New Nuremberg Rally Renovations Controversy

"Officials in the German city of Nuremberg have announced controversial plans to spend up to €70m (£60m) on renovating the city’s vast yet dilapidated Nazi Party rally grounds, used by the documentary filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl as a haunting backdrop for her Hitler propaganda film Triumph of the Will.

The 11 sq km site, which includes 24 towers and a so-called “Zeppelin Tribune” from which the Nazi leader gazed out on to the uniformed ranks of the party faithful, was designed in part by Albert Speer, the Nazi minister who was also Hitler’s chief architect. It was never completed.
But the complex, which is visited by more than 200,000 tourists a year, has been slowly disintegrating since the end of the Second World War, and several structures are now in danger of collapsing altogether.
Nuremberg’s mayor, Ulrich Maly told Süddeutsche Zeitung today that the sorry state of the rally grounds had left the city council with some awkward choices. “Demolishing the buildings would provoke international outrage – so we are going to renovate the complex, but this does not mean that we are sprucing it up,” he insisted.
Mr Maly said that although parts of the complex had been demolished in the 1960s to make way for housing, further demolition was now impossible as the site was protected. He said many in the city were in favour of simply allowing the rally grounds to go on disintegrating as it would “symbolise the passing of an era” that was meant to last 1,000 years.
Yet the mayor pointed out that if the city allowed the buildings to decay unchecked, it would be obliged to fence them in or otherwise put them off limits in order to protect the public. “So we have decided to renovate to a certain degree,” Mr Maly said. “But we shall not be looking to match the original sandstone.”."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nuremberg-rallies-to-repair-crumbling-nazi-heritage-site-8793525.html

 

“Demolishing the buildings would provoke international outrage "

This seems a bizarre interpretation of international views .

Gaines

 

They should build a hospital for the handicapped on the site.

 

It's understanddable that Nuremberg has always had an ethical problem with the sites. Like it or not, they are truly historic and very impressive to visit. They really are 'Ozymandian', allowing one to reflect on the nature of the 'Thousand Year Reich' in a way that you cannot with pictures or interactive displays.

It's also ironic that the reason these buildings need a lot of upkeep is that, despite their monumental appearance, their quality of construction is actually quite shoddy...........

 

I think it is a case of "damned if they do and damned if they don't".

If they let it crumble or demolish it they will be seen by some to be covering over the past.

On the other side it could be seen as preserving the Nazi past.

Personally I think it serves as a good reminder of one of the key failings of people - following like sheep. I think they are right to keep it. Plus of course it is interesting from a historical perspective.

 

They made a good decision. It is important to preserve these pieces of history, regardless of how horrendous the events they are connected to were. I admit that I've never made it to Nuremburg yet, but if these sites are really that big of a tourist attraction why doesn't someone develop a museum covering at least part of the site to educate visitors on the war (with an appropriate focus on Nazi ideology and its negative implications for most of Europe)? They did this on the Obersalzberg, and it seems to have helped the area 'live with' its ominous past (ie: no longer try to cover it up or ignore it in the hope that it'll go away).

I understand that this may be a touchy issue for those living near it, but the events have already happened, and they will have to live with it -- regardless of whether the structures are there or not.

For those that think demolishing the sites would be good, look up the changes made on the Obersalzberg circa 2000-2006. Numerous structures and foundations were demolished (or, in some cases, 're-demolished'). The foundation of Hitler's Mooslahnerkopf teahouse was completely demolished, the Platterhof hotel was razed, and the ruins of the SS barracks were buried below a parking lot. The end result was that these sites - and others like them - are now completely unrecognizable, and important pieces of history have been destroyed in the name of whitewashing the past. Destroying pieces of history won't make the past go away.

 

On the contrary GP...It works quite effectively. Why are these "important peices of history"? To whom, for what? The name of whitewashing was years ago...development marches on, regardless of the past. Im losing large peices of Darwin in the name of development...thats "progress".

 

Examples? To put it bluntly, the average (younger) person is so disconnected from their surroundings and ignorant of their history I doubt if they would know the difference between a the Nuremburg rally grounds and an old football stadium. Furthermore - even if they did - I doubt they would care.

Being confronted with a historical site every day certainly has some impact, but I don't think it has much in the long run. For example, all around Vienna there are flak towers. When I was trying to track them down years ago (before Google Maps) I asked some of the locals. They all had no idea what a 'flakturm' was or were they were, even though they are visible from points all over the city. After I showed a photo, one fellow thought it was a "grain silo", but still had no idea where it was. Turned out it was a couple of blocks down the road.

The history buffs will remember and will know the importance of a site regardless of whether or not the building is there. All removing them does it try to hide the past.

"That's progress" to some, but not to me. Maybe I'm just being selfish and want to see the sites myself before they're gone. And yes, I'm still a bit bitter that many sites were mindlessly demolished before I saw them

 

They have ; the excellent Documentation Centre is just a few yards away on the same site, in the remains of the Nazi Congress Hall...

http://museums.nuremberg.de/documentation-centre/