The Berliner Sportpalast (built 1910, demolished 1973) was a multi-purpose winter sport venue and meeting hall near Potdamer Platz in the Schöneberg section of Berlin. Depending on the type of event and seating configuration, the Sportpalast could hold up to 10,000 people and was for a time the biggest meeting hall in the German capital. The Sportpalast is most known for speeches and rallies that took place during the Third Reich, particularly Joseph Goebbels' 1943 "Total War" speech. 1910 in topic: Arts Architecture- Art- Film- Literature- Music- Television Science and technology Aviation- Rail transport- Radio- Science Other topics Australia- Canada- Ireland- South Africa- Sport Births- Deaths Lists of leaders: State leaders - Religious leaders 1910 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... Schöneberg is a district of Berlin. ...   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was Adolf Hitlers Propaganda Minister (see Propagandaministerium) in Nazi Germany. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

Early years

Built principally as an indoor ice rink for ice hockey and skating events, the Sportpalast was a sensation at the time of its opening in November 1910, and was at the time the biggest such facility in the world. In later years, the Sportpalast was used for other sporting events such as professional boxing matches in which well-known German boxer Max Schmeling fought. The Sportpalast was also used as a meeting hall for a variety of events, including political rallies and the Bockbierfest (Bock beer festival) with Bavarian bands, dancing, and roasted meat. An ice rink is a frozen body of water where people can ice skate or play winter sports. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Maximillian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling (September 28, 1905–February 2, 2005) was a German boxer whose two Heavyweight championship fights with Joe Louis transcended boxing and became worldwide social events which will forever be linked to the rivalry between Americans and Germans before World War II. Early years and Jack...

During the tumultuous years of the Weimar Republic in the Twenties and early Thirties, the Sportpalast was used for the mass meetings of the major German political parties; within its walls, the Social Democrats, Communists and National Socialists outlined their programs and strategies to capacity crowds. The period of German history from 1919 to 1933 is known as the Weimar Republic IPA (German Weimarer Republik). ... The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD – Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) is one of the oldest political parties of Germany still in existence and also one of the oldest and largest in the world, celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2003. ... The Communist Party of Germany (in German, Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was formed in December of 1918 from the Spartacist League, which originated as a small factional grouping within the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and the International Communists of Germany (IKD). ... The National Socialist German Workers Party (German:   Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei?), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ...

Third Reich and World War II years

Even after the Nazi Party gained power in 1933 and outlawed the other German political parties, the Sportpalast continued to be a popular venue for party rallies and important speeches by party leaders such as Adolf Hitler and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Because of the size and propaganda potential of the Sportpalast, Goebbels is said to have labeled the hall as Unsere großen politischen Tribüne — "our big political grandstand". The National Socialist German Workers Party (German:   Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei?), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...   Adolf Hitler? (April 20, 1889–April 30, 1945) was the Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934, to his death. ... Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was Adolf Hitlers Propaganda Minister (see Propagandaministerium) in Nazi Germany. ...

The most significant of the many political speeches and rallies within the halls of the Sportpalast was propaganda minister Goebbels' Total War speech on February 18, 1943. Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was Adolf Hitlers Propaganda Minister (see Propagandaministerium) in Nazi Germany. ... The Sportpalast speech, or Total War speech (German Sportpalastrede), was a prominent speech delivered by Joseph Goebbels on February 18, 1943, as the tide of World War II was turning against Germany. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

Post-war years

At war's end in 1945, the Sportpalast was in badly-damaged condition with its roof destroyed. The building became the seat of the Allied Control Authority and its halls were the site of the four-power conference of 1954. The building did not reopen for public ice sports until 1951, but these events were not popular because the rink was open to the elements and thus too cold for spectators to enjoy. A new roof was constructed later, with the building reopening in 1953. Among the notables who performed at the Sportpalast in its postwar years was world-famous figure skater Sonja Henie. 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The ACA headquarters The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known as the Alliierter Kontrollrat, was the name of a military occupation governing body of Germany at the end of World War II in Europe; the members were the United States, Soviet Union. ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Sonja Henie (April 8, 1912-October 12, 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and actress. ...

What had been central Berlin in pre-war years was divided by the boundary with the Soviet sector, and as Cold War tension culminated in the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 that divided Berlin into two parts. With the economic and social center of West Berlin gravitating to the western sections of the city during these years, this brought a decline in the fortunes of the Sportpalast. For the generic term for a high-tension struggle between countries, see cold war (war). ... Berlin Wall on November 16, 1989 The Berlin Wall (German: Die Berliner Mauer) was a long barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

While its days as the meeting hall of Berlin were in the past, the Sportpalast in the postwar years hosted different sorts of crowds as it became used for rock concerts. Artists such as Bill Haley, Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd performed at the Sportpalast during the building's final decades. Bill Haley, with his band, the Comets, was one of the first rock and roll acts to tour the United Kingdom. ... The Beach Boys, 1963 (L to R, David Marks, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Mike Love, Brian Wilson) The Beach Boys are a pop music group formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961, whose popularity has lasted into the twenty-first century. ... Jimi Hendrix James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. ... Pink Floyd circa 1971. ...

By the Seventies, the operation of the hall was no longer profitable, so the Sportpalast closed its doors in 1973 and was torn down and replaced by a high-rise apartment complex, dubbed by Berliners as the "Socialpalast".

Web links

• Berlin Observer article