Rally Grounds

More snow and bitterly cold wind this morning, so we rugged up and caught the train to the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds, aka Zeppelin Field (named after the landing of one of Count Zeppelin's airships there in 1909).

From 1933 the area was used by the Nazis Party for their annual party rally, with up to 200,000 attendees. During World War II it remained largely intact. On April 22 1945, the US Army held its victory parade at the main grandstand, and after the ceremony the swastika atop the building was blown up. In 1967 the pillar galleries were demolished because they were unsafe. The shortened grandstand remains, with the area still used for an annual motor racing event and cultural events.

Across the lake from Zeppelin Field is Congress Hall. This huge building was to provide undercover seating for 50,000 people, and would have been almost twice the size of the Colosseum in Rome. The outside looks complete, but the interior is an unfinished shell, 39m in height. Construction work was abandoned in World War II and it remains unfinished today.

We walked back to the city via a number of caches and had dinner at a local restaurant.Read more