Nazi Party Rally Grounds - Overview

Overview

The grounds included:

• The Luitpoldarena, a deployment area
• the Luitpold Hall or "Old Congress Hall" (damaged during World War II, later demolished)
• the Kongresshalle (Congress Hall) or Neue Kongresshalle (New Congress Hall) (unfinished)
• the Zeppelin Feld (Zeppelin Field), another deployment area
• the Märzfeld (March Field) (unfinished, later demolished), a deployment area for the Wehrmacht (army)
• the Deutsche Stadion (German stadium) (never exceeded the state of foundation), which was to be the largest sports stadium in the world
• the former Stadion der Hitlerjugend ("stadium of the Hitler Youth", today Frankenstadion)
• the Große Straße ("Great Road"), a (never used) parade road.

A "Haus der Kultur" (House of Culture) and a representative entrance portal towards the "Great Road" were planned at the northwestern end of the "Great Road", near the (new) Congress Hall.

Only Zeppelinfeld, Luitpoldarena and Große Straße were finished. The Kongresshalle, Zeppelinfeld and the Große Straße have been under monument protection since 1973 as significant examples for NS architecture.

The grounds were planned by Hitler's architect Albert Speer, apart from the Congress hall, which was planned by Ludwig and Franz Ruff.

Today the whole site is a memorial, and parts are used as the Norisring motor racing track.

On 30 August 1933 Hitler declared Nuremberg the "City of the Reichsparteitage (Reich Party Congresses)". The Party Congresses (Reichsparteitage) were a self-portrayal of the NS-state and had no programmatic task. The unity of the nation was to be demonstrated. In a propagandistic way a relation was to be drawn between the NS movement and the glory of the medieval emperors and the meetings of the Imperial States which were held in Nuremberg.