Architect Speer Albert was the author of many colossal urban projects in Nazi Germany. He found himself in the inner circle of Adolf Hitler and enjoyed the Fuhrer's rare confidence.
Career start
Speer was born in the southwest of 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 when he became a teacher. As the architect himself stated, in his youth and early life he was deeply apolitical. However, it was at this time that Germany was going through crisis after crisis, which made the radical Nazi party popular. In 1930, Albert Speer joined its ranks after hearing Hitler's speech, which greatly inspired him and left a strong impression.
Joining the Nazi Party
The young man has become more than just a party member. He ended up in the ranks of the assault squads (SA). Political activities did not prevent him from growing professionally. He settled in his native Mannheim and began to receive orders forbuilding plans. The party leadership also did not bypass the young talent. The Nazis paid him to rebuild the buildings that housed the offices of the NSDAP.
Reconstruction of the building of the Ministry of Propaganda
Even then Speer Albert was directly acquainted with the party leadership. In 1933, Hitler finally came to power. At the same time, Goebbels gave Speer the most important task for him at that time - to rebuild an outdated building in which the propaganda ministry was supposed to start working. It was a new structure created by the Nazis after coming to power. The ministry had several departments - administrative, responsible for the press, propaganda, radio, literature, etc. The huge state institution included a staff of many thousands. He had to fit in the new building so that he could not only work successfully, but also quickly communicate with each other. All these tasks were assigned to a team led by Albert Speer. The work of an ambitious architect inspired confidence that he would cope with his mission. And so it happened. During the implementation of the project, Albert Speer attracted the attention of the Fuhrer. Hitler had his own architect, Paul Troost. Speer was assigned as his assistant.
Paul Troost's 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 the Bavarian headquarters of the Nazi Party was located until the very end of the war. Troost died in 1934 - soonafter Speer was appointed as his assistant.
After this loss, Hitler made the young specialist his personal architect, entrusting him with the most important projects. Speer Albert took up the restructuring of the Reich Chancellery in the capital. A year before Troost's death, he was responsible for decorating the paraphernalia 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 convention was captured in the propaganda documentary "Victory of Faith". Much of what was on film was inspired by Albert Speer. From that time on, the architect found himself in the inner circle of Adolf Hitler.
Despite his busy schedule, Speer Albert, whose personal life was extremely successful, did not forget about his family. He was married to Margaret Weber and they had 6 children.
Rebuilding Berlin
In 1937, Speer Albert received the position of inspector general of the imperial capital, in charge of construction. The architect was given the task to develop a project for the complete reconstruction of Berlin. The plan was completed in 1939.
According to the layout, Berlin was supposed to get a new name - Germany Capital of the World. 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 mean the country (Deutschland), but its female image. It was a national allegory that was popular in the 19th century, when there was no unifiedGermany. Residents of numerous principalities considered this image to be the same for the entire German people, regardless of the state in which they lived.
Adolf Hitler and his entourage 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 supposed to resemble Babylon or Rome during the existence of the ancient empire. Of course, London and Paris would seem provincial by comparison.
Most of the Fuhrer's ideas were transferred to paper by Albert Speer. 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 pierced by two axes of roads that would allow quick access to the ring highway that surrounded the city. In the very center would be the Reich Chancellery, on the reconstruction of which Albert Speer also worked. The architect's projects concerning the restructuring of Berlin were approved by the Fuhrer.
In order for Speer to implement an ambitious plan as quickly as possible, Hitler gave him unprecedented powers. The architect could not even reckon with the opinion of the Berlin city authorities, including the magistrate. It also speaks of the great degree of trust that Hitler had in his entourage.
Project implementation
Rebuilding the citywas supposed to begin with the demolition of a large residential area, 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, repressions began in Berlin against Jews who were expelled from their native 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 various fronts led to economic problems. Reconstruction was frozen until better times, but never resumed due to the defeat of the Third Reich.
Interestingly, the restructuring affected not only residential areas. Cemeteries were destroyed in different parts of the city. 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 was presented as part of the Berlin renovation 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's idea, the main hall could accommodate about 150,000 visitors during the celebrations.
In May 1938, Hitler visited 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 expected the building to stand for at least ten thousand years. Like other important structures of the newcapital, 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, according to the project, was ten times the volume 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.
Member of the Reichstag
Since the onset of the war most of Speer's professional activities were connected with the capital, he also began to participate in the organizational life of the city. From 1941 to 1945, the architect was a member of the Berlin Reichstag. He was elected in the city's western constituency.
Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition
In 1942, Fritz Todt, Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition, died in a plane crash near Rastenburg. Albert Speer was unexpectedly appointed to the vacant position. The biography of this man is an example of the life of a disciplined party member who diligently did his job, no matter what position he held.
Speer was also responsible for the inspection of energy resources and roads in Germany. He regularly visited the industrial enterprises of the country and did everything to ensure that they worked at full capacity for as long as possible, supplying the army with everything necessary in conditions of total war. In this position, Speer collaborated extensively with Heinrich Himmler, who oversaw the concentration camps. Reichsministers managed to create an economic system in whichthe welfare of the state was based on the forced labor of prisoners. At this time, all adult and he althy Germans fought at the front, so the industry had to be developed at the expense of other resources.
Last months of the war
The spring of 1944 was extremely difficult for Speer. He fell ill and could not work. Partly because of his absence, but mostly because of the plight of the economy at this time, German industry was on the verge of collapse. During the summer, an unsuccessful plot was uncovered to assassinate Hitler. The traitors' correspondence 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. Played a role and Hitler's attachment to the Reichsminister.
In the last months of the war, Speer tried to convince the Führer 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 the life of the enemies on the offensive. The Reich Minister understood that this tactic was disastrous not only for the Allies, but also for the Third Reich, where by the end of the war there was not a single stable operating enterprise left. Roads and infrastructure were destroyed by shells and shelling. Carpet bombing of German strategic targets has become a regular event, especially after the Americans joined the Allies.
Arrest andsentence
Speer was arrested on May 23, 1945. He was one of the few who admitted his guilt at the Nuremberg Trials. The architect also escaped the death pen alty, unlike many of his colleagues in the Nazi government. The main accusation against the Reich Minister was the accusation of using the labor of concentration camp prisoners. Speer used it while in charge of German industry. For his crimes, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The prisoner was sent to Spandau. The local prison was controlled by four allied countries. He served his entire sentence and was released in 1966.
After release
In 1969, Albert Speer (after prison) published his memoirs, Memoirs, written behind bars. This book immediately became a bestseller in Europe and the United States. The memoirs of the Reich Minister were not published in the Soviet Union. This happened after the collapse of the communist state.
In the 90s, not only "Memoirs" were published in Russia, 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 government positions. Albert Speer after prison lived in the free environment of bourgeois Europe. In 1981, he died during a visit to London.
