The Berliner Sportpalast (built 1910, demolished 1973) was a multi-purpose winter sport venue and meeting hall 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. Schöneberg is a district of Berlin. ... Location of Berlin within Germany / EU Coordinates Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE3 City subdivisions 12 boroughs Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit (SPD) Governing parties SPD / Left. ... 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. ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ) (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ...

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. Rockefeller Centre ice rink An ice rink is a frozen body of water where people can ice skate or play winter sports. ... Professional boxing bout featuring Ricardo Domínguez (left, throwing a left uppercut) versus Rafael Ortiz Boxing, also called prizefighting or pugilism is a sport and martial art in which two participants of similar weight fight each other with their fists in a series of one to three-minute intervals called... Maximillian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling (September 28, 1905 – February 2, 2005) was a German boxer whose two fights with Joe Louis transcended boxing and became worldwide social events because of their racial and national associations. ...

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. Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Adolf Hitler (last) Legislature Reichstag... SPD redirects here. ... 1932 KPD poster, End This System The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period. ... The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: , or NSDAP, or commonly, The Nazi Party), was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ...

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: , or NSDAP, or commonly, The Nazi Party), was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ) (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ...

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. Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ) (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ... Joseph Goebbels The Sportpalast or total war speech (German: Sportpalastrede) was a speech delivered by Propagandaminister (Propaganda Minister) Joseph Goebbels at the Berlin Sportpalast to a large but carefully-selected audience on 18 February 1943, as the tide of World War II was turning against Nazi Germany. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. 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. ... Sonja Henie (April 8, 1912 - October 12, 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and actress. ...

Although it was no longer the preeminent meeting hall of Berlin, the Sportpalast in the postwar years hosted different sorts of crowds as it became used for rock concerts. Artists such as Bill Haley, The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and The Nice 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. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article contains a trivia section. ... Pink Floyd are an English rock band that earned recognition for their psychedelic rock music, and, as they evolved, for their avant-garde progressive rock music. ... This article is about the rock band. ... Keith Emerson, Lee Jackson, Brian Davison, Davy OList, circa 1967-68. ...

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".

External links

• Berlin Observer article
• picture from 1973

Coordinates: 52°29′41″N, 13°21′33″E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...