US Markets Loading... h m s

HOMEPAGE

Tech

Inside Germania, Hitler's massive Nazi utopia that never came to be

Chris Weller

2015-12-23T16:40:00Z

hitler1

In the years leading up to World War II, Adolf Hitler didn't just see Berlin as the capital of Germany — he envisioned it as the capital of the world.

Advertisement

But according to historian Roger Moorhouse, Berlin was poorly organized and hardly the menacing giant the Nazi leader thought it should be.

So, in 1937, plans surfaced for "Welthauptstadt Germania," or World Capital Germania, an awe-inspiring metropolis inspired by ancient Roman architecture.

Rooted in a spirit of intimidation, the designs were about as grandiose as urban planning gets.

Advertisement

According to Moorhouse, Berlin's lack of order and its many winding streets made it like most European cities at the time: big, random, and illogical.

Berlin_in_Brockhaus_1937

Hitler recognized this, so in 1937 he called on architect Albert Speer — pictured on the far right — to help design a Nazi utopia fit for world domination.

hitler2

Advertisement

The two became incredibly close, Moorehouse says. Speer and Hitler were professional colleagues, but also shared the same politics. They were almost friends.

hitler1

Together, the duo devised an entire capital city. Concentration camp prisoners began cutting stone for it in late 1937.

germania model

Advertisement

In fact, Moorhouse says, if you look at a map of the granite and marble quarries around Berlin, you'll notice they line up almost perfectly with many concentration camps — like those in Oranienburg.

Konzentrazionslager_auschwitz_map

The centerpiece of the mega-city was the Volkshalle, or People's Hall, a colossal domed building that would have been the largest indoor structure in the world if completed.

germania model 2

Advertisement

The Volkshalle would have been seven times the size of St. Peter's Basilica with a dome 16 times larger and room for 160,000 people.

germania model

Source: "The Bunker"

"The most important thing was to have this beautiful, impressive capital to show off the Nazi Reich," Moorhouse says.

germania5

Advertisement

At the same time, he explains, many Nazi leaders kept prisoners busy cutting stones of granite even when they knew Germania's construction had to stop to finance the war.

germania4

Source: Daily Mail

"That to me means you can't just write it off as a pipe dream that never happened," he says. "It gives you a glimpse, I argue, into the dark heart of Nazism."

germania2

Advertisement

In addition, Hitler ordered the construction of an underground highway, similar to a covert Roman cryptoporticus, linking the Volkshalle to Hitler's palace.

germania3

At the halfway mark would have been a gigantic arch, similar to the Arch de Triomphe in Paris, but large enough to house the French arch underneath.

germani6

Source: "The Bunker"

Advertisement

“In all the plans a human dimension is almost completely lacking,” Moorhouse said, pointing to the lack of amenities for city-dwellers.

germania model

Source: History Today

With the exception of a grand stadium, there are no parks or major transit lines. Germania was a collection of buildings, all of them intended to intimidate.

germania model

Advertisement

But as history has shown, Germany lost the war and Hitler's plans fell short in 1943 — leaving Germania to fossilize forever.

germania

Germany History

Advertisement

Jump to

Main content
Search
Account