"Berlin as capital of the world can only be comparable with ancient Egypt, Babylon or Rome. What is London, what is Paris by comparison!" - Adolf Hitler
Of all art forms of the Third Reich, architecture had the first position. The Germans rejected all forms of modern art, calling it 'decadent' and 'degenerate' and instead preferred Neo-Classicism. This was well visible in Hitler's plans for Berlin after their initially expected victory. Let us dive into some of their grotesque plans of which most were never fulfilled.
The Government wanted monumental party centers in every 'Gauhauptstadt' (country-capitals), such as in Dresden and Weimar. These were called the 'Gauforum' and were meant as an embodiment of the Führer state.
Similar, but much greater designs were made for the 'Führer-cities' (Linz, Berlin, Nuremberg, Hamburg and Munich.)
Linz
Hamburg
Munich
Nuremberg
And of course... Berlin
What remains of this vision of Berlin today is very little. Over 90% of the city surface of Berlin was destroyed in World War II by Soviet forces and allied bombers, and they put extra effort in destroying the first Third Reich pieces of architecture which were finished. But what remains today are the beginnings of a transport tunnel network laying 20 meters below the main avenue towards the Brandenburg gate. Hitler intended to create a traffic free area leading to the "Great Hall of Germania" (Volkshalle), intended to be used for military parades and for addressing up to a million Germans. Therefore traffic had to be guided underneath. The three tunnels consist of one railroad and two highways, as seen in the animation below:
These transport tunnels would be located at a max of 20 meters (60 feet) below the main avenue.
Below: the -traffic free- main avenue leading to the immense Volkshalle in Hitler's plans for Welthauptstadt Germania (World Capital Germania).
In the next part I'll go deeper on the buildings planned in Welthauptstadt Germania. There's much more to come.
So if you are interested, be sure to follow!