Between his most extravagant projects was the construction of a megacity called ‘Welthauptstadt Germania’, intended renew berlin and that his new project would become the ‘capital of the world’. Hitler wanted this megacity It was the epicenter of Nazi ideology, which is why he designed it as a “symbol of power and greatness of the Nazi regime.”
The designs of ‘World capital Germania’ were made by Albert Speerwho was born in 1905 and was apprenticed to the architect Heinrich Tessenow, who stood out for his designs among the traditional classicism and modern functionalism.
In 1931, Albert Speer became Hitler’s architect and was commissioned to design the buildings that would make up the delirious city that the Nazi dictator intended to turn into the ‘capital of the world’ and which would be inspired by the architecture of Babylon and Rome.
Model of the Große Halle, one of the government buildings, which Adolf Hitler planned for the ‘capital of the world’.
Similarly, Hitler claimed that its absurd ‘capital of the world’ had an Arc de Triomphe, obviously bigger than the one in Paris, because according to his opinion, ‘Napoleon was nothing but a dwarf’. Also, the design, one of the most important buildings of the government of Nazi Germany, would have as a source of inspiration the ‘Gallery of Mirrors of Versailles’ obviously, Speer’s designs were twice as big and ostentatious.
The vast majority of Adolf Hitler’s designs and plans to make Nazi Germany the ‘capital of the world’ are in the Library of Congress in Washington and is known to have more than 3,000 documents on architecture from Hitler’s private bookstore.
Hitler’s plan was that Nazi Germany would become the ‘capital of the world’ and would be classified as a political, cultural and propaganda center, which, furthermore, symbolize Nazi domination over the planet.
- Second World War: the outbreak of World War II in 1939 diverted the resources and attention of the Nazi regime towards the war. Resources for construction were allocated to the war, which limited the resources available for architectural and urban projects.
- material shortage: During the war, Germany faced a shortage of materials and resources due to the bombing of the Allied countries and the economic blockade of them. These limitations made it difficult to carry out large-scale construction projects like the ‘capital of the world’.
- Nazi defeat: as the war progressed, the rivals advanced into German territory and finally defeated the Nazi regime in 1945. After the defeat, the inhabitants and military forces were mainly concerned with rebuilding and removing any symbols of the defeated Nazi regime, among These are Hitler’s projects.
- Holocaust and extermination of Jews: the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Poland, indicates that the Holocaust is undoubtedly one of the most heinous and reprehensible crimes committed during the Nazi regime. In the same way, the archive of this place refers to the fact that there were approximately six million Jews who were systematically persecuted, deported and murdered in extermination camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka and Sobibor.
- Euthanasia of people with disabilities: the book “The destruction of European Jews” by Raul Hilberg, mentions that one of the most reprehensible crimes committed by the Nazi regime was the forced euthanasia of people with physical and mental disabilities, this was done through the “euthanasia” program Known as Aktion T4, mass murders of people deemed “undesirable” by the regime were carried out.
- Inhumane Medical Experiments: Some testimonies from survivors of this dark era have indicated that during the Nazi regime, numerous inhumane medical experiments were carried out on concentration camp prisoners. These experiments resulted from exposure to extreme conditions, performing surgeries without anesthesia, and testing new drugs and treatments, which caused suffering and death.
- Concentration camps and forced labor: The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, United States, mentions that concentration camps were places of horror, where millions of people were imprisoned, tortured, and subjected to forced labor. In addition to the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political prisoners and other minorities were also persecuted and killed.
