Verboten Love

Hitler & Architecture

Arguably Adolf Hitler’s greatest passion and pastime outside of his quest for world domination was his obsession with architecture and urban design. So much so that he not only had grandiose plans for a total revision of Berlin but also had extensive plans for the redesign of just about every major city in Germany. Below are a large series of photographs of him intently developing and revising his plans for Munich, Nuremberg, Bayreuth, and Weimar as well as his hometown of Linz in Austria. He wanted his new buildings and monuments to demonstrate the determination, strength and power of his rapidly expanding Reich.

Hitler’s inspiration was rooted in his admiration for the grandeur and the conquests of the Roman Empire, which employed an architecture of colossal and awe-inspiring dimensions that glorified a victory ideology. Neoclassical architecture was his guiding aesthetic, which utilized the most celebrated architectural elements in all of history like obelisks, domes, columns and arches. Hitler incorporated these “eternal” elements to reflect the foundation of his thousand year reich. So important was this endeavor that he established an ‘Office of Construction’ in order to bring all of his plans and ideas into reality. He made sure that there would be no shortage of labor, materials, and financial resources in the creation of an imperial architecture for the new Germany.

One of the earliest photographs of Adolf Hitler and his favorite architect Albert Speer, taken at *Haus Wachenfeld* in the summer of 1933.

The New Berlin: Germania

“Architecture is politics in Stone: that was Hitler’s concept for his buildings”.
-Albert Speer

Germania was Adolf Hitler’s name for the future World Capital that was to be built over Berlin after the ultimate victory of the Third Reich. At the center of his new city would stand a colossal domed structure he named the “Volkshalle” (People’s Hall), a 290-meter-high dome that could hold 180,000 people. It was inspired by the design of the ancient Roman Pantheon, and Albert Speer based his design on a sketch of the ancient Roman temple made by Hitler back in 1925. In 1938, during his state visit with Mussolini in Rome, Hitler made a special point of visiting the Pantheon. While the Pantheon had been created for an empire that survived four centuries, the Volkshalle was to symbolize an even greater empire planned to endure for a thousand years.

Model of the World Capital of Germania, planned to be completed by 1950, with the Volkshalle dominating the heart of the city.

Adolf Hitler looks at a model of the proposed Berlin Opera House during a visit to Nazi architect Woldemar Brinkmann. Brinkmann worked with Paul Troost on several projects, including this unbuilt Opera House that would have seated 3,000 people, three times as big as the Paris Opera or Vienna State Opera.

Adolf Hitler inspects the model for the Haus des Deutschen Fremdenverkehrs (House of Tourism) on 19 January 1937, together with Brigade leader Julius Schaub, General Inspector Dr. Fritz Todt, Reich Press Officer Dr. Otto Dietrich, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and the President of Tourism Hermann Esser at the Berghof. On 13 June 1938, at the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone by Adolf Hitler, three hammer blows were transmitted via loud speakers to 15 other construction sites in Berlin, signalling the start of work on the redesign of the Reich capital.

Adolf Hitler (far left) views the model of a planned triumphal arch for Berlin. With him are Reich Leader Martin Bormann, Reich Leader Philip Bouhler and the architect Albert Speer (far right) examining Speer’s model of the triumphal arch, presented upon the occasion of Hitler’s fiftieth birthday party on 20 April 1939. Also note the intricate swastika pattern on the carpet in the Reich Chancellory.

Adolf Hitler and Minister Ferruccio Lantini in front of a model of the Runden Platz in Berlin at the opening of the architecture and applied arts exhibition in Munich’s Haus der Deutschen Kunst on 10 December 1938.

Below are two photographs from 14 June 1938, the day of the laying of the foundation stone for the ‘House of German Tourism’ at the ‘Runden Platz’ (near the Potsdamer Bruecke) in Berlin. Hermann Esser, chairman of the Reichsgruppe Fremdenverkehr, Reich Minister of Justice Dr. Franz Guertner, Dr. Robert Ley, leader of the German Labour Front (DAF), General Building Inspector for the Reich Capital Albert Speer, Dr. Karl Brandt, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels were all present for the ceremony.

Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer working on architectural plans for Berlin at the Bechstein house on the Obersalzberg on 16 February 1937.

Adolf Hitler during a visit to the atelier of architect Woldemar Brinkmann on 15 October 1938, where he is shown the plans for Munich’s opera house and Berlin’s Reichstag.

Munich Makover

Like Berlin, the new Munich was to be organized around a grand east-west axis, with the planned Kuppel railway station at the west end and the monumental ‘Denkmal der Bewegung’ (Monument of the Movement’) anchoring the East. The boulevard would have extended over a total distance of 4 km, populated with ministries, cinemas, palaces, exhibition halls and party buildings until terminating at the new train station at the Friedenheimer bridge. It was designed by the architect Hermann Giesler, appointed by Hitler as General Counselor on the reconstruction of the ‘Capital of the Movement’.

Model of the new Munich, as Adolf Hitler wished. It shows the planned east-west axis with the Kuppel railway station at the west end.

The impressive dome of the central train station was to become a monument of the new era. Although the building was architecturally very impressive it was not a functional design. With a diameter of 265 meters, a huge dome 136 meters high would need to be erected. The entire space of the dome would have remained unused as the tracks were seven meters underground. The domed structure was therefore a functionless monument. The size of the building was only necessary to form an effective western end of the boulevard.

Model of the reimagined city of Munich by Hermann Giesler (center) created between the years of 1939 to 1943. Hitler imagined a giant new underground railway station, the New Main Station of Munich, covered by a huge dome 900 feet across which would be bigger than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Adolf Hitler looking at the model of the large East-West axis of Munich in 1940. The 175 meter tall ‘Denkmal der Bewegung’ (Monument of the Movement’) dominates the skyline of the city. Architects Giesler and Speer drew up designs for this structure based on Hitler’s exact specifications. The “blood flag” was to be set up inside the base, the flag that was carried with the Putsch in 1923 and was previously a relic held in the Brown House.

Adolf Hitler examines a model of the ‘Denkmal der Bewegung’ (Monument of the Movement’). Architects Giesler and Speer drew up designs for this structure based on Hitler’s sketches. On a square base (100 x 100 meters) a metal clad pillar should rise to a height of about 175 meters. A sculpture was to be erected on it, showing the imperial eagle with the globe in its claws. The same sculpture was also to adorn the top of the Great Hall in Berlin.

Gigantomania in the form of a model: Adolf Hitler and general building officer Hermann Giesler examine a model of the planned east-west axis that should lead through Munich. © Bavarian State Library/Hoffmann Collection Munich – This is how Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler wanted to rebuild Munich.

Adolf Hitler showing off a model of his plans for the city of Munich at the House of German Art. After a speech by Joseph Goebbels, the ‘German Architecture and Crafts Exhibition’ opened at the House of German Art in Munich on 22 January 1938. From left to right: an Italian guest, an interpreter, Adolf Hitler, Reich Labor Leader Robert Ley, Reich Leader and Mayor of Munich Reich Karl Fiehler and Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels in front of the model of the proposed urban transformation of Munich.

Adolf Hitler explains a model of Munich to Joseph Goebbels (to his left) and to an Italian guest and an SS-officer on 22 January 1938 at the Haus der Deutschen Kunst.

Adolf Hitler during a visit to the atelier of architect Professor Leonhard Gall reviewing plans for the first major Nazi architectural project, the House of German Art. He was assistant to architect Paul Troost, and after Troost’s death in 1934, Gall took charge of the project alongside Troost’s widow Gerdy Troost.

Bayreuth, Nuremberg & Weimar

Hitler’s first architectural aspirations date back to the 1920’s, when he began preparing designs of the Berlin he planned to reconstruct as the capital of a Germanic kingdom. His dreams were ambitious, with monuments that would dwarf those of Rome in both scale and majesty. In Mein Kampf he had lamented the absence of monumentality and grandeur in German city architecture. Hitler found in Speer an architect capable of materializing his spatial megalomania. Architecture, for both Hitler and Speer, was more than just the art of giving shape to space but as a means of generating power through colossal spatial forms and a method of imparting a message.

Adolf Hitler with Albert Speer in Bayreuth’s Ludwig-Siebert-Halle, inspecting a model of a new building for the city on 25 July 1938.

Adolf Hitler in Bayreuth in front of construction plans for the redesign of the city; to the left: his personal adjutant and SS leader Julius Schaub, and his architect Albert Speer, on 25 July 1938. He also viewed models of the new Bayreuth buildings in the Ludwig Sieberthalle before attending the opera “Parsifal” later that evening in the festival hall.

Adolf Hitler, during a visit to Bayreuth, inspects models and plans for the development of the city in the Ludwig-Siebert Hall. (From left): Architect Reissinger, Hitler, Wieland Wagner, SA leader Brueckner, Gauleiters Waechtler and Ruckdeschel on 4 August 1939.

(Hitler, Speer & Ruff vor dem Grundriss der Kongresshalle Nürnberg, um 1934) Adolf Hitler, Albert Speer & Professor Ruff review the floor plan of the Nuremberg Congress Hall on 1 June 1934 in the Bismarck Room at the Reich Chancellery. Hitler approves the plan.

Lord Mayor Liebel, City Planning Officer Brugmann, Hitler and his personal architect Albert Speer inspect a model for the Kongresshalle in Nuremberg that was planned to surpass the Colosseum in Rome in size. Contruction started in 1935 but was never finished. The Congress Hall was intended to be a congress centre for the NSDAP with a self-supporting roof and would have provided 50,000 seats.

Hoffmann postcard showing Der Führer looking at a model of the planned Congress Hall for the Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg.

Adolf Hitler examining the plans for the new party buildings in Nuremberg on 24 February 1937. German architect Professor Albert Speer, second from right, updates Hitler on the progress being made on the expansion of the Reichsparteitagsgelände – Nazi Party Rally Grounds.

Adolf Hitler and Nazi Architect Albert Speer look at a model of the Deutsches Stadion (German Stadium) to be constructed in Nuremberg, with a capacity of 405,000. Its construction began in September 1937, and was scheduled for completion in 1943, but like most other Nazi monumental structures its construction was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II and it was never finished.

A picture dated May 4, 1939 at Nuremberg’s city hall shows German Chancellor and dictator Adolf Hitler and German architect Albert Speer (2nd R) looking at an urbanistic project for Nuremberg.

German dictator Adolf Hitler discussing together with the architect Albert Speer and Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel the plans for a new administration building for the provincial government in Weimar, Germany in 1936.

Adolf Hitler in Weimar in 1936 looking at a model for the new design of the Museumsplatz with Albert Speer and Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel.

Rare photograph of Adolf Hitler featured in the opening to the book *Bayerische Ostmark – Vier Jahre nationalsozialistische Aufbauarbeit in einem deutschen Grenzgau* (the East Bavarian Gau – Four Years of Nazi Progress in a German Border Land) published by Gauleiter Fritz Wächtler in 1937. Adolf Hitler and Gauleiter Wächtler examine a model for a Nazi building to be constructed in rural southeast Germany.

On the afternoon of 1 April 1939, Adolf Hitler joined Mayor Dr. Müller in the Wilhelmshaven town hall to view models for planned new buildings in this bustling port city on the North Sea; right: Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler. That morning Hitler had accepted an honorary citizenship certificate and attended the launch of the battleship “Tirpitz”, followed by speech given to all admirals and commanders.

Cologne’s Gauleiter Josef Grohé and Mayor Karl-Georg Schmidt discuss the redesign of Cologne with Adolf Hitler in the Hotel Dreesen in 1937. Like other cities, Grohé had successfully applied for the ‘Gau capital’ of Cologne to be incorporated into Hitler’s ‘New Design Cities’ that received official funds to rebuild in a National Socialist sense. The core element of the new design for Cologne was an east-west axis on the left side of the Rhine. Also planned were a new main train station, a giant Gau forum with Party buildings, and an enormous parade ground.

Hamburg

Adolf Hitler and Fritz Todt looked over a model of the Elbhochbrücke (Elbe High Bridge) proposed for the city of Hamburg on 18 May 1937 at Obersalzberg. Hitler proposed that the bridge was to have a height of more than 100 m and was therefore to eclipse the Golden Gate Bridge. “Hamburg needs something American,” he remarked during a barge trip through the “capital of German shipping” in 1936 while envisioning the future capital of world trade, and immediately drew up a sketch that he proposed to architect Albert Speer and later to urban planner Konstanty Gutschow.

Adolf Hitler in front of a model of the Hamburg Elbhochbrücke in conversation with the general inspector for German roads, Dr. Fritz Todt, and the architect Albert Speer (to his left); in the background left: his personal adjutant Albert Bormann, brigade leader of the NS Motor Corps (NSKK), right: Dr. Endres at the House of German Art in 1938.

Stuttgart

Adolf Hitler visiting the architect Paul Schultze-Naumburg and his wife Margarete in Saaleck on 26 August 1931. Schultze-Naumburg was a leading critic of modern art and architecture, he joined the Nazi Party in 1930 and became an important advocate of Nazi architecture. Hitler often spent hours with him in cafe’s around Munich drawing up architectural plans.

1937 Paris Exposition

Adolf Hitler had wanted to withdraw from participation in the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, but Albert Speer convinced him to participate after showing Hitler his plans for the German pavilion. Speer’s design culminated with a 500 foot tall tower crowned with the symbols of the Nazi state: an eagle and the swastika. The pavilion was conceived as a monument to “German pride and achievement”. Josef Thorak’s bronze sculpture ‘Comradeship’ stood outside the pavilion, depicting two enormous nude males, clasping hands and standing defiantly side by side. Speer saw the Paris Expo as an opportunity to broadcast to the world that a new and powerful Germany had a restored sense of national pride.

Dr. Albert Speer, Hitler’s chief architect, presents his model of the German Pavilion, designed for the World’s Fair in Paris in 1937. The massive, imposing, and ominous German Pavilion was topped off by the national eagle and swastika as designed by approved Third Reich artist Kurt Schmid Ehmens, while the entrance was flanked by bronze statuary created by Josef Thorack.

Adolf Hitler looks with the architect Albert Speer at Speer’s model of the German pavilion to be constructed for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937.

Adolf Hitler in front of a model of the ‘German House’ for the Paris World Exhibition in 1937; to the right: the architect Woldemar Brinkmann, responsible for the interior design of the Pavilions designed by Albert Speer, and Hitler’s accompanying doctor Dr. Karl Brandt in February 1936.

Linz and the Führermuseum

Adolf Hitler’s crowning architectural achievement was to be his Führermuseum, a vast art gallery and complex he planned to establish in his hometown of Linz, Austria. His insatiable collecting and plundering of artworks across Europe was for the establishment of this very museum. His obsession with the planning of every minutia for the design of the museum held up until the very eve of his demise. He would expound endlessly at every opportunity on even how the paintings were to be hung: with plenty of space between them, in rooms decorated with furniture and furnishings appropriate to the period, and even how they were to be lit. There was not one single detail of the presentation of the artworks that was too small for his consideration.

Hitler admiring the Führermuseum model in his bunker in February 1945. Hitler visited the model frequently during his time living under the Reich Chancellery, spending many hours sitting silently in front of it. The closer Germany came to military defeat, the more the viewing of the model became Hitler’s only relief. An invitation to view it with him was an indication of the Führer’s sympathy.

Adolf Hitler holds a meeting with architect Roderich Fick and Gauleiter August Eigruber to review more plans for Linz at the Berghof in June 1941.

Adolf Hitler inspects the model of his architectural plans for Linz, his hometown, at the studio of architect Hermann Giesler in Munich on 15 April 1943.

Starting in 1939, Nazi henchmen and art dealers bought and stole thousands of paintings, sculptures, tapestries and other objects from private collections across Europe, and then stockpiled them for future installation in Hitler’s Fuhrermuseum. Hitler helped draw up the architectural plans for his art museum, which megomaniacally grew to include a theater and an opera house, a hotel, a library and parade grounds. Many photographs exist showing Hitler pondering plans and gazing raptly at the model for the site.

Close up shot of Hitler’s hands while drafting plans for his Führermuseum that was to be constructed in his hometown of Linz.

Adolf Hitler inspects a model of his Führermuseum with architect Roderich Fick (left), Albert Speer (right) and Martin Bormann (far right) on 9 May 1939 out on the terrace of the Berghof.

Adolf Hitler refines his design for the Führermuseum to be constructed in his hometown of Linz, Austria.

Adolf Hitler in conversation with the architect Hermann Giesler in front of a model of the planned new buildings for Linz on 22 April 1943.

Adolf Hitler working on architectural plans at the Bechstein house on the Obersalzberg on 16 February 1937. Albert Speer recalled that architecture was the single subject that consistently made Hitler happy, cheerful, and exuberant. “How much I would have loved to be an architect!” Hitler would remark on a daily basis.

I can’t help but think that if Adolf Hitler had spent as much time looking at battle plans as blueprints, we would all be living in a much different world today.

Bonus Photo:

Adolf Hitler sharing his vast architectural expertise as he shows the SA men in Paulinzella, Thuringia old cloisters on 9 September 1931. Paulinzella is the home of the Thuringian SA. Hitler had always had a passion for architecture since a very young age, dreaming of how he would redesign his hometown of Linz. He always loved the opportunity to share his extensive knowledge of the topic with others.

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