Propaganda

As a group, we traveled to southern Germany this week, and one of our many stops was Nurenberg. Our tour of the history rich city brought us by the Congress Hall, present day home of the Documentation Center and a recording studio. The building, one of the very few Nazi ruins, was never actually completed. Its intended use was for a single day of one conference. I had very little interest int the conference, however. What absolutely fascinated me was how heavily the archetects, and in turn Hitler, used propaganda in the design. The congress hall itself was modeled after the Coloseum in Rome, a decision made in order to give the structure more credibility. If the structure had been completed, all light on the interior would point toward Hitler, to further emphasize that he was the chosen one. Near the Congree Hall is the Zeppelin Field. The tribune, a structure that looked onto the field, was modeled after Peregamon's Altar, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Hitler would speak from this structure, and the high ranking officers would be up there as well. The steps that he decend to get to the podium were small so he would have to desend slowly, and he would slowly go out of sight. Then, the ascending steps were tall, steep, and he would appear quickly to an awed crowd. While I am sure I have inadequately conveyed the purpose for all of these minute details in the archetecture, the overall point I am attempting to make is that Hitler focused so much on every little thing. Appearance was everything, and while I had know propaganda played a huge role in his rise to power, actually being there and seeing it made me fully understand what propaganda is.