Welthauptstadt Germania, or World Capital Germania, was the projected renewal of the German capital Berlin during the Nazi period, as part of Adolf Hitler‘s vision for the future of Nazi Germany after the planned victory in World War II. It was to be the capital of his planned “Greater Germanic Reich“. Albert Speer, the “first architect of the Third Reich”, produced many of the plans for the rebuilt city in his capacity as overseer of the project, only a small portion of which was realised between the years 1938 and 1943.
Some of the projects were completed, such as the creation of a great East–West city axis, which included broadening Charlottenburger Chaussee (today Straße des 17. Juni) and placing the Berlin Victory Column in the centre, far away from the Reichstag, where it originally stood. Other projects, however, such as the creation of the “People’s Hall” (Volkshalle), had to be shelved due to the beginning of war, although a great number of the old buildings in many of the planned construction areas were already demolished before the war. The Second World War and Nazi Germany’s defeat by the Allies ended development of the concept.
Hitler conceived of rebuilding Berlin to be the capital of the new world he would be instrumental in creating, and provided the name for it, ‘Germania’. According to records of Hitler’s “table talk” of 8 June 1942, Hitler’s purpose in the renaming was to give a Greater Germanic world empire of the New Order a clear central point:
Just as the Bavarians and the Prussians had to be impressed by Bismarck of the German idea, so too must the Germanic peoples of Continental Europe be programmatically steered towards the Germanic concept. He [Hitler] even considers it good that by renaming the Reich capital Berlin into ‘Germania’, we’ll have given considerable driving force to this task. The name Germania for the Reich capital would be very appropriate, for in spite of how far removed those belonging to the Germanic racial core will be, this capital will instill a sense of unity.
Hitler described his vision for the city several months earlier:
“As world capital Berlin will only be comparable with Ancient Egypt, Babylon, and Rome! What is London, what is Paris compared to that!”
The official plan for rebuilding Berlin, with Albert Speer in charge, was called the “Comprehensive Construction Plan for the Reich Capital” (German: Gesamtbauplan für die Reichshauptstadt).
The necessary land, funds, building materials, and workers for the construction of the World Capital Germania had to be acquired. This is a prime example of the connection with the Nazi regime. The urban areas required for these projects, mostly built with residential buildings or used as cemeteries, were partially demolished, despite the severe housing shortage in Berlin, and the dead were transferred to other cemeteries. Jewish homeowners or tenants were evicted from their homes without legal basis on the orders of General Building Inspector Albert Speer. The massive projects were to be financed by the peoples subjugated in the planned war. Hitler estimated the costs to be significantly higher than the war itself.
Since Berlin, then as now, is built on the sand of Brandenburg, the structural stability would likely have thwarted the “grand plan,” especially for the Great Hall, as it did with so many other Nazi fantasies.
