The New Congress Hall

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, plans were already in place to build a new, larger Congress Hall on the banks of the Dutzenteich.

Hitler wanted a Congress Hall capable of holding 50,000 people (compared to the 16,000 of the Luitpoldhalle).

The idea originated in 1931 with a design created by Ludwig Ruff, a Nuremberg architect, but arguements between him and the mayor delayed the project.

The 'horseshoe' design was compared to the Coliseum but was 1.7 times higher and 1.3 times longer.

Granite was the material of choice but cost and time meant the building would be constructed of brick and clad with thin granite slabs.

The interior space would be 180m x 160m and almost 70m high and illuminated by large glass windows in the roof (which had no supporting pillars)

The foundation stone ceremony took place on the 12th September 1935 and work commenced on digging the foundations.

Unfortunately, little thought had been given to the location, which was next to the lake.

Water began seeping into the excavations and an expensive solution of a compacted layer of sand and granite chippings was required to enable the 3m thick foundation slab to be laid.

The technical difficulties meant that for several years only a huge hole in the ground would be visible.

To allow visitors to see how grandoise the plans were, two 1:1 scale mock-ups were created.

In 1938, over 20 cranes appeared on the Nuremberg skyline and by the 1938 rally, the beginnings of the semi-circular brickwork and granite cladding could be seen.

The mockup shows that much more work was required to finish the building.....the foundations of the Great Avenue can be seen crossing the Dutzenteich

Hitler visiting the full height mock-up of the new Congress Hall in 1938

The second mock-up was added to the main structure.....which only went to show how much more work was required

With the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and the declaration of war, work soon ground to a halt. 

The project was never formally cancelled and some construction continued in 1940 and 1941.

The unfinished building suffered some damage in Allied air raids and was repaired by Soviet PoWs.

By the end of WW2, the Congress Hall was an incomplete shell rather than an imposing symbol of Nazi power.

As the walls were still below their full height, it is not known if the roof structure could have been built with engineering techniques available at that time.