By: Chris Melton
Today, Berlin is a varied mixed of different architectural styles and movements that have attempted to glorify and push Berlin into the forefront of the architectural world. Many of these attempts were designed and created after the original pre-WWII Berlin was demolished following the war. In 1960, a new masterplan was drafted, and a new architectural movement called 'Kulturforum' began to give Germany a new name; and has strongly influenced the way Berlin stands today. What many do not know or realize is that many of the Nazi buildings crafted in Berlin were actually surprisingly beautiful, and even powerful, in their own right. Just what would Berlin look like if the Axis Powers had won? How would this have affected the architectural styles of today? These are some of the things I would like to discuss in tonight's post.
Today, Berlin is a varied mixed of different architectural styles and movements that have attempted to glorify and push Berlin into the forefront of the architectural world. Many of these attempts were designed and created after the original pre-WWII Berlin was demolished following the war. In 1960, a new masterplan was drafted, and a new architectural movement called 'Kulturforum' began to give Germany a new name; and has strongly influenced the way Berlin stands today. What many do not know or realize is that many of the Nazi buildings crafted in Berlin were actually surprisingly beautiful, and even powerful, in their own right. Just what would Berlin look like if the Axis Powers had won? How would this have affected the architectural styles of today? These are some of the things I would like to discuss in tonight's post.
1n 1934, German architect Albert Speer was appointed as head of the Chief Office for Construction (COC), and would later be appointed First Architect of the Third Reich by Hitler himself. Speer's first commission in this new position is one of the few remnants of his architectural works that still stands today. Many were destroyed during the war, and many more were never built. The Zeppelinfeld Stadium was built for the Summer Olympics of 1936, and is still in use today. As a member of Hitler's close 'inner circle,' Speer quickly rose through the ranks, and became the tool that Hitler would use to glorify Berlin through architecture. 1n 1937, Hitler gave Speer the daunting task of designing the Neue Reichskanziel, or New Chancellery, on the site of the existing structure. The image below shows a model of this Chancellery as well as its floor plan. Speer undoubtably proved his worth by designing and building the Chancellery within nine months, all while it was still in use. This Chancellery was bombed during the war and later reassembled into the Soviet War Memorial at Treptow Park, Berlin.
Through analyzing Speer's architectural works, one can easily define the elements that manke his buildings so powerful. Speer, through both Hitler's indication and his own works, founded the Nazi architectural style, which was a sort of combination of Neoclassicism and Art Deco. This style, with the right execution proved to be very powerful at displaying both the power of the state and the Nazi ideals. Hitler used Speer to craft a vision of "Welthauptstadt Germania," or World Capitol Germany. This German utopia, while never built, would have actually been quite beautiful in its own respect. The Volkshalle, or 'People's Hall', would be the center "node" of the project, and the rest of the master plan was bassed off of this axis, not growing too large in area. The two images below show both a close up of the masterplan model as well as a detail of the Volkshalle itself. Borrowing heavily from Roman traditions and buildings like the Parthenon, the Volkshalle is a beautiful design that would have been a national landmark had it been realized. One important concept to note is that Nazi architecture wanted to glorify their ideals through stone, but also to provide a function and purpose as well. Sadly enough, many of the original buildings in these images were demolished before the end of the war, and countless others dismantled after.
While however beautiful Berlin might be today had the Axis Powers won, it of course doesn't define the means used, or warfare at all for that matter. But It is interesting to question how this style of architecture would have affected not only Berlin, but the rest of the world as well. Would Modernism have flourished nearly as well? The same thing goes for Contemporary architecture. Had Germany succeeded and won the war, many Nazi and Fascist architectural buildings and features would be more frequent than the styles of architecture today, and who knows what other kinds of styles and forms might have evolved out of those movements in the seventy years since the war ended. The world would be a very different place indeed.
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While however beautiful Berlin might be today had the Axis Powers won, it of course doesn't define the means used, or warfare at all for that matter. But It is interesting to question how this style of architecture would have affected not only Berlin, but the rest of the world as well. Would Modernism have flourished nearly as well? The same thing goes for Contemporary architecture. Had Germany succeeded and won the war, many Nazi and Fascist architectural buildings and features would be more frequent than the styles of architecture today, and who knows what other kinds of styles and forms might have evolved out of those movements in the seventy years since the war ended. The world would be a very different place indeed.
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