Luitpoldarena From 1906 onwards, a park named Luitpoldhain (literally translated: "Luitpold grove", named after
Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria) existed here. During the
Weimar Republic (1919–1933), the Ehrenhalle (Hall of Honour) was built in the park. In 1933, Hitler replaced the park with a strictly-structured deployment area, the so-called Luitpoldarena, with an area of . During the party rallies, deployments of the SA and the SS with up to 150,000 people took place in this area. The central "relic" here was the
Blutfahne (Blood flag), which was allegedly carried by the Beer Hall Putsch rebels and was soaked with the blood of one of them. At the Blutfahnenweihe (Blood flag consecration), new Standarten (flags) of SA- and SS-units were "consecrated" by touching their guidons with the Blutfahne. After 1945 the city of Nuremberg redesigned the area into a park again. It is an arcaded hall with an adjacent cobbled stone terrace with two rows of pedestals for fire bowls. All fourteen pylons remain virtually intact and have not been ignited since the final Nazi party rally in September 1938. Originally the hall was to be a memorial site for the 9,855 soldiers from Nuremberg who had fallen in
World War I. During the Party Congress of 1929 the then unfinished Ehrenhalle was first used to memorialize dead. During the
Third Reich the Nazis used the site primarily as a commemoration for the fallen soldiers of World War I and commemoration of the 16 dead of the "Hitlerputsch" (the so-called "Martyrs of the NS Movement") (
Beer Hall Putsch) on 9 November 1923 in Munich. Hitler, accompanied by SS leader
Heinrich Himmler and SA leader
Viktor Lutze, strode through the arena over the 240-meter-long granite path from the main grandstand to the terrace of the
Ehrenhalle and showed the Nazi salute there. The ritual was the climax of the celebration.
Ehrentribüne (Tribune of Honour) Opposite the Ehrenhalle the crescent-shaped Ehrentribüne (literally: tribune of honour) or main grandstand which measured long with gold eagles on each end was built. This structure, built by architect
Albert Speer, could seat 500 dignitaries and represented the first permanent structure built by the Nazis in Nuremberg. The Ehrenhalle and the Ehrentribüne were connected by a wide granite path. The Ehrentribüne was blown up in 1959/60.
Luitpoldhalle (Luitpold Hall) The
Luitpold Hall (Luitpoldhalle) (built 1906) had an outline of featured 76 loudspeakers, 42 spotlights, the largest pipe organ in Germany and could seat 16,000 people. Dating back to the Bavarian Exposition, the former machine hall was renovated and first used by the Nazis for the party convention
party congress of 1934. Its monumental neo classic facade featured a shell limestone facing with three enormous entrance portals. It was in this building during the
party congress of 1935, that the
Nuremberg laws were adopted which deprived German Jews and other minorities of their citizenship. The structure was severely damaged by allied bombs in early 1945 and a few years later replaced by a parking lot. The granite staircase leading to the building remains intact today.
Kongresshalle (Congress Hall) The Congress Hall (Die Kongresshalle) is the biggest preserved Nazi monumental building and is landmarked. It was planned by the Nuremberg architects
Ludwig and
Franz Ruff. It was intended to serve as a congress centre for the NSDAP with a self-supporting roof and would have provided 50,000 seats. It was located on the shore of and in the pond
Dutzendteich and marked the entrance of the rally grounds. The building reached a height of (a height of
70 m was planned) and a diameter of . The building is mostly built out of
clinker with a facade of granite panels. The design (especially the outer facade, among other features) is inspired by the
Colosseum in Rome. The foundation stone was laid in 1935, but the building remained unfinished and without a roof. The building with an outline of an "U" ends with two head-buildings. Since 2001, the
Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände (Documentation Center of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds), with the permanent exhibition
Faszination und Gewalt (Fascination and Violence), has been located in the northern wing. In the southern building, the
Serenadenhof, the
Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra have their domicile. Nuremberg Aerial Kongresshalle.JPG|Aerial photo of the Congress Hall, 2009 Kongresshalle Reichsparteitagsgelaende Detail.jpg|Front of the Congress Hall, detail Kongresshalle Saeulengang TB.jpg|Congress Hall, Arcade Walk Dokumentationszentrum.JPG|Documentation Center in the north wing of the Congress Hall Dokumentationszentrum2.JPG|Documentation Center; with its "glass and steel arrow", piercing the north wing, the Documentation Center is supposed to be a widely visible architectural counterpoint. Kongresshalle Nürnberg1.jpg|Kongresshalle (Congress Hall) Kongresshalle innenhof gnu1742.jpg|Inner courtyard of the Congress Hall, 2008
Great Road (Große Straße) The great road is almost long and wide. It was intended to be the central
axis of the site and a
parade road for the
Wehrmacht. In its northwestern prolongation the road points towards
Nuremberg Castle. This was to create a relation between the role of Nuremberg during the Third Reich and its role during medieval times. The road reached from the Congress Hall to the Märzfeld, the construction work started in 1935 and was finished in 1939 (it has never been used as a parade road, as due to the beginning of
World War II, the last rally was held in 1938). The
pavement was made of
granite pavers in black and gray with edges of exactly . A representative entrance portal and two pylons were planned at the northwestern end of the Great Road. Near the entrance area of the
German Stadion a grandstand with a hall of pillars was planned for the government leaders and generals which were to take the salute on Wehrmacht formations which were to march in direction of the parade ground
Märzfeld. After the war, the road was used as a temporary
airfield for the
US Army as the pre-war airports of Nuremberg were either in neighboring Fürth (
Fürth Airfield) or destroyed by the war (Marienberg Airport). Only in 1955 did the current
Nuremberg Airport come into being and replace the need for such makeshift temporary stopgaps. Nowadays, it is used by the adjacently-located
Nuremberg exhibition centre as an occasional parking area for highly-frequented events.
Zeppelinfeld The
Zeppelinfeld (in English:
Zeppelin Field) is located east of the Great Road. It consists of a large
grandstand (
Zeppelinhaupttribüne) with a width of and a smaller stand. It was one of
Albert Speer's first works for the
Nazi party and was based upon the
Pergamon Altar. Its square piers are inspired by the work of Franco-American architect
Paul Philippe Cret. The grandstand is famous as the building that had the
swastika blown from atop it in 1945, after Germany's fall in
World War II. The name "Zeppelinfeld" or "Zeppelinwiese" refers to the fact that in August 1909
Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin landed with one of his
airships (LZ6) in this location. From 1947 to 1995, the
Nurnberg American High School, a
DoDDS facility, used the field (called 'Soldiers Field') for high school football and American football practice. In 1967, the city authorities blew up the grandstand's double row of pillars, causing severe damage to the rest of the building. The remainder of the stand is intact and used as the centerpiece of the
Norisring motor racing track. The German leg of the traveling
heavy metal festival
Monsters of Rock was held here twice during the 1980s. The field has also been used, and is still being used today, by the
Nuremberg Rams American Football team. Another part of the grounds is home to a campground. After years of neglect the damage due to erosion and dampness was severe, made worse by the poor quality of the initial construction. In 2019, an 85 million euros plan to conserve what remained of the stadium and make it accessible to visitors was announced, with a target completion date of 2025. it would have offered 400,000 seats in a horseshoe shape; planned dimensions: length: 800 m, width: 450 m, height: 100 m, building area 350,000 m2. The foundation stone was laid on 9 July 1937. It was intended to be finished for the party congress in 1945. In 1938, the construction began with the excavation. It was stopped in 1939, but during the whole war, the casting pit had to be kept dry from entering groundwater. After the war, the northern half of the pit filled up with groundwater and is today called
Silbersee (Silver Lake); the southern half was used to deposit debris from downtown Nuremberg.
Märzfeld The Märzfeld (literally: March Field, relating to the
Roman god of war,
Mars) was to be a representation and parade ground for the
Wehrmacht. It was located at the southern end of the "Große Straße" (Great road). Its dimensions were or bigger than 80 football fields. The name of the huge deployment area was supposed to recall the recovery of military sovereignty of the
German Reich in March 1935. ("März" is the German name for the month "March." As in English, the name derives from the Roman warrior god
Mars. The name Märzfeld thus also alludes to the
Campus Martius, in Rome. The
Champs de Mars in
Paris take their name from the Roman landmark as well.) The construction, never completed, began in 1938 with plans calling for 24 granite towers each about in height. Only eleven were ever completed and were demolished in 1966. Tribunes for about 160,000 people were planned around the field. On the central grandstand a group of colossal statues was planned: a goddess of victory and warriors. Today the site is occupied by a residential district,
Langwasser, which also extends to the south, into the area previously used for tent cities during the party rallies.
KdF-Stadt (KdF-City) In the north-east of the rally grounds the
KdF-Stadt (KdF-City) was built. In wooden exhibition halls regional products were presented and recreational events were held during the party congresses. The NS-organisation
KdF looked after workers during their free time. ==See also==