GROSSE HALL

ALBERT SPEER

History of Architecture IV

Oscar del Bosque

Begoña Félix
Rodrigo Luna

Arq. Celia Esther Arredondo

 Basic Information
 Name: Grosse Hall

 Location: Berlin, Germany

 Architect: Albert Speer

 Period: New Government

Architecture / Nazi Architecture

 Planning Period: 1937 – 1940

 Albert Speer
 He was educated in architectural studies at the
Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, and later
at the Universities of Munich and Berlin.
 Inspired by Hitler's oratory prowess, he joined
the National Socialist party in January 1931,
where he developed a close friendship with
Hitler.
 In 1937, Hitler gave Speer the opportunity to
fulfill his youthful architectural ambitions by
appointing him Inspector General of the Reich.
Hitler selected Speer, to construct the Reich
Chancellery in Berlin and the Party palace in
Nuremberg.
 Worked for TESSENOW. Remodeled the Neue
Wache de Schinkel.
 Grosse Hall: Construction system and
materials
 Speer preferred to build his dome in granite, but the Führer ordered that the skeleton of the
dome was conceived in steel.
 The inmense hemisphere and it’s massive drum were resting on a square block of clear granite
measuring 300 x 300 meters in plan, and 74 meters of height. It is also supported with columns
which are distributed along the drum’s circunference.
 Only the base plate were to be in reinforced concrete and located at sufficient depth to prevent
any movement of contraction or expansion.
 176 massive concrete blocks of 20,000 m3 each and 30-meter depth were necessary to compact
the sandy sub-soil.
 Grosse Hall: Formal Composition and
Spatial attributes
 The dome sprang is at 98 meters above the
ground and it’s internal arch is closed at a 220
meters altitude.
 The lantern was the only source of natural light
and it’s 46 meter-diameter.
 The cavea of 140 meters of diameter, is
elevated to a height of 30 meters, where it’s
crowned by a ring of 100 white marble pillars,
each one with a 24 meters of height.
 The 50 meter high central niche faced the main
entrance and the concave golden mosaic are
the only color accent. The inside is perfectly
monochrome.
 It presents a neoclassical influence, and
designed under a proportion scheme.
 Management of a free plan and symmetrical
order.
 Main idea, intention and contribution
 Promote the Nazi government.
 Planned to be Hitler’s Conference Hall.
 Key element of the “Plan Fur Gross-Berlin” and new
Berlin’s zoning concept (priority is given to mass
transport, and the basic urban functions were
segregated into separate zones).
 The Great Dome is located at the intersection of the
principal avenues and waterways.
 This new plan is done in a way the citizens can see the
dome from any point.
 Propaganda & Meaning

 It was he greatest architectural dream of the Third Reich

 It was also called the Großehalle (“Great Hall”) or Ruhmeshalle (“Hall of
Fame”). “People’s Hall”, while a literal translation of Volkshalle, fails to convey
the racial subtleties of the word völkisch. “Folkish” defines an organically
cohesive community (in German, a Volksgemeinschaft), pure and unpolluted by
contamination with alien mixing, but rooted in the soil of a culturally united
people. The Volkshalle, therefore, was meant to metaphorically embrace the
entire Aryan people under its colossal dome. This symbolism was made clear in
the statue of an eagle grasping a globe atop the great dome signifying the sky.
 Critics have tried to twist its original conception, insisting that the Volkshalle was
meant to celebrate Hitler’s world conquest. But they are contradicted by the very
essence of the word völkisch, which, as explained earlier, celebrates one people
only, and is as far removed from internationalism of any kind as conceivable.
 The Volkshalle signified the worldwide triumph of the National Socialist Idea, the
global unity of Aryan mankind.
 Comparison: Agripa’s Pantheon

Cassete compartments, use of natural light

Tambour is supported by
Structure determines the plan of the building columns
 Characteristics of the Grosse Hall
 The oculus of the dome, 140 feet in diameter, could have accommodated
the entire rotunda of Hadrian's Pantheon and the dome of St. Peter's
Basilica. The Volkshalle dome, 750 feet across, was to rise from a
massive granite podium 950 by 950 feet and 225 feet high, to a total
inclusive height of 870 feet. A large niche at the north end of the
Volkshalle was supposed to be surfaced with gold mosaic, and to enclose
an eagle 75 feet high with its dimensions of 150 feet high by 60 feet wide.
The hall would accommodate an audience of 180,000 persons, some
standing in the central round arena, others seated in three concentric tiers
of seats crowned by 100 marble pillars 75 feet high, which rose to meet
the base of the coffered ceiling suspended from steel girders sheathed on
the exterior with copper. The three concentric tiers of seats enclosing a
circular arena 425 feet in diameter was modeled on Rome’s Colosseum.
 Characteristics of The Pantheon
 There are really two parts to the Pantheon, the circular part or rotunda and the
portico. The portico was originally a part of a temple built by Agrippa, but was
not put in its present place until some time after the great rotunda was built by
Hadrian (117 A.D.). It is poorly joined to the main edifice. Notice the sixteen
columns which are of red and gray granite. The pitch of the roof of this portico is
steeper than that of the Greek temples, and than other Roman ones. Place your
thumb over the apex of the gable so as to produce the effect of lowering the gable
and see if you do not think it improves the looks of the building. The name of
Agrippa still shows on the front, but the sculptures of bronze, which once filled
the pediment, have disappeared. Twelve superb granite Corinthian columns 50
feet high support the portico.The rotunda is splendidly preserved; the interior has
all the appearance of the original paneling of marble. It measures 145 feet in
diameter internally, but the walls are 20 feet thick to support the great dome that
rises to a, height of 140 feet. Around the rotunda are seven niches alternately
rectangular and semi-circular, and fronted by Corinthian columns.
 Conclusions
 Although The Grosse Hall was never built, it
represents one of the greatest examples of
architecture as a symbolism of the the power of
the new governments, in this case the Nazi. It
also represents a comeback to a classical style
and purer forms in order to recall the forms of
the roman emporium.
 Bibliography
 Albert Speer. Jewish virtual library. Consulted
on September 20, 2010.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Ho
locaust/Speer1.html
 Speer, Albert. Albert Speer Architecture 1932-
1942. Bruxelles : Archives d'architecture
moderne, c1985