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Owens: 1936 Olympics |The Carnal Reich |
Nazi Art & Architecture
I can say with pride, comrades of the SA and SS, that if the whole German people now was possessed of the spirit which is in us and in you, then Germany would be indestructible.
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). Back to Shoah |Facts & History | Owens: 1936 Olympics |The Carnal Reich | Nazi Art & Architecture Youth CultureThe Berlin Sportspalast was one of the sites of mass demonstrations of German physical prowess and the display of the 'youth culture'.I . By the end of the war, much of the FOOTNOTES
PHOTO CREDITS
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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
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.
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.