Sunday, May 16, 2010

Nürnberg








Nürnberg was chosen to be the place where all the surviving Nazi leaders were put on trial for crimes against humanity. In the picture there are some of the leading Nazi leaders at their trial in 1945-46.

In Nürnberg there also is the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, which is an area of 11 square kilometers in the southeast of Nürnberg where the Nazi Party had their annual meetings from 1923 to 1938.

Hitler chose Nürnberg for his massive buildings partly because of the location of the city and partly because of the history of Nürnberg as a city of two earlier Emperors (during the Holy Roman Empire). Hitler wanted to be the third Emperor and that's the reason for the name "the Third Reich".

The area includes the Zeppelin Field, the Luitpoldarena and the Great Road, which are finished. The building of the Congress Hall, the March Field, the German Stadium and the Stadium of the Hitler Youth were started, but never finished because of the Second World War.

The Zeppelin Field is basically a huge field with a large grandstand, which is based on upon the Pergamon Altar (an ancient Greek altar which is believed to be dedicated to Zeus). At the "altar" Hitler made his speeches to his groups and the field was used for the parades which were a big part of the Nazi propaganda.

The Congress Hall was built of granite panels (outside) and bricks (inside). The granite was transported from the concentration camps, which were located near granite mines so that the prisoners of the camps could make the hardest work of caving up the granite. The building looks a lot like the Colosseum in Rome, but the Congress Hall is twice as big as Colosseum.

The Great Road was intended to be a parade road. It was meant to be a link between the Nazis and the city of Nürnberg so the road points straight to the Castle of Nürnberg. The Road is 2km long and 40m wide and it was built to fit perfectly for the marching groups. In the short video our guide shows us how the steps of the march were perfectly matched with the size of the stones.

2 comments:

  1. haha, nice video!!! :D Laura's naziblog! :)

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  2. No no no no!! It's not naziblog!! :D I promise this is the last time I'm writing about nazis. I am really full of information about them already, this is enough for me. :)

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