Hitler saw to it early in his Reich that Germany would have
a "master building plan"for its "Master Race " Along with Speer and others
he outlined and carried out plans to rebuild Germany to its former Nordic
Grandeur escaping from Modernism into a pseudo-classical grandiose
style reflecting his vision of Nationalistic pride and Ethnocentrism.
Buildings were designed in traditional patterns usually with massive stone
facades and foundations decorated with Volkish symbols such as the
swastika. Often adorning the front and plazas of the new
Architecture were large stone statues of German
figures poised in battle poses or statements of Volkish
grandeur. Some were of Hitler himself often pictured as a conquering hero
leading Germany into battle. (See German Art in the
Shoah It was an architecture designed as was everything in his
contrived 'zeitgeist' to bring about a passion for a new Germany: one
worth dying for.
Forum & 'Gymnasium' for the Third Reich
The Berlin Sportspalast was one such endeavor, renovated
grandly during the Reich. Built in what is described as "neo-baroque"
style in 1919, it began as a sports and entertainment center becoming
during the Reich a central forum, Rally Center, and Conference Center for
the Third Reich IT was here in 1933 and several times after that Hitler,
Goebbels, Goering and others such as Ley made their historical speeches
outlining their plan for a "New Germany" and a "New European Order" It was
in the Berlin Sportspalast that the gauntlet was thrown down for the
German Christian Church as to whether they would follow a Jewish Redeemer
and a Bible with the Old and New Testament, or whether they should adopt
the State Church which would abandon any sense of Judaism or Jewishness in
its stance The Great body adopted the latter, the implications of which
are discussed elsewhere. (Church & Shoah).
Youth Culture
The Berlin Sportspalast was one of the sites of mass demonstrations of German physical prowess and the display of the 'youth culture'.I
n these grand displays of physical prowess
and beauty, usually of German youth and the military, often hundreds
or thousands would participate in a combination dance/gymnastics/sports to
display the 'excellence' of the Aryan physique and skill. Such an
emphasis was placed upon physical fitness and carnal beauty, that it can
be considered part of Nazi beliefs and not merely an attitude towards
sports and physical fitness. It was far more in line with the
beliefs and endeavors of creating a Master Race which would enter a new
Millennium as victors and supplanters, which would have the characteristics
of perfection of mind, spirit and body, although definitions of
perfections were according to the Reich's outlines. Corollary
to the elevation of perfect physique as a worshipped attribute,
was the despising of that which was not physically perfect. While in
the beginning efforts were made to 'breed-out' undesireable physical
characteristics such as birth defects, mental illness, mental retardation
and deformities, even in the thirties, the National Socialists proposed
and legislated what they referred to as "Euthanasia" programs, in which
the physically imperfect, the mentally ill and retarded and others were
killed by injection, beginning with those in institutions.
Hitler and certain of his inner circle such as Heydrich held physical
perfection and fitness to be a supreme value. The Berlin
Sportpalast, the arena at Nuremberg and the Berlin Olympic Stadium were
all centers of this focus. The Sportpalast though also provided one
of the greatest public forums for Hitler's exhibits and
Speeches.
By the end of the war, much of the Center was in ruins from
bombing. In 1954 it hosted the Four Powers Conference.
Subsequently, some of the buildings of the Arena's complex have been
used for other purposes. The
above picture is a west-view of one of the buildings now housing the
Allied Berlin Air Safety Center in
Schoeneberg.
OUTSIDE LINKS
FOOTNOTES
PHOTO CREDITS
'Olympic' Picture: USHMM; Photo Archives: Washington D.C.
Statue: Berlin City Photos