Research Paper About Hitleria
WELTHAUPTSTADT GERMANIA
In 1937, Hitler informed the Reichstag his plan on modernizing German capitals. Appointing architect Albert Speer as the Inspector General of Buildings, giving him the powers and authority of G.B.I (General Bau Inspektor). (Speer 1985, 45) The plan – to transform the “sprawling metropolis” Berlin that it was, into a monumental capital - 'Welthauptstadt Germania' or 'World Capital Germania'; A redevelopment plan that might have proceeded if the Nazis won the World War II. (Connolly 2016)
Amongst the plans for this grand and magnificent city included a stadium for approximately 405,000 spectators, a new Chancellery with a massive volume of 360,000m3, a Colossal Triumphal Arch (similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris …show more content…
Long suffering Germans felt they have found their saviour based on his gift in public speaking and the propaganda department – producing art, films and books to praise Hitler and embracing his vision of “a Better Germany”. (HISTORY.com n.d.) In relation to the architecture for Welthauptstadt Germania, Speer mentions that it was to have a “powerful impact” and that the vast magnitude of the buildings were to dictate the political programme as it conceives to hold a million people in them. Furthermore, sharing that when Hitler “spoke of the effect of a building he had planned, he always referred to its power of suggestion” enthusiastically. He saw these ‘architecture of assemblies’ as the device in assisting in the establishment of his domination. It was to bring the same effect as a mass of people inside a Roman amphitheatre, feeling themselves to be ‘a single unity with one spirit’ – “intending to impress the people with their own power”. (Speer 1985, 213 - 214) …show more content…
(See Figure 3 & 4) And reemphasising Coleman’s point that “while the visionary may retreat into impossibility as a way of escaping the limitations of the present” and that utopians can think “beyond those limitations”, “[take] the first steps toward them, even if ultimate or total achievement is never possible, or even the real aim” (Coleman 2014, 10), Speer found a problem within the plans of building their massive structure. A Schwerbelastungskörper, or ‘heavy load-bearing body’ was built to help Speer’s engineers gauge whether the proposed Arch of Triumph could be built on Berlin’s sandy soil. (Moorhouse
In 1937, Hitler informed the Reichstag his plan on modernizing German capitals. Appointing architect Albert Speer as the Inspector General of Buildings, giving him the powers and authority of G.B.I (General Bau Inspektor). (Speer 1985, 45) The plan – to transform the “sprawling metropolis” Berlin that it was, into a monumental capital - 'Welthauptstadt Germania' or 'World Capital Germania'; A redevelopment plan that might have proceeded if the Nazis won the World War II. (Connolly 2016)
Amongst the plans for this grand and magnificent city included a stadium for approximately 405,000 spectators, a new Chancellery with a massive volume of 360,000m3, a Colossal Triumphal Arch (similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris …show more content…
Long suffering Germans felt they have found their saviour based on his gift in public speaking and the propaganda department – producing art, films and books to praise Hitler and embracing his vision of “a Better Germany”. (HISTORY.com n.d.) In relation to the architecture for Welthauptstadt Germania, Speer mentions that it was to have a “powerful impact” and that the vast magnitude of the buildings were to dictate the political programme as it conceives to hold a million people in them. Furthermore, sharing that when Hitler “spoke of the effect of a building he had planned, he always referred to its power of suggestion” enthusiastically. He saw these ‘architecture of assemblies’ as the device in assisting in the establishment of his domination. It was to bring the same effect as a mass of people inside a Roman amphitheatre, feeling themselves to be ‘a single unity with one spirit’ – “intending to impress the people with their own power”. (Speer 1985, 213 - 214) …show more content…
(See Figure 3 & 4) And reemphasising Coleman’s point that “while the visionary may retreat into impossibility as a way of escaping the limitations of the present” and that utopians can think “beyond those limitations”, “[take] the first steps toward them, even if ultimate or total achievement is never possible, or even the real aim” (Coleman 2014, 10), Speer found a problem within the plans of building their massive structure. A Schwerbelastungskörper, or ‘heavy load-bearing body’ was built to help Speer’s engineers gauge whether the proposed Arch of Triumph could be built on Berlin’s sandy soil. (Moorhouse