HUGE BUILDINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 32, 8 February 1939, Page 5

HUGE BUILDINGS.

HITLER'S NAZI CITY. HRCOXSTRI'trnO.Y OF BERLIN". BERLIN. Although Herr Hitler, living on a mountain top {„ distant Bavaria, doe* not. like. Berlin, he i* determined tu Kliiiup \\\p Nazi regime on the capital. due hii::e room at the recent 'Architectural Kxliil.it i,mi in Munich w, )B ,|edi•■•ileil !•• plaiM Mini lar-e.-.eale plant iimodels of the iiimiei-nin gnindiiiNf I'iiil.ling- 1., be erected i>, Uerlin, during tile iii'Nl tew yearn. All (lies,, fin,, building*, it Uiclaiined. will impress future generations with the •ji-iMlue,.* and rMyuineancc of' the i.re- •"■»'■ 'T'"l'- and (hoy arc ulity a small purl, i.l what U to come. The ..r,,lf Let ween the VVerninr regime n;«l the Nazi regime is «ianilir,intlv i liiiniimieil in this exlebition of •'Kiilossml ,, l»nildiiijr«. During the Weiiiuir regime foreiirncrs came from nil part- of the world to see the model flafs biiill for the workers, the inodenii^,l,, villas, the splendid swimming lml Iw. and the beautiful sport [.laces. While they will aU«i have a certain practical value, all thes«. ihmv buildings will glorify Her hitler, the Nazi State, and I lie Na/.i partv. It m noteworthy, however, that the skyscraper style. whieJi began to creep into (ieriimn architivtiire ten vears «:•", i" being strictly uvoided. Most of the new buildings are to be four or five storeys high with ci»M severe fronts, a box like appearance, and classical . facades. Like Moscow. Berlin is not over-bur-dened with ninny historical building* of great aesthetic value. Professor Speer. entrusted with the Hitler "re-fashioning of Berlin, , ' can thus curry out his plans without committing pleat vandalism. As far as can be gathered, alt the good eighteenth and nineteenth-century buildings are to l>c left untouched, and changes are to I>e made chiefly at the expense of mediocre architecture. The Wilhclinstnisse will be left untouched, except for the Reich Chancellery, which is being extended the whole length of a street. When finished it will lie the largest chancellery in the world. Herr Hitler and Professor Speer have worked together on this creation. It will have rooms and reception lialls for every possible oflicrial occasion. Her Hitler's own workroom ■will measure Sift in lijngth, 44ft wide. •nd ,30ft high. Berlin is also to hnvc its Place do la Concorde, the "Round Place,"

dpsijrnod to rival its original in Pnri«. Its diameter eOOft, the "Round Place" will be surrounded by six imposing htiildinpa: the House of Oerman Travel, the Alliance Insurance Company, the (icrtnan Artists* Club and UFA cinemfc, the Thuringia House, and the Army Casino. In the centre theve will be four fountains with groups of sculpture. Xparby will be the new German War Ministry, which will be the largest i" Europe. 3t will contain a Special "Soldier* , Hall," dedicated to all the sreut soldiers in Oerman military history. 1 The new military faculty of the Technical Institute i« being erected on the edge of the (ir'inpwald forest not far from the Olympic Stndinm. On the north side of the city the Berlin garrison is to be housed in a gigantic barracks to be known as tho "Moabifc Block." For the time being the Unter don Linden is being left «s it i*. but beyond the Protestant Cathedral the road is to be widened, and two large buildings erected at "this door to the e"^." Alongside the Tiergarten, Berlin s Hyde Purk, there is to be a new 'Diplomats Quarter," with a number of Imposing new embassies and legations. The colossal new airport now being constructed nt Tempelhof will be "the biggest in Europe." Large buildings to house aeroplanes arc rapidly going up. while the halls for the passenger traffic are on an equally impressive ncftle. They are all being built round a huge open circus, which will be designed to impress foreigners when they land in Berlin.