Nazi architecture is the architecture promoted by the Third Reich from 1933 until its fall in 1945. It is characterized by three forms: a stripped neoclassicism (typified by the designs of Albert Speer); a vernacular style that drew inspiration from traditional rural architecture, especially alpine; and a utilitarian style followed for major infrastructure projects and industrial or military complexes. Nazi ideology took a pluralist attitude to architecture; however, Adolf Hitler himself believed that form should follow function and wrote against "stupid imitations of the past".^[1]

While similar to Classicism, the official Nazi style is distinguished by the impression it leaves on viewers. Architectural style was used by the Nazis to deliver and enforce their ideology. Formal elements like flat roofs, horizontal extension, uniformity, and the lack of decor created "an impression of simplicity, uniformity, monumentality, solidity and eternity," which is how the Nazi Party wanted to appear.^[2]

The construction of new buildings served other purposes beyond reaffirming Nazi ideology. In Flossenbürg and elsewhere, the SS built forced-labor camps where prisoners of the Third Reich were made to mine stone and make bricks, much of which went directly to Albert Speer for use in his rebuilding of Berlin and other projects in Germany. These new buildings were also built by forced-laborers. Working conditions were harsh, and many laborers died. This process of mining and construction allowed Nazis to fulfill political and economical goals simultaneously while creating buildings that fulfilled ideological expression goals.^[3]

The crowning achievement of this movement was to be Welthauptstadt Germania, the projected renewal of the German capital Berlin following the Nazis' victory in World War II. Speer, who oversaw the project, produced most of the plans for the new city. Only a small portion of the "World Capital" was ever built between 1937 and 1943. The plan's core features included the creation of a great neoclassical city based on an East-West axis with the Berlin victory column at its centre. Major Nazi buildings like the Reichstag or the Große Halle (never built) would adjoin wide boulevards. A great number of historic buildings in the city were demolished in the planned construction zones. However, with defeat of the Third Reich, the work was never started.

Architectural proponents

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• Hermann Bartels
• Peter Behrens
• German Bestelmeyer
• Paul Bonatz
• Woldemar Brinkmann
• Walter Brugmann
• Richard Ermisch
• Gottfried Feder
• Roderich Fick
• Theodor Fischer
• Leonhard Gall
• Hermann Giesler
• Wilhelm Grebe
• Fritz Hoger
• Eugen Honig
• Clemens Klotz
• Wilhelm Kreis
• Werner March
• Konrad Nonn
• Alfred Rosenberg
• Ludwig Ruff
• Franz Ruff
• Ernst Sagebiel
• Paul Schmitthenner
• Julius Schulte-Frohlinde
• Paul Schultze-Naumburg
• Alexander von Senger
• Albert Speer
• Fritz Todt
• Paul Troost
• Rudolf Wolters

Surviving examples of Nazi architecture

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• The SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz in Bad Tölz
• The Kehlsteinhaus in Berchtesgaden
• The widening of the Charlottenburger Chaussee in Berlin
• The Ministry of Aviation building in Berlin
• The Olympiastadion in Berlin
• The Reichsbank building in Berlin
• The Berlin Tempelhof Airport terminal in Berlin
• The Academy for Youth Leadership in Braunschweig
• The Führerbau in Munich
• The Haus der Kunst in Munich
• The Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg
• The Prora building complex in Rügen
• The Ordensburg Sonthofen in Sonthofen

See also

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• List of Nazi constructions
• Schwerbelastungskörper
• Nazi art
• Totalitarian architecture
• Fascist architecture
• Stalinist architecture
• Reactionary modernism
• Volk
• Völkisch movement