Totalitarian Architecture of the Third Reich.

[Captain Blackbeard]

Totalitarian Architecture of the Third Reich.

Imperial dreams... and the agony of taste

Fascist and communist governments in the first half of the twentieth century both created monumental architecture, largely to intimidate their people and showcase the regime's strengths.

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In a totalitarian system such as existed in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, the government attempted to control every aspect of daily life. It used architecture to some degree to achieve this, to firmly establish its authority leaving no doubt as to who was in charge. One of the chief aims of Nazi architecture was also to reflect the beliefs of National Socialism, celebrate the German national identity and glorify the idea of the master Aryan race, as perceived by Hitler and his associates.

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Imperial Rome all over again

There was no official Nazi architectural style although most of the structures and monuments designed by Albert Speer and others imitated Imperial Rome. Hitler was an admirer of the Roman Empire and imagined himself to be creating a realm to both rival and then surpass that of the Caesars. The Nazis, who dismissed much of the customary decoration and used only the raw, muscular elements, exaggerated the classical Roman style, which portrayed their ideal image of a strong, warlike state. This was known as stripped classicism and was not only used in Germany, but was relatively popular in other countries as well in the inter war period.

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World Capital Germania

Hitler had Speer, his favoured architect, design plans for the rebuilding of Berlin. This was a monumental task in itself, to create Welthauptstadt ("World Capital") Germania, the new city, which would be the capital of German-dominated Europe. The photographs of the plans for Hitler's city survive to this day in the German federal archives.

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A grand boulevard, three miles in length, to be known as Prachtstrasse, ("Street of Magnificence") would run from north to south. A huge arch would be located at the southern end, which would be almost 400 feet high and able to fit Paris' Arc de Triomphe inside it. At the northern end would be the Volkshalle ("People's Hall"), an enormous domed building designed to be the centrepiece of the new Berlin.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusgz5tlpI/AAAAAAAA6VM/pZIfior6o3Y/s640/ertherthdgfgd.jpg (http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusgz5tlpI/AAAAAAAA6VM/pZIfior6o3Y/s640/ertherthdgfgd.jpg)
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Based on the Pantheon in Rome, the Volkshalle would still be the largest enclosed space on the planet if it had ever been built. It would have been over 700 feet high and 800 feet in diameter, sixteen times larger than the dome of St. Peter's in the Vatican. Inside, there would have been space for 180,000 people and there is speculation that such a huge capacity could have caused the building to have its own weather system. In colder temperatures, the perspiration and breathing of so many people might actually precipitate and fall back to the ground, almost as indoor rain.

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The Big Dumb (Concrete) Object

Berlin is located on marshy ground and there were some concerns as to whether the land would actually be able to sustain such massive structures. Consequently some testing was undertaken. The Schwerbelastungskörper ("Heavy load-bearing body") was constructed in 1941 to test the muddy ground.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZustf0EZOI/AAAAAAAA6XU/IzRylyb7rbU/s640/1479562412_677190ae77_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/epha/1479562412/)


The mushroom shaped cylinder is made from 12,650 tons of concrete and is sixty feet high. Instruments measured that the huge block sank seven inches in three years, more than the 2.5 inches deemed acceptable, making it unlikely the soil could have supported Hitler's new capital without substantial preparation work. The massive Schwerbelastungskörper couldn't be demolished at the end of the war because of the proximity of nearby apartments and has been considered a historical monument since 1995.


Olympic Stadium for the Superior Race' Triumph in Sports

Most of the huge projects were halted with the outbreak of war in 1939 or as the war progressed, then turned against Germany and the country's attention turned to more pressing matters. Some structures were completed however, including the Olympic Stadium. Germany was awarded the 1936 summer Olympics in 1931, and once Hitler came to power he was determined to use the event for propaganda purposes. Work on the stadium was begun in 1934 and when completed in time for the Games had a capacity of 110,000.

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An even bigger stadium, the Deutsches Stadion, designed for some 400,000 people, was planned for Nuremberg, but the project was abandoned shortly after the foundations were completed. Had the stadium actually been built it would still be the largest arena of its kind in the world.

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Berlin's Olympic Stadium survived the war relatively unscathed and the area was used as a headquarters by the British occupation forces in the city until 1994. The stadium was at one time considered for demolition, but was eventually completely renovated and played host to the World Cup Final in 2006.


The Reich Chancellery, built to intimidate

Another building that was actually finished was the new Reich Chancellery, which was built in only nine months after Hitler asked Speer to design it in early 1938. The structure's Marble Gallery alone was twice as long as the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles and measured 480 feet in length. The complete collection of rooms making up the approach to Hitler's reception gallery was 725 feet long, while Hitler's private office was 400 square metres.

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The incredibly long, richly decorated corridor was designed to intimidate foreign dignitaries and politicians when they came to see Hitler. Speer was told that the cost was immaterial and 4000 men worked in round the clock shifts, with the final cost of the building estimated at ninety million reichsmarks, the equivalent of over one billion dollars in modern currency.

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Beneath the new Reich Chancellery was the bunker where Hitler spent the last weeks of the war and where he committed suicide in April 1945.The Chancellery was severely damaged in the Battle of Berlin in 1945 and then demolished by the Soviet occupation forces, who used some of the red marble from Hitler's palace to complete the Red Army war memorial in Berlin's Treptower Park:

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The largest office building in the world (1936)

Also in Berlin, Herman Goring's Reich Air Ministry was the largest office building in the world when it was completed in August 1936. It has been described as being "in the typical style of National Socialist intimidation architecture", with a floor area of 112,000 square metres, 2,800 rooms, 7 km of corridors, over 4,000 windows and 17 stairways. The huge complex was the headquarters of the Luftwaffe and Germany's civil aviation bureaucracy. Fifty quarries were used as sources for stone used in the building's construction, which took only eighteen months, the vast army of workers employed in multiple shifts, seven days a week.

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The Air Ministry was one of the few major buildings in Berlin to survive relatively unscathed during the Allied bomber offensive and the Soviet assault at the end of the war. During the Cold War, the building was used by the East German government and today is home to the German Finance Ministry. Witness how Nazi ornamentation co-exists side-by-side with socialist murals inside this cavernous building:

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The Zeppelinfield Arena - big enough to launch a fleet of airships

Allied bombing took a huge toll on German cities and Berlin suffered greatly in the Soviet assault in the spring of 1945. Some buildings however survived intact or are still visible as ruins. Some of the better known structures are in Nuremberg, site of the huge Nazi rallies throughout the thirties. The Zeppelinfield Arena was one of Speer's first projects for the party in 1934 and was based on the Pergamon Altar, an ancient Greek structure, which has featured in lists of wonders of the world. Used for the enormous Nazi rallies and party ceremonies, the arena was built on a huge scale and could hold 240,000 people.

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Speer also created the arena's famous balcony from which Hitler gave many of his speeches to the party faithful. Despite its ancient Greek influence, the structure is essentially stripped classicism, with no decoration and only the very basic monumental elements.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusxk21kUI/AAAAAAAA6Yc/KyzwAKZGHUg/s640/tdyjdryjdrtyr.jpg (http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusxk21kUI/AAAAAAAA6Yc/KyzwAKZGHUg/s640/tdyjdryjdrtyr.jpg)

And in conjunction with the arena, Speer also helped organize the rallies and developed the idea of pointing 1000 searchlights directly into the sky, creating what was known as the Cathedral of Light, the upright beams almost mimicking the columns featured so frequently in Nazi architecture.

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Nuremburg was also home to the Congress Hall or Kongresshalle, which although it was never completed, is the largest preserved monumental building from the Nazi period. It was designed by Ludwig and Franz Ruff and was to be a party congress centre with 50,000 seats. Begun in 1935, the exterior bears some resemblance to the Roman Colosseum.

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Nazi Worker's Paradise: Seaside Resort and Spa

One of the biggest Nazi structures which still survives is the Prora resort and spa on the Baltic Island of Rugen, built between 1936 and 1939 (work ceased at the outbreak of war). A series of five seaside resorts were planned, to provide vacations for the average German worker, but the Rugen location was the only one that was actually started (more info (http://www.thirdreichruins.com/prora.htm)):

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Like most of the other Nazi era projects, the scale was massive, involving some 9000 workers and every major construction company in Germany. The plan was to construct two complexes with four blocks of ten housing units in each one. There would be rooms for 20,000 people, each room with its own sea view and the resort would have extended for over five kilometers along the beach.

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There would also be buildings for administration, workers accommodation, large festival squares, assembly halls, huge swimming pools, restaurants, theatres, sports arenas, a large quay for mooring cruise ships, as well as a train station and all the infrastructure and utilities needed for such a massive undertaking. It never fulfilled its intended purpose and housed refugees from Hamburg and other cities towards the end of the war, as well as being utilized for military personnel and as a hospital.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZutAP0t2KI/AAAAAAAA6dM/H6h-qu-tjc0/s640/rthethrtr.jpg (http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZutAP0t2KI/AAAAAAAA6dM/H6h-qu-tjc0/s640/rthethrtr.jpg)
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Prora was briefly used by the Soviet army after the war, then by the East German military until the early nineties. The remains of the Prora complex are the largest Third Reich era building still in existence and debate continues as to whether the site should be preserved.


Exporting totalitarian architecture to the rest of the world

And finally, showcasing Nazi architecture was not limited to Germany. When the International Exposition Dedicated to Art and Technology in Modern Life was held in 1937 in Paris, the two most prominent pavilions were those belonging to Germany and the Soviet Union, which were located directly across from each other. With a height of 500 feet, the Nazi pavilion designed by Albert Speer, was topped with a tower displaying a gigantic swastika and eagle, symbols of National Socialism.

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Like the Zeppelinfield in Nuremburg, at night Speer used floodlights to illuminate the structure. The pavilion's purpose was to showcase German pride and the strength of Nazi Germany as a bulwark against Communism, symbolized by the Soviet pavilion directly opposite.

Source (http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/02/totalitarian-architecture-of-third.html)



Although the building of this would have ended any chances of European preservation and signalled in the destruction and ignorance of scientific intelligence, you have to hand it to the Germans: They knew how to build the innate passion and glory of the Germanic people.

[stormlord]

I find most of that stuff incredibly boorish and utterly lacking in any grace or subtlety, but there is something to be admired in that level of ambition, I can barely imagine what it would have been like to stand under a dome sixteen times the size of St. Peter's :eek:





http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusUTc0AII/AAAAAAAA6SI/yDUsAFlcApQ/s640/001d.jpg

On another note, I'd assume such a repellent symbol of utter humiliation would have been torn down as soon as humanly possible, but somehow I get the feeling the German state probably pays for it to be maintained perfectly.

[Heimmacht]

Source (http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/02/totalitarian-architecture-of-third.html)



Although the building of this would have ended any chances of European preservation and signalled in the destruction and ignorance of scientific intelligence, you have to hand it to the Germans: They knew how to build the innate passion and glory of the Germanic people.

I like the building style, but I myself are more a Jugendstill fan.

[Asega]

I like the building style, but I myself are more a Jugendstill fan.
Why am I not surprised ?



I think that the architecture is boorish, and lacks any love for German architectural traditions - it is the kind of architecture that is like the goose step: a boot in the face, showing off naked power.
I agree- Jugendstil, German-styled baroque or gothic would have been more fitting for a "nationalist" government.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/MzKirschgarten.jpg

THIS is German architecture. They could have looked into the German architectural history... and perhaps they should have.

[Captain Blackbeard]

I think that the architecture is boorish, and lacks any love for German architectural traditions - it is the kind of architecture that is like the goose step: a boot in the face, showing off naked power.


It could be argued that the Nazis were bereft of any respect for actual traditions; but in their defence, the level of power and sheer bravado being celebrated through the architecture would have been an absolute sight to marvel at.
A classic stamp of visual triumph over Europe.

R2Ae_4JRvKI

[Heimmacht]

I agree- Jugendstil, German-styled baroque or gothic would have been more fitting for a "nationalist" government.




I tend to disagree on that, since the national socialist movement was very harsch and strict, i think these buildings reflect that.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I like the architecture. I think those who don't are predisposed against it since they don't like the NSDAP, but you'll find similar style buildings on Washington DC, New York, and Rome. God forbid they build a magnificent stadium for hosting the Olympics-just like every other city that hosts the Olympics! Maybe they should have held them in a local high school gymnasium instead?

Why am I not surprised ?


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/MzKirschgarten.jpg

THIS is German architecture.

That's fine for a small village/neighborhood setting, buildings of not more than 2-3 stories. It would look rather ridiculous though for a ministry of a major country to be headquartered in something resembling a giant version of Ye Olde Country Taverne

[Æmeric]

The architecture is impressive but it is also overwhelming & intimidating. Much like Stalinist Soviet architecture & the Federalist style pursued by the US government in the 20th century. For example;

http://londonist.com/attachments/Matt/ForeignOffice.jpg

The Foreign Office in London

http://www.essential-architecture.com/ARCHITECT/Somerset_House.jpg or Somerset House, also in London,

http://www.state.gov/cms_images/hst_building_600.jpg

versus the US State Department.

The Old Exectutive Office Building in DC has charm.

http://www.thedctraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/oeob.jpg

THe US Department of Justice Building is just big.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Usdepartmentofjustice.jpg

The Pentagon is the largest office building in the world,

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/images/pentagon-DF-ST-87-06962_1.jpg

but is as inviting as the University of Moscow.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Moskau_Uni.jpg



The truth is goverment buildings are generally ugly. Except in a monarchy where the sovereign has some say in the design of major buildings.

[Psychonaut]

The buildings of the Nazi's are certainly impressive, but in the same way that skyscrapers are impressive, but I find them to be horribly ugly (as are most of our government buildings). They should've co-opted or build more castles like Wewelsburg:

http://www.philipp-budde.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/wewelsburg.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/10248980.jpg

http://www.roland-harder.de/burgen-und-schloesser/009_7.JPG

http://www.thule-toscana.com/Documenti/Esoterismo/Il_Nazionalsocialismosmo_Esoterico_di_Marco_Dolcet ta/foto_esoterismo/Wewelsburg.jpg

[Loddfafner]

I associate such grandiosity -- and grandiosity is what it is -- with peripheral countries with massive chips on their collective shoulders. Consider, for example, all those 2-bit Asian countries with skyscrapers higher than anything in New York. What the plans for Germania really evoke is that gigantic cathedral in the old Ivory Coast:

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cote-d-ivoire/yamoussoukro-basilica-of-our-lady-of-peace.htm

[Brynhild]

I would feel so oppressed if I were to live anywhere like that. That is the ulterior motive, of course. I have a deep appreciation of wide open spaces.

[Jägerstaffel]

I hate cities to begin with, but damn.

It is awe-inspiring, but I think it would make me feel downtrodden and insignificant.

Or if I was in command of it, I'd feel godly and powerful.

[Maelstrom]

I would feel so oppressed if I were to live anywhere like that. That is the ulterior motive, of course. I have a deep appreciation of wide open spaces.

I hate cities to begin with, but damn.

It is awe-inspiring, but I think it would make me feel downtrodden and insignificant.

Or if I was in command of it, I'd feel godly and powerful.

I thought the same thing intially, but that was picturing me simply being there, as a New Zealand citizen.

If MY country and MY people were to build such awe inspiring structures I would not feel oppressed - rather I would feel an enormous sense of pride. I would feel "cultured", feel comradeship with my fellow countrymen and then there would also be a superiority complex that would come along with it all.

In times gone by, European powers were able to develop large cities of great wealth and splendour. Now that everything has stagnated and I believe it is the time to embark into a New Age of architecture and true cultural supremacy.

Conquer or become conquered.

[Fortis in Arduis]

If those buildings were built in accordance with Vaasthu Shastra then perhaps the regime and the German people would have faired better.

It was one thing to wave swastikas about, talk about being an aryan race, and encourage a satvik diet and physical culture, but they really made it hard for themselves by not getting the basics right.

Vaasthu is a large subject, but unless those buildings were built square to the compass, and with entrances facing East (the basic requirements) they and the those within them were doomed from the very inception.

Today the science of Vaasthu has been redeemed from the orientalists and has become a proper science which has been researched, with the speculative elements removed and there are various experts in India and abroad who are more than qualified to advise.

[Lenny]

Those who think that Speer's planned buildings for postwar Berlin are ugly, intimidating, unnatural, cold, and/or not in the German[ic] tradition may have a point.

Also quite ugly and unnatural:
1.) The "Plattenbauten (http://www.english.wayne.edu/fac_pages/ewatten/images/post29/plattenbau.jpg)" and other very rigid Stalinist architecture in much of East Berlin 1950s-1990s (most of which is now gone).
2.) The large parts of West-Berlin, which look and feel rather like a big glitzty shopping center. (The main street of Westberlin through 1990 was the notoriously-prostitute-filled shopping-center street "KuDamm"; I dare anyone to say it was/is beautiful architecturally or otherwise).
3.) The immigrant-run quick food stands now on every street corner in Berlin.


The small number of Germans in the "Hitler Bewegung" from the 1920s-1930 (in the latter year it became a mass protest movement against the failures of the government, unemployment, and despair) saw themselves not as traditionalists but as revolutionaries, and so it would make little sense for them to ape architectural traditions of the past or distant past; but rather to make new traditions. Philosophically, such a thing is at once admirable but also potentially worrisome.

Another group of ambitious people who created architectural traditions that were certainly not in local tradition were the men who planned the city of Washington. A swampy plain on the Potomac River was planned (mostly by L'Efant) to become an extremely elaborate capital city with massive monuments, huge buildings, and grand avenues of all kinds. Those Berlin plans remind one of Washington DC's quite a lot actually.

[Lenny]

I would feel so oppressed if I were to live anywhere like that. That is the ulterior motive, of course. I have a deep appreciation of wide open spaces.I have a feeling that the postwar plans would also include lots of open places and nature-preserves too (much like current-Germany has); if they remade every square mile of Germany into being in view of some massive construction, that would just be bizarre :D

If those buildings were built in accordance with Vaasthu Shastra then perhaps the regime and the German people would have faired better.

Vaasthu is a large subject, but unless those buildings were built square to the compass, and with entrances facing East (the basic requirements) they and the those within them were doomed from the very inception.

Today the science of Vaasthu has been redeemed from the orientalists and has become a proper science which has been researched, with the speculative elements removed and there are various experts in India and abroad who are more than qualified to advise.
What is "Vaasthu"? I assume something Hindu-"Aryan". Are you saying they were actively using Hindu traditions?

Supposedly when Himmler was found in hiding by British troops in May 1945, he had a Bagavad-Gita in his pocket.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I have a feeling that the postwar plans would also include lots of open places and nature-preserves too (much like current-Germany has); if they remade every square mile of Germany into being in view of some massive construction, that would just be bizarre :D

When Hitler was young, he was very into architecture, and came up with plans to raze the city slums and replace them with housing/condo projects he designed of 4 units each (maybe up to 16 in some cases), the main purpose to ensure that each had adequate sunlight and living space. If he ever managed to take care of the foreign policy stuff, he might have been able to put such a plan into place.

[Fortis in Arduis]

What is "Vaasthu"? I assume something Hindu-"Aryan". Are you saying they were actively using Hindu traditions?

Supposedly when Himmler was found in hiding by British troops in May 1945, he had a Bagavad-Gita in his pocket.

No, I am saying that they should have used Vaasthu Shastra.

I believe that our ancestors did, in some form or other.

The basic principles are very simple, but the final effect is that you produce very efficient living spaces which receive the best sunlight and which are supported by natural law. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was a recent exponent of this science, updated and brought into the 21st Century:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Sthapatya_Veda

Basically why would you build a house which only receives evening or afternoon sunlight?

Of course, it is a terrible idea, but many people live in these conditions and they suffer because of it.

http://www.sthapatyaveda.com/

Many of Speers buildings were beautiful, but they would have had real power beyond the mechanical and the aesthetical if only they have been built in confluence with natural law.

[Absinthe]

Basically why would you build a house which only receives evening or afternoon sunlight?

Of course, it is a terrible idea, but many people live in these conditions and they suffer because of it.

*sigh* :(

[SuuT]

DAMN that use of garlic and onions! :rolleyes: The Aesthetic of the Architecture is beautiful from the top-down perspective. Reminiscent of the over-all Merit-Aristos aim of the Reich.


Whether or not "Strength in Adversity" wishes to acknowledge it; these temples were meant to convey a new world order that harkened-back to a (quite logically) pre-supposed era of Göttlichen, of which Germanics are a Branch of; quite independent of his Hindu/Buddism penchant.

I think that Jägerzen summed it up best when speaking, from his Germanic heart, said that, "[...] if I was in command of it, I'd feel godly and powerful."



The world will be a much more peaceful place once we all learn our respetive piece and play in the Natural Order. In which, Moderinity, and modern explicative rationalisation plays little, to no part.


As an aside, Germanics (you are not Racially exempt from this, Fortis_in_Arduis) REQUIRE a periodic absence of sunlight as per your physiological admixture to function at your Aristos. Those who do not undertand this, should, and ought, to challenge themselves to this end to discover the outcome; or, MOVE to their blessed and convoluted beyond reprieve, India. - Which has been stolen by Chandala vice.

[Fortis in Arduis]

These buildings failed to yield results because the fundamentals were wrong and because no-one is exempt from natural law.

It is why East coast towns are often more prosperous than West coast towns.

It is why towns built on a slope towards the North-East are often more prosperous than those on a slope towards the South-West.

In basic terms, it is even the secret of Japanese success:

they are the first of many countries in the world to receive the rays of morning sun.

What could be more logical than this?

[Æmeric]

It is why East coast towns are often more prosperous than West coast towns.


:confused: Have you ever been to the western coast of North America? Vancouver, Seattle, Portland & the entire California Coast? The whole region was a Garden of Eden & the cities generally more prosperous then many East coast cities, e.g. Portland v. Newark, San Francisco v. Baltimore, San Diego v. Providence. California's curse is that the whole world wanted to come to California. It has been the lack of man's law, specifically immigration control, that is responsible for California's current mess.

[SwordoftheVistula]

Also you would have to consider towns on the west coast of Eurasia (western Europe) vs those on the east coast of Eurasia (Thailand, Vietnam, China, Russian Far East). Additionally, in Africa and South America, there is no noticeable quality difference between east coast and west coast settlements.

[SuuT]

These buildings failed to yield results because the fundamentals were wrong and because no-one is exempt from natural law.

Pandora's Box/Can-of-worms. ughhh......

It is why East coast towns are often more prosperous than West coast towns.

Where.

It is why towns built on a slope towards the North-East are often more prosperous than those on a slope towards the South-West.

Ughh.........

In basic terms, it is even the secret of Japanese success:

they are the first of many countries in the world to receive the rays of morning sun.

Well, this is what occurs when one reads about something, spins it in the brain, and calls it 'real': If you had ever actually been to Japan, you would know that given it's placement upon our Earth, most 'Feng shui' applications as concerns sunlight across the far-East utilse True South as the primary source of sunlight as that is where it appears.

What could be more logical than this?

Logic.

[Fortis in Arduis]

What convinced me was putting it into practice in the town I lived in.

In Aberdeen, the only street I could find which conformed to perfect vaasthu was Devanha Terrace; a beautiful row of houses.

Although my choice was limited by what was quickly available when I moved to London, my next move will be influenced by vaasthu, and I think that I have found a good location in Highgate, North-East of where I stay currently.

According to books I am reading here in India, my current location in London is good, but will not bring me financial success. The previous occupant became a successful childrens TV presenter and moved up to Muswell Hill, my second preference, better than Highgate according to vaasthu, but with poor public transport links.

Perhaps see this for yourself.... Look for a row of houses in your city running South to due North, facing East, on a slope East/North/North-East/Level.

You will observe that the houses facing West on that street are inferior.

Their curtains are shoddy and their gardens and cars are scruffy.

The best district of Athens is Plaka as it has a hillock to the South-West.

The best street in Plaka is Filotheis Street. It leads North towards the Cathedral.

In fact, Plaka is the only bearable part of Athens... Absinthe? :D

The previous occupant:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/cbbcstars/cbbc_star.shtml?ross_lee

:S

[Absinthe]

In fact, Plaka is the only bearable part of Athens... Absinthe? :D

And the least affordable. :cry

[Fortis in Arduis]

And the least affordable. :cry

My dear, I strongly advise you to find an East-facing room on Filotheis Street.

Surely the owner of Milton's does not need all of those rooms? :p

They can ask quite a price for their food at that restaurant, and I swear that it is only the location which facilitates it...:wink

[SwordoftheVistula]

In fact, Plaka is the only bearable part of Athens... Absinthe? :D

And the least affordable. :cry

Those things do tend to go together

[Asega]

http://chrishowells.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/berghof-all.jpg

http://chrishowells.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/berghof.jpg

http://www.memorial-church.com/images/BerghofTerraceAKGW.jpg

http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/berghof_halle.jpg


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1991-077-31,_Obersalzberg,_Berghof,_Gro%C3%9Fe_Halle.jpg

The rest of the Nazi architecture was dreary but credit where credit is due, Adolf, your Berghof (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berghof_%28residence%29) wasn't so bad at all.

[Kadu]

I would feel so oppressed if I were to live anywhere like that. That is the ulterior motive, of course. I have a deep appreciation of wide open spaces.

That's exactly the objective, to show the strenght of the regime to subjugate the individual, to make him feel insignificant. An heritage of the Roman Architecture.

[Fred]

There's the proof that Almain is a Romance country, set in stone by their own master architect, commissioned by der Fuehrer hinself! I always like Speer, the Good Nazi.

Walhalla is more proof that Germanic culture is derivative of Rome. (http://images.google.com/images?q=walhalla&rlz=1I7GGLD_en&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=ZacPS93PJdX6nAeE7tXMAw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCMQsAQwAw)

[Zyklop]

Please bring back NS-architecture, that's how churches are built today:

http://www.wien.gv.at/bezirke/liesing/images/kir-dreifaltigwotruba.jpg
Dreifaltigkeitskirche - Vienna

[Loddfafner]

Speigel has an article on Wewelsburg. (http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,687435,00.html)

Historians are certain that no such gatherings ever took place here, and suspect that even Himmler hadn't made up his mind how the two chambers were to be used. They have devised a major new permanent exhibition, due to open on April 15, to explode the myths attached to Wewelsburg and to explore the history of one of the most powerful and dreadful organizations of the Nazi regime.

In fact, the overriding impression is that everything about this castle is fake. The crypt resembles the set of a 1940s Hollywood movie about King Arthur and his knights. The arches in the "Hall of Generals" may be covered in medieval-looking stone, but are made of concrete. "It's an impressive example of how the SS and its architects tried to falsify and recreate history to justify their own ideology," said Schulte. "When you strip off the façade, there's nothing behind it."

[Asega]

Frankly I think that the Germans should have used either German Baroque, German renaissance architecture or German Gothic.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/DD-Schloss-gp.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Berlin_Nationaldenkmal_Kaiser_Wilhelm_mit_Schloss_ 1900.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Dresden_Zwinger_1900.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Dresden-Zwinger.courtyard.04.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/K%C3%B6lner_Dom_-_S%C3%BCdportal_gesamt_-_Domwallfahrt.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/20060416-Michaelskirche_Muenchen.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Wolfenbuettel_Schloss_%282006%29.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Trausnitz001.JPG

This is German architecture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Germany).

Germans are no Romans or Greeks.. and should not have tried to imitate them. The architectural style of choice shows all the more vividly that the Hitler-regime was not a nationalistic regime but one that merely used the Germans as a vessel for imperialism. A German nationalistic regime would choose a German style. Preferably even in accordance with local traditions. But then again.. the Hitler regime got rid of local traditions (also on a political level by abandoning the decentralization and the Länder and introducing a centralized regime where areas that had little in common with each other were just made part of a Reichsgau).

[Zyklop]

the Hitler regime got rid of local traditions (also on a political level by abandoning the decentralization and the Länder and introducing a centralized regime where areas that had little in common with each other were just made part of a Reichsgau).Such as?

[Asega]

Such as?
Just look at the maps of medieval Germany and the maps of the Reichsgaue (and to the map of present-day Germany (and also in former East Germany).
You'll see that particularly in the case of what is now North-Rhine Westphalia they simply threw areas together that were never together in the first place.

Holy Roman Empire:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/HRR_1789_EN.png


As for Nazi Germany:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Germany1941.png


East German bezirke (basically not too different from the centralized Reichsgaue):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/DDR_Verwaltungsbezirke_farbig.svg/350px-DDR_Verwaltungsbezirke_farbig.svg.png


German States today:

http://www.germanytravelmap.com/Germany%20Travel_files/Germany%20States%20Map.jpg
You'll see that the map is completely unnatural. Look at for instance at Bavaria that was completely divided. At Austria, at the areas that were torn from their original foundations. You can see it all over this map of Germany. For instance: what became of Franconia?

A similar approach in Africa by the colonizing Europeans led to disasters that repeat to this very day.

[Zyklop]

You'll see that the map is completely unnatural.Always good to have foreigners telling natives what is natural.
Look at for instance at Bavaria that was completely divided. Bavaria indeed is culturally (even linguistically) divided between Oberbayern and Niederbayern and has been since centuries. Are you sure you are not just sticking your Dutch nose in issues you have no idea about?
For instance: what became of Franconia?Reichsgau Franken during the Third Reich. As far as Southern Germany is concerned, the Reichsgaue were much more natural and traditional than what we have today. Even Swabia was separate.

A similar approach in Africa by the colonizing Europeans led to disasters that repeat to this very day.Unbelievably stupid comparison.