Model of Volkshalle

The Volkshalle was a huge monumental building planned, but never built, by Adolf Hitler and his architect Albert Speer. The word Volkshalle is German for People's Hall. Image File history File links Picture of Volkshalle model. ... Image File history File links Picture of Volkshalle model. ... 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. ... Albert Speer Albert Speer (March 19, 1905 – September 1, 1981) was born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer in Mannheim, Germany, the second of three sons. ...

The word Volk (roughly, "people") had a particular resonance in Nazi thinking. The term völkisch movement, which has no exact English equivalent, derives from Volk but also implies another worldly and eternal essence. Before the First World War, völkisch thought had developed an attitude to the arts as the German Volk; that is, from an organically linked Aryan or Nordic community (German: Gemeinschaft), racially unpolluted and with its roots in the German soil. The hard-to-translate word völkisch has connotations of folksy, folkloric, and populist. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Aryan is an English word derived from the Indian Vedic Sanskrit and Iranian Avestan terms ari-, arya-, ārya-, and/or the extended form aryāna-. The Old Persian ariya- is a cognate as well. ... The Nordic countries (Greenland not shown) The Nordic countries is a term used collectively for five countries in Northern Europe. ...

Hitler and Hadrian's Pantheon

Just as Augustus's house on the Palatine was connected to the temple of Apollo, so Hitler's place was to have been connected by a cryptoporticus to the Volkshalle, which filled the entire north side of the forum. This truly enormous building, the full significance of which has not as yet been completely appreciated, was according to Albert Speer (Speer, Erinnerungen, 167), inspired by Hadrian's Pantheon, which Hitler visited privately on May 7, 1938. But Hitler's interest in and admiration for the Pantheon predated this visit, since his sketch of the Volkshalle dates from about 1925 (Giesler 325). Giesler records a conversation he had with Hitler in the winter of 1939/40, when Hitler was recalling his 'Roman Impressionism' (German: Römische Impressionen): Augustus (plural Augusti) is Latin for majestic or venerable. The greek equivalent is sebastos, or a mere grecization (by changing of the ending) augustos. ... See Palatine Hill for geography of Rome. ... Apollo (Greek: Απόλλων, Apóllōn) is a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt). ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... In Ancient Roman architecture a cryptoporticus is a covered corridor or passageway, often underground, and often used as a gallery for pieces of artwork. ... Albert Speer Albert Speer (March 19, 1905 – September 1, 1981) was born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer in Mannheim, Germany, the second of three sons. ... Emperor Hadrian Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76-July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was Roman emperor from 117-138, and a member of the gens Aelia. ... The Pantheon, Rome The Pantheon is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to all the gods of the Roman state religion, but has been a Christian church since the 7th century AD. It is the only building from the Greco-Roman world which is completely...

Hitler's Sketch Of Volkshalle, 1925

"From the time I experienced this building – no description, picture or photograph did it justice – I became interested in its history […] For a short while I stood in this space (the rotunda) – what majesty! I gazed at the large open oculus and saw the universe and sensed what had given this space the name Pantheon – God and the world are one" (Giesler 30).

Paris, June 24, 1940

Hitler's impressions of the Roman Pantheon were revived when on June 24, 1940; he made a tour of selected buildings in Paris, with the German architects Albert Speer, Hermann Giesler and Arno Breker, including the Pantheon, which seems to have disappointed him. His disappointment is independently recorded by Giesler (Giesler 391) and Breker (Breker 106). Hitlers Sketch of Volkshalle, 1925 File links The following pages link to this file: Volkshalle ... Hitlers Sketch of Volkshalle, 1925 File links The following pages link to this file: Volkshalle ... Oculus is the Latin word for eye. ... Hitler, Speer, Breker, and Giesler visiting Paris on June 24, 1940. ... Hitler, Speer, Breker, and Giesler visiting Paris on June 24, 1940. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Albert Speer Albert Speer (March 19, 1905 – September 1, 1981) was born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer in Mannheim, Germany, the second of three sons. ... Hermann Giesler (April 2 1898, Siegen - January 20, 1987, Düsseldorf) was a German architect during the Nazi era, one of the two architects most favored and rewarded by Adolf Hitler (the other being Albert Speer). ... Arno Breker (1900 -1991) was a German sculptor best known for being endorsed by the National Socialists in Adolph Hitlers Germany. ...

The sketch of the Volkshalle given by Hitler to Speer shows a traditional gabled pronaos supported by ten columns, a shallow rectangular intermediate block and behind it the domes main building (Scobie 110). Giesler notes that the pronaos of the temple in Hitler's sketch is reminiscent of Hadrian's Pantheon and of the style of Friedrich Gilly or Karl Friedrich Schinkel (Giesler 326). However, there was little about Speer's elaboration of the sketch that might be termed Doric, except perhaps for the triglyphs in the entablature (Larsson 79), supported by the geminated red granite columns with their egyptianizing palm-leaf capitals, previously employed by Speer in the portico outside Hitler's study on the garden side of the new Chancellery (Scobie 110). A pronaos is the inner area of the portico of a Ancient Greek or Roman temple, situated between the colonnade or walls of the portico and the entrance to the cella or shrine. ... Friedrich Gilly was a German architect and worked since 1788 at Becherer and long Hans in Berlin. ... Schinkels Neues Schauspielhaus (New Theatre), Berlin Karl Friedrich Schinkel (March 13, 1781 - October 9, 1841) German architect and painter. ... Doric, a synonym of Dorian, may refer to any of the following: The Dorians, one of the ancient Hellenic races, Doric Greek, the dialect of the former, the Doric order and its distinctive Doric column, in ancient Greek architecture, the Dorian mode in music, also called the Doric mode, or... Chancellery is the office of the chancellor, sometimes also reffered to as the chancery. ...

Speer's Monster-Building (German: Monsterbau) was to be the capital's most important and impressive building in terms of its size and symbolism. Visually it was to have been the architectural centrepiece of Berlin as the world capital (Welthauptstadt). Its dimensions were so large that it would have dwarfed every other structure in Berlin, including those on the north-south axis itself. The oculus of the building's dome, 46 metres in diameter, would have accommodated the entire rotunda of Hadrian's Pantheon and the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. The dome of the Volkshalle was to rise from a massive granite podium 315 by 315 metres and 74 metres high, to a total inclusive height of 290 metres. The diameter of the dome, 250 metres, was to be exceeded, much to Speer's annoyance, by the diameter of Giesler's new domed railway station at the east end of Munich's east-west axis. It was to be 15 metres greater in diameter than Speer's Volkshalle (Giesler 177).   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... Model of the unbuilt Große Halle. ... The Basilica of Saint Peter from Castel SantAngelo. ...

Planned interior of Volkshalle

The resemblance of the Volkshalle to the Pantheon is far more obvious when their interiors are compared. The large niche (50 metres high by 28 metres wide) at the north end of the Volkshalle was to be surfaced with gold mosaic and to enclose an eagle 24 metres high, beneath which was situated Hitler's tribunal. From here he would address 180,000 listeners, some standing in the central round arena, others seated in three concentric tiers of sets crowned by one hundred marble pillars, 24 metres high, which rose to meet the base of the coffered ceiling suspended from steel girders sheathed on the exterior with copper (Speer, Erinnerungen, 168). Interior of Volkshalle File links The following pages link to this file: Volkshalle ... Interior of Volkshalle File links The following pages link to this file: Volkshalle ...

The three concentric tiers of seats enclosing a circular arena 140 metres in diameter owe nothing to the Pantheon but resemble the seating arrangements in Ludwig Ruff's Congress Hall at Nuremburg, which was modeled on the Colosseum (Scobie 80). Other features of the Volkshalle's interior are clearly indebted to Hadrian's Pantheon: the coffered dome, the pillared zone, which here is continuous, except where it flanks the huge niche on the north side. The second zone in the Pantheon, consisting of blind windows with intervening pilasters, is represented in Speer's building by a zone above the pillars consisting of uniform, oblong shallow recesses. The coffered dome rests on this zone. The design and size of the external decoration of this Volkshalle, are all exceptional and call for explanations that do not apply to community halls planned for Nazi fora in other German cities (Scobie 114). Ludwig Ruff was one of Adolph Hitlers architects. ... This article refers to Cape May, New Jerseys Congress Hall. ... For information about the jazz-rock band of this name, see Colosseum (band). ... In architecture, pilasters comprise slightly-projecting pseudo-columns built into or onto a wall, with capitals and bases. ...

The temple like nature of the domed building was not by Speer (Speer, Erinnerungen, 167), who surmised that the building was ultimately intended for the worship of Hitler and his successors, that is, it was to be a dynastic temple/palace complex of the kind Augustus built on the Palatine, where his modest house was connected to the temple of Apollo (Speer, Erinnerungen, 56). See Palatine Hill for geography of Rome. ... Apollo (Greek: Απόλλων, Apóllōn) is a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt). ...

Hitler's aspirations to world domination, already evident from architectural and decorative features of the new Chancellery, are even more clearly expressed here. External symbols suggest that the domed hall was where Hitler as cosmocrator (German: Herr der Welt) would appear before his Herrenvolk: On top of the dome's lantern was an eagle grasping in its claws not the usual swastika but the globe of the Earth (German: Erdball). This combination of eagle and ball was well known in imperial Roman iconography, for example, the restored statue of Claudius holding a ball and eagle in his right hand. The vast dome, on which it rested, as with Hadrian's Pantheon, symbolically represented the vault of the sky spanning Hitler's world empire. The globe on the dome's lantern was enhanced and emphasized by two monumental sculptures by Breker, each 15 metres high, which flanked the north façade of the building: at its west end Atlas supporting the heavens, at its east end Tellus supporting the Earth. Both mythological figures were according to Speer, chosen by Hitler himself (Speer, Erinnerungen, 168). Despite the evidence these overt and largely traditional imperialistic symbols of domination over urbs and orbis, Giesler says that Speer was wrong to represent the Volkshalle as a symbol of World Domination (German: Weltherrschaft). Speer in his Playboy magazine interview states: A statue of Emperor Claudius Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Drusus (August 1, 10 BC - October 13, 54), originally known as Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, was the fourth Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24th 41 to his death in 54. ... In Greek mythology, Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the nymph Clymene, and brother of Prometheus. ... Terra or Tellus was a primeval Roman goddess, mother of Fama. ...

"Hitler believed that as centuries passed, his huge domes assembly hall would acquire great holy significance and become a hallowed shrine as important to National Socialism as St. Peters in Rome is to Roman Catholicism. Such cultism was at the root of the entire plan."

However, Giesler's remark that Hitler never made plans for world domination and that to suggest as much is not only nonsense (German: Unsinn) but 'Speer Rubbish' (German: Speerlicher Quatsch), hardly counts as a reasoned refutation of the symbolism of the Volkshalle, which does appear to be a prophetic symbol of Hitler's ultimate ambition (Scobie 116). National socialism may refer to: Nazism, the political ideology of the German Nazi Party of the 1930s to 1940s. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

See also

• Nazi architecture

Model of the unbuilt Volkshalle Nazi architecture is an often dismissed and derided aspect of Nazi plans to create a cultural and spiritual rebirth in Germany. ...

Books

• Breker, Arno. Hitler et Moi. Paris, 1970.

• Giesler, Hermann. Ein Anderer Hitler: Bericht Seines Architekten Erlebnisse, Gesprache, Reflexionen, 2nd Edition (Illustrated). Druffel, 1977. ISBN 380610820X.

• Larsson, Lars Olof. Albert Speer: Plan de Berlin, 1937-1943. Aam, 1998. ISBN 2871430349.

• Scobie, Alexander. Hitler's State Architecture: The Impact of Classical Antiquity. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1990. ISBN 0271006919.

• Speer, Albert. Erinnerungen. Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH & Co. KG, 1996. ISBN 3550076169.

• Speer, Albert. Inside The Third Reich. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1970. ISBN 70119132.

Pictures

Map of Germania Image File history File links Map of Welthauptstadt Germania This picture is over 50 years old and is no longer copyright protected File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...	Map of Germania Image File history File links Map of Welthauptstadt Germania This picture is over 50 years old and is no longer copyright protected File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...	Map of Germania Image File history File links Map of Welthauptstadt Germania This picture is over 50 years old and is no longer copyright protected File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...	View from Triumphal Arch Image File history File links View of Volkshalle from Triumphal Arch This picture is over 50 years old and is no longer copyright protected File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
X-ray view of Volkshalle Image File history File links View of Volkshalle. ...	Left-Front View of Volkshalle Image File history File links View of Volkshalle This picture is over 50 years old and is no longer copyright protected File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...	Main Avenue Download high resolution version (619x880, 95 KB)(Fig. ...	Volkshalle with Lantern visible Image File history File links Volkshalle This picture is over 50 years old and is no longer copyright protected File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Volkshalle Image File history File links Volkshalle This picture is over 50 years old and is no longer copyright protected File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...