom Hitler also favored. There were frequent clashes between the two in regards to architectural matters and in closeness to Hitler.

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