The Luitpold Hall

Prior development of this area is covered in Early Nuremberg.

The original hall (Maschinen-Halle) was built for the 1906 Bavaria State Exhibition and is the only remaining building of significance.

The hall was the largest of the many buildings in the exhibition park 

This industrial structure was built of glass and steel and had a façade in the Art Nouveau style

The MAN company (Maschinenfabriken Augsburg und Nuremberg) built the hall (180m x 49m) to display its large machines.
Although it was subsequently used as an exhibition centre, no photographs of the interior have been located.

In the 1927 rally, the hall was used to accommodate almost 8000 SA members who needed somewhere to stay.
There is no film evidence of a major event being held inside the hall in 1927 or 1929.

The 1929 film shows SA members marching towards the rear of the Luitpold Hall

In July 1933, Hitler made it clear that he wanted to use the Luitpold Hall as the Nazi Party Conference Centre.

With only a few weeks before the 1933 rally, Benno von Arent (film director, artist, architect, designer) was tasked with making a space, designed for viewing industrial machines, suitable to hold meetings of 16,000 people.

The designers hung white fabric in front of the windows and strips from the ceiling to hide the steel framework.
Black fabric was pinned around the supporting columns and decorated eagle emblems.
They also dressed a temporary stage with fabric and pine branches. 

For the required music, a large brass and string band was seated behind the officials and a huge organ was installed.

The opening of the 1933 Reichsparteitag with the decorative features clearly visible

Hitler was not impressed by the Art Nouveau style of the hall and Albert Speer was commissioned to alter the appearance of the building.

The results of Speer's redesign......much more in keeping with Nazi architecture.

The redesigned building was ready for the 1934 rally.

For the 1935 rally, they installed airconditioning, as people were finding the heat hard to bear when 16,000 delegates were packed into an airless space.

The Luitpold Hall was used for all the rallies up to 1938.