From Berlin to »Germania«

The »Heavy Load-Bearing Body« bears witness to the most megalomaniacal construction project Berlin has ever seen. Under the direction of the General Inspector for Buildings Albert Speer, Adolf Hitler’s architect, planning for a gigantic project commenced in 1937 that was intended to completely redesign Berlin. According to Hitler’s vision, two main highways, the so-called »East-West Axis« and the »North-South Axis« would have transected the new »World Capital« in the form of a cross. During the planning, most attention was given to the North-South Axis with its 7 km long and 120 metre wide boulevard, at the end of which a gigantic triumphal arch was planned, whose dimensions would have massively exceeded those of any existing structure in Berlin. The Second World War put an end to the National Socialists’ inhuman urban planning.

picture: Landesarchiv Berlin