Nuremberg Party Rally Grounds

[Paulheald]

Thanks Geoff - that puts my query about the Deutcher Hof hotel to bed. I wonder why AH was so fond of that particular hotel? Maybe it was more prestigious before the war. When I passed by a couple of years ago it looked rather tacky!

[Br. James]

Thanks for sharing that video of the new stadium adjacent to the Zeppelinwiese grounds...isn't this what used to be the old Hitler Jugend Stadium back in the day?

Br. James

[Geoff Walden]

Welcome to AHF, my friend!

You're right - that was the stadium that the HJ used during the rallies.

Geoff

[Br. James]

Many thanks for your word of welcome, Geoff -- very kind of you! It's good to be here, among friends!

Br. James

[Paulheald]

Whilst I found the Zeppelin Tribune most fascinating; for me the Luitpold Arena, especially when facing the war memorial, appeared to be exactly the same as it was in the 30s. Quite a shock to do an about-turn and see the present day parkland. On special occasions are fires still kindled in the crucibles?

[Br. James]

When I was there in the late 1990s there were no crucibles atop the short stone columns that formed the bases for the braziers lined up in front to the War Memorial in "Triumph of the Will." Like the two huge crucibles set atop the end columns on the Zeppelin Field Tribune, these braziers were apparently among the first to disappear after the war.

Br. James

[Paulheald]

You are quite right Br. James, the braziers have gone - my memory was just playing tricks. Nevertheless a couple of years back I stood exactly where AH stood facing the war memorial and it all seemed so little changed from those days - it was quite an evocative experience.

Does anybody know what happened to the large braziers from the Zeppelin Tribune - were they saved for posterity, trashed for scrap or just looted?

[shaunuk2]

The large bowels are inside the tribune well one of them is, before the new museum was opened the tribune was the main exhibition back in the mid 90's

[shaunuk2]

Two pictures of the inside of the Tribune when I visited back in the early 90's note the bowl at the far end of the hall..

[Br. James]

My experience back in the late '90s at the Luitpold Arena was quite different from yours. I too walked across the field from where the tribune once stood to the War Memorial and my feeling was how different it all was! The whole field was returned to grass and the tribune and the Congress Hall were completely gone, without seemingly a trace of what structures had once been there. The vastness of the Luitpold field was still somewhat visible, with the stonework that supported the viewing stands surrounding the field still in place, but everything was overgrown with weeds and grass. The same feeling I got when walking across the Königsplatz in Munich...now missing the wide expanse of the open flagstone field, most of which had been returned to lawn. One day even these reminiscences will only exist in memory!

Br. James

[Geoff Walden]

Both flame urns/braziers from the Zeppelintribüne have been preserved. As shaunuk2 pointed out, one is inside the Tribüne Golden Hall, where the museum used to be (now not open to the public except on special tours). The other is outside on the back side. It used to be in the swimming pool area of the adjacent stadium, which is why it was painted like this.

There are copper crucibles/braziers still on top of the stone columns in front of the Luitpold Arena Ehrenhalle. They are not the originals as seen in photos from the 1930s, but they have been there for many years. I am not aware that they ever have fires in them now, but they have obviously had fires in them in the past. Today, the only official event that takes place there is the memorial ceremony on Volkstrauertag in November, but I'm not aware that they light the braziers for that.

[Paulheald]

Thanks folks for the responses on the crucibles/braziers - good to know that some things are preserved for posterity. There was so much wanton destruction by the authorities of anything and everything pertaining to the Third Reich.

I have asked this question before but have not received any responses to date. Are there any photographs or movie clips of AH emerging from the Zeppelintribüne door and descending to the speaker's podium? I didn't see anything in Triumph of the Will and have never seen any photographs. Whereas in Triumph of the Will at the Municipal Arena AH emerges from below the stadium complete with a large retinue of his senior officials - very visually impressive.

[shaunuk2]

Another view of the inside
http://i1350.photobucket.com/albums/p77 ... 2d9e41.jpg

[Max]

http://www.frankenfernsehen.tv/mediathe ... yrbdnkrjZ4

Can someone say what is said at 3:40?
It seems that one of the cauldrons was used as a small swimming pool for children.

[Br. James]

Many thanks to Paul and Geoff for reminding me of what was inside the Golden Hall beneath the Zeppelinwiese Tribune...which I saw myself back in the late 1990s! I guess the passage of almost 20 years has reduced my memory capacity, but I do recall that some of the searchlights (I believe two of them...) used to create the Dome of Light over that vast field were on display inside the Golden Hall when I visited. I'm sorry to know that that on-sight museum is no longer open to the public, though I suppose no one should be surprised, given that that building has probably not been maintained properly since the 1940s. It shouldn't take long before tourists are banned from walking up onto the tribune reviewing stands themselves, considering the lack of preservation there...

How sad...

Br. James