Architect Speer Albert was the author of many colossal urban projects in Nazi Germany. He was surrounded by Adolf Hitler and enjoyed the rare confidence of the Fuhrer.
Carier start
Speer was born in southwestern Germany, in the city of Mannheim, on March 19, 1905. His father was an architect, and it was thanks to him that the tastes and interests of the boy were formed. Albert studied in Karlsruhe, Munich and Berlin. At 22, he graduated from the capital's college and became a certified architect.
Speer's career began with the fact that he became a teacher. As the architect himself stated, in his youth and youth he was deeply apolitical. However, it was at this time that Germany was in crisis after crisis, because of which the radical Nazi party became popular. In 1930, Speer Albert joined her ranks after he heard Hitler's speech, which greatly inspired him and left a strong impression.
Joining the Nazi Party
The young man became not just a member of the party. He ended up in the ranks of assault squads (SA). Political activity did not prevent him from growing professionally. He settled in his native Mannheim and began to receive orders for the production of building plans. The party leadership also did not pass over young talent. The Nazis paid him for the reconstruction of the buildings in which the NSDAP institutions were located.
Reconstruction of the building of the Ministry of Propaganda
Even then, Speer Albert was directly familiar with the party elite. In 1933, Hitler finally came to power. Then Goebbels gave Speer the most responsible task for him at that time - to rebuild the outdated building, in which the ministry of propaganda was supposed to start working. It was a new structure created by the Nazis after coming to power. There were several departments in the ministry — administrative, responsible for the press, propaganda, radio, literature, etc. A huge state institution included thousands of staff. He had to fit in the new building so as not only to work successfully, but also to quickly communicate with each other. All these tasks were assigned to the team led by Speer Albert. The work of an ambitious architect inspired confidence that he would cope with his mission. And so it happened. During the project, Albert Speer attracted the attention of the Fuhrer. Hitler had his own architect - Paul Troost. Speer was appointed his assistant.
Paul Troost Assistant
Paul Troost was famous for his work in Munich, where Hitler lived for many years. For example, this is the famous Brown House, where until the very end of the war the Bavarian headquarters of the Nazi party was located. In 1934, Troost passed away - shortly after Speer was appointed his assistant.
After this loss, Hitler made the young specialist his personal architect, entrusting him with the most important projects. Speer Albert was engaged in the restructuring of the capital Reich Chancellery. A year before the death of Troost, he was responsible for the design of the attributes of the party congress, held in Nuremberg. Then for the first time all of Germany saw a demonstration of the huge symbol of the Third Reich - a red canvas with the symbol of a black eagle. This congress was captured in the propaganda documentary, Victory of Faith. The inspirer of much of what was on film was Albert Speer. The architect from this time was in the immediate environment of Adolf Hitler.
Despite his busyness, Speer Albert, whose personal life was extremely successful, did not forget about his family. He was married to Margaret Weber, they had 6 children.
Reorganization of Berlin
In 1937, Speer Albert received the position of inspector general of the imperial capital in charge of construction. The architect was tasked with developing a complete reconstruction project for Berlin. The plan was completed in 1939.
According to the layout, Berlin was supposed to get a new name - the capital of the world, Germany. This phrase fully reflected the propaganda and ideological basis of the restructuring of the city. The name used the Latin version of the spelling of the word "Germany". In German, it did not denote a country (Deutschland), but its female image. It was a national allegory, which was popular in the 19th century, when there was still no unified Germany. Residents of numerous principalities considered this image common for the entire German people, regardless of the territory of which state he lived.
Adolf Hitler and his close associate Albert Speer worked directly on the project of the new capital. The architecture of the city was supposed to be monumental, which would symbolize the center of the world. In his public speeches, Hitler repeatedly mentioned the new capital. According to his idea, this city was to be like Babylon or Rome during the existence of the ancient empire. Of course, London and Paris would seem provincial towns in comparison with it.
Speer Albert transferred most of the Fuhrer’s ideas to paper. Photos of modern Berlin may also contain some of his realized ideas. For example, these are the famous lanterns that were installed next to the Charlottenburg gate. The capital was to be riddled with two axes of roads that would allow quick access to the ring highway surrounding the city. In the very center would be the Reich Chancellery, whose reconstruction Albert Speer also worked on. Architect's projects regarding the restructuring of Berlin were approved by the Fuhrer.
In order for Speer to realize his ambitious plan as quickly as possible, Hitler endowed him with unprecedented powers. The architect could not even reckon with the opinion of the city authorities of Berlin, including the magistrate. This also speaks of the great degree of trust that Hitler had for his close associate.
Project implementation
The restructuring of the city was supposed to begin with the demolition of a large housing estate, in which about 150 thousand inhabitants lived. This led to the fact that there were many homeless children in the capital. In order to resettle the homeless in new apartments, in Berlin began repression against Jews who were expelled from their home apartments. Housing was given to internally displaced persons whose quarters were demolished for reconstruction.
The project began on the eve of World War II and continued until 1943, when numerous defeats on different fronts led to economic problems. The reconstruction was frozen until better times, but it did not resume due to the defeat of the Third Reich.
It is interesting that perestroika affected not only residential areas. Cemeteries in different areas of the city were destroyed. During the reconstruction, about 15 thousand corpses were reburied.
Hall of the People
The Hall of the People was one of the most significant ideas that were presented as part of the Berlin reconstruction project. This building was supposed to appear in the north of the capital and become the most important symbol of the power of the German state. According to Speer, the main hall could accommodate about 150 thousand visitors during the celebrations.
In May 1938, Hitler traveled to Rome. In the ancient capital, he visited many ancient monuments, including the Pantheon. It was this building that became the prototype of the Hall of the People. The Berlin Pantheon was planned to be built from high quality marble and granite. Hitler hoped that the building will stand at least ten thousand years. Like other important buildings of the new capital, the Hall of the People was to be built by 1950, when Germany would finally conquer Europe.
The crown of the structure was the dome, which was ten times the design of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. According to experts, the construction of the Hall could cost the German treasury a billion Reichsmarks.
Reichstag deputy
Since the onset of the war, most of Speer's professional activity was connected with the capital, he also began to participate in the organizational life of the city. From 1941 to 1945, the architect was a deputy of the Berlin Reichstag. He was elected in the western constituency of the city.
Reich Minister of Arms and Ammunition
In 1942, the Reich Minister of Arms and Ammunition Fritz Todt was killed in a plane crash near Rastenburg. Albert Speer was unexpectedly appointed to the vacant post. The biography of this person is an example of the biography of a disciplined party member who diligently did his job, regardless of what post he held.
Speer was also responsible for the inspection of energy resources and roads in Germany. He regularly visited the country's industrial enterprises and did everything to ensure that they worked at full capacity for as long as possible, supplying the army with everything necessary in a total war. In this position, Speer collaborated a lot with Heinrich Himmler, who oversaw the concentration camps. The Reich ministers managed to create an economic system in which the welfare of the state was based on the forced labor of prisoners. At this time, all adult and healthy Germans fought at the front, so the industry had to be developed at the expense of other resources.
The last months of the war
The spring of 1944 was extremely difficult for Speer. He fell ill and could not work. Partly due to its absence, but for the most part due to the plight of the economy at this time, German industry was on the verge of collapse. In the summer, an unsuccessful conspiracy was discovered, the purpose of which was to kill Hitler. Correspondence of traitors was discovered in which they discussed the idea of making Speer a minister in the new government. The architect only miraculously managed to convince the Nazi elite that he was not involved in the conspiracy. Hitler played a role and attachment to the Reich Minister.
In the last months of the war, Speer tried to convince the Fuhrer not to use scorched earth tactics. Leaving the cities where the allies were approaching, the Germans, as a rule, destroyed the entire industry in order to complicate their life on the offensive path to the enemies. The Reichsminister understood that this tactic was fatal not only for the Allies, but also for the Third Reich, where by the end of the war there was not a single stable working enterprise. Roads and infrastructure were destroyed by shells and shelling. Carpet bombing of strategic sites in Germany became a regular event, especially after the Americans joined the allies.
Arrest and Sentence
Speer was arrested on May 23, 1945. He was one of the few who pleaded guilty to the Nuremberg trials. The architect also escaped the death penalty, unlike many of his colleagues in the Nazi government. The main charge against the Reich Minister was the charge of using the labor of prisoners in concentration camps. Speer used it at the time when he was responsible for German industry. For his crimes, he was sentenced to a prison term of 20 years.
The prisoner was sent to Spandau. The local prison was controlled by four allied countries. He served his entire term and was released in 1966.
After release
In 1969, Albert Speer (after prison) published the memoirs written behind bars, Memoirs. This book immediately became a bestseller in Europe and the United States. In the Soviet Union, the memoirs of the Reich Minister were not published. This happened after the collapse of the communist state.
In the 90s in Russia not only “Memoirs” were published, but also several more books by Speer. In them, he not only described the situation in the highest echelons of power of the Third Reich, but also tried to explain his actions in various public positions. Albert Speer after prison lived in a free environment of bourgeois Europe. In 1981, he died during a visit to London.