Albert Speer was born on the 19th of March, 1905, in Manheim, Germany into a wealth family. Although Speer was quite the mathematician, his parents pushed him to embrace architecture. He graduated from the Institute of Technology in Berlin in 1927 and began his career working as Heinrich Tessenow’s part time assistant lecturer. Whilst Tessenow never agreed with Nazism, many of his students did. Some of the students invited Speer to a Nazi Rally projected towards students at which Hitler was speaking. This sparked his interest with the party and from this there were many events that complimented each other in assisting Speer’s growth and development alongside the Nazi Party. The main purpose of this essay is to describe three significant factors that results in the prominence of Albert Speer as a historical personality. These factors include his early work for the Nazi’s, his architectural successes within the Reich and the deaths of fellow Nazi men Paul Troost and Fritz Todt which eventually was the final factor that led to Speer becoming Minister for Armaments and Munition.
One of the earlier factors that initially contribute to Albert Speer’s rise to prominence was when Speer received his first position within the Nazi party,
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in 1932, which was to renovate the nazi party’s district headquarters in Berlin. He also assisted in renovating Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda ministry building. These acts helped Speer gain a close relationship with Hitler which occurred during 1933 and in response to this, Hitler asked Speer to organise the Nuremberg Rally. Speer created a gigantic Eagle for Zeppelin Field at Nuremberg and after this presentation Hitler informed Goebbels he was impressed and that Albert should be promoted to the role of Commissioner for the Artistic and Technical Presentation of Party Rallies & Demonstrations. His successful rise to prominence as an architect for the Nazi Party resulted in many historical works such as the “Cathedral of Light” and the use of 150 light beams for a crowd of 340,000 spectators, which is often referred to as Speer’s best architectural presentation. From his successes in his earlier works for the Nazi Party, we can see that this contributed to him being noticed by Adolf Hitler who gave him an opportunity to rise to prominence in a newfound role (propaganda and rally organisation). In addition to this, his rise to prominence was aided by the fact that Speer was a close friend of Hitler and a regular guest at the dictator's table. In 1936, Hitler gave Speer the title of ‘Professor’ as a mark of his personal esteem. Another key factor that contributed to Speer’s rise to prominence was the suspicious death of Paul Troost in January of 1934 where Speer was automatically elected to replace him and became the Nazi Party’s chief architect and First Architect of the Reich. Speer proved his suitability for the role within his early works and architectural successes with the Germania project, created in 1938. Speer was asked by Hitler to design and build the new Reich Chancellery Building and was given 12 months to complete it which Speer successfully did. Speer was then seen as a genius in Hitler’s eyes as the project was not only to build the Reich Chancellery but also to clear out the 52,00 “jew flats” where Jewish residents were forced out of their homes in the aims of creating a “Better Germany” which would become the centre of the civilised world. Another key factor that contributed to Speer’s rise to prominence was through the death of the Minister for Armaments and Munitions, Fritz Todt. This death is rather interesting when analysing Speer’s rise to prominence as he was elected to replace Fritz Todt in a field where Speer was not previously accustomed to. Speer was an architectural intellectual and taking onboard responsibilities associated with war time was a immensely challenging role which Speer did not turn down. He was very ambitious in his career moves and along with becoming the new Minister for Armaments and Munitions, Hitler also made him the chief planner of Germany’s wartime economy. Within the role Speer set up slave labour which were taken from conquered areas and had 10 million slave workers by September 1944, Speer was said to have kept Germany in the war for an extra two years due to his increase in armaments production between 1941 and 1944. To summarise, Albert Speer’s rise to prominence was most definitely supported by his opportunism, self-interest and external events such as the three key factors mentioned. Part B ) “History is about winners.” How accurate is this statement in relation to the personality you have studied? To define history specifically as being about either winners or losers is generally a difficult task as history is created and set by a wide range of perspectives. To a certain extent, it can be argued that Speer was a ‘winner’ as he became Reich minister of armaments and war production and became second in command (inside the Third Reich), His success extended further in Nuremberg as he escaped the death sentence and won the right to live. In regards to the statement provided, many personalities are remembered in history as winners, however historical perspectives now present him as a deceitful nazi who attempted to his name down in history as a great historical figure. The purpose of this essay is to explore the many ways Albert Speer was considered a winner and furthermore link his successes to how he may have been considered a winner in certain situations, but demonstrates that these events do not not explicitly reveal that history is only about winners as there are many cases where Albert Speer was anything but. Historians are divided on the degree to which Albert Speer contributed to Nazi Germany during World War 2 and prior to it as Hitler’s architect.
The way in which Speer was able to “exploit Hitler’s love for architecture” in order to obtain such a high position in Hitler’s inner circle is a portion of history that clearly favours winners. In a primary source by Nazi historian Condon (2009) Condon states that as an architect in the Nazi Party, Speer started off with relatively small projects. His first job was to modify the party headquarters and that this “launched a unique career.” This is supported by the historian Schmidt who also believes that within only a few years Speer became Hitler’s favourite architect (Schmidt, 1985,
p37). Within six months speer had increased the German output of ammunition, cannon + tanks. In May 1942, he was appointed one of two co-dictators of transport. The railways became more efficient. Speer had the technical skill and enthusiasm to find solutions to the problems of war production. He also had the self-confidence because of his relationship with Hitler to demand support when dealing with complex and conflicting agencies of the Nazi state or with Nazi leaders who were jealous of Speer’s success or saw their position threatened by his policies. By September 1944, when war production reached it’s peak, there were over 7 million foreign labourers + 400,000 prisoners of war working as slave labourers, about 20% of the total workforce. Another seven million worked for the German war effort in their own countries. In 1942 as part of his demand for total mobilization, Speer requested that women take part in the workforce. Hitler still opposed this, because of his ideological belief in the role of women as mothers but as the situation worsened, more German women were forced to enter the labour force. In this sense, Speer could be classified as a winner for enabling the workforce but this argument is double sided as he was narrow minded and lopsided in his view about society and culture, women in the workforce and also employee fairness. Speers great contribution to the war effort was that he was able to increase dramatically the level of war production. Some historians such as Dan Van Der Vat, suggested that speers success actually contributed to prolonging the war. Many labour forces were sent to build roads for the army invading the soviet union. In september 1943 speer was promoted to become the reich minister of armaments and war production. Many of the labourers used in speers various activities were slave workers from concentration camps, workers conscripted from occupied territories or prisoners of war. When Hitler committed suicide on the 30th of April 1945, he handed down the leadership to Admiral Donitz. Speer joined Donitz’ government as minister for economic + production. He was therefore a member of the cabinet that surrendered unconditionally on the 7th of May. After a serious interrogation by the allies, Speer was placed under armed guards on the 21st of May. He was one of the defendants at the Nuremburg trials, accused of participating in Nazi violation of international treaties and of participating in Nazi violation of international treaties and of participation in the nazi crimes against humanity, his charge particularly specified his use of forced labour and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Spandau prison. He was released in 1966 and took on the role of a writer. Speer established a new life with this career and provided the world with valuable new insights into the third reich. Speer became a winner furthermore through his writing and selling of his books and later passed away at the age of 76 in 1981. He as a winner of life and second chances, wrote history by writing his autobiography and In Conclusion, to say that history is about winners would present only a one-sided view of history. The context of the historical event, the personalities involved and ultimately the historians who present their perspectives on the matter portrays whether an individual is a winner or not. It is important to view varying historical perspectives about Speer as an individual in order to shape one’s argument about whether history is about winners. In the early stage of his career in the Nazi Party, Speer proved himself to be a winner. Van der Vat says although he was one of many, there was no doubt Speer was the leading architect (Van der Vat, 1997, p67). Hitler appeared to prefer Speer as he was always punctual and his designs became more professional as well as more monumental as his career progressed (Condon, 2009). There is no doubt that Speer was very ambitious in his career. Speer said himself “for the commission to do a great building, I would have sold my soul,” (O’Brien, 1997). The grandness was clearly evident in Speer’s designs and as described by a historian named Fest, Speer was constantly possessed by his ambition, willing to go to any extreme to achieve greater power (Fest, 2007, p76). Despite his later denials, Speer was seen as being directly involved with the concentration camps. Source 3 from Dan Van Der Vat’s book entitled “The Good Nazi: The Life & Lies of Albert Speer” (1997, p238S) comments on how Speer’s demands for more war supplies has “brutal impacts” on workers who were experiencing horrible working conditions as a result of his increased push for productivity. Therefore, we can argue that Speer’s lack of empathy and poor treatment of employees does not entitle him to be called a “winner” as he was not effective or considerate of the human lives he was using simply as robots to suit his selfish ambitions. Speer was no doubtedly a winner in many situations however in the end he was remembered in history as being associated with the losing side of the war. His succession and life events where he was portrayed to be a winner agrees with the argument that history is not only about winners, but it definitely favours them when historical figures are able to achieve as much as Albert Speer did.
Speer’s well structured and thought out defence shaped historical interpretation for years to come. At Nuremberg he presented himself as a pure technician and not involved in the politics or ideology of the party. He also claimed collective responsibility for crimes against Jews but also his ignorance of the Nazi intentions. As he stated at a later time: “I just stood aside and said to myself that as long as I did not personally participate it had nothing to do with me. My toleration for the anti Semitic campaign made me responsible for it.” This admission of guilt won a fair amount of sympathy from the court. The reasons he gave for being with the Nazi party was that he was taken by Hitler’s personality and also realised that if he was to achieve his dream as an architect he will have to sell his soul to the party. This image of Speer was to be accepted for a while by most historians and was given little attention. This was probably because Speer was a little less ‘spectacular’ than Hitler’s other henchmen. There were however some suspicions. John Galbraith, a member of the US team that debriefed Speer before the Nuremberg trial, said in Life magazine 1945 that Speer’s claims contained “elements of fantasy”. He also believed that Speer’s confession was a part of his “well developed strategy of self vindication and survival.”
Speer’s Rise in the Nazi Party Albert Speer rose from a mere architect to be one of the most influential Nazi leaders of the Third Reich, and self-admittedly Hitler’s closest friend. As a young, struggling architect Speer joined the Nazi Party as a ‘Septemberling’, and subsequently began to design many of the displays and structures that succeeded in promoting the Fuhrer Myth. Within the NSDAP Speer progressed to the position of Minister for Armaments and War Production in 1942, a reward for his superior managerial skills, and effectively utilised in the Nazi war effort. However, Speer’s rise in the NSDAP was often degraded by the members of the ‘old guard’, who thought that he had not earned his affluent position in Nazi society, but was rather a result of his friendship with Hitler. Albert Speer was born on 19th March 1905 into an upper-middle class family in the German city of Mannheim, and as a result of his families affluent position in society, they were relatively untouched by the Second World War.
The main political changes that the Nazi Party or the NSDAP endured during the period of November, 1923 until January 1933 was its rise from a small extreme right party to a major political force. It is vitally important that the reasons behind this rise to power also be examined, to explain why the NSDAP was able to rise to the top. However first a perspective on the Nazi party itself is necessary to account for the changing political fortunes of the Nazi Party.
]Haffner, is a book which is hard to define. Only 165 pages long, Haffner has crammed more relevant information into this book than many twice its length. He observes Hitler's roller coaster ride through life and the country that he eventually took along. From Hitler's private life to the complete betrayal of Germany, Haffner evaluates the conditions and impetus for Hitler's accomplishments and failures. These include not only Hitler's psyche, but also the political arena of post World War I Europe.
Josef was born on March 19, 1888 in Bottrop, Germany. At the age of 17 he became an elementary school teacher. By 25 he studied in Berlin to expand his skills and become a certified art teacher. Through the years he continued to build his education attending several art academies; The School of Arts and Crafts, Munich Academy, and Franz von Stuck. In 1922 he enrolled to Bauhaus, a teaching institution in Weimar, Germany. Here at Bauhaus is where his achievements began and where he met his lifetime partner, Anni. In 1925 he was the first student invited to join the faculty staff and pronounced “Jungmeister” or “Young Master”. Josef taught various art classes and developed his own techniques as a figurative artist studying printmaking, stain glass, furniture as well as writi...
Himmler graduated in July 1919. He majored in agriculture at the Technical University in Munich. This is where he combined a German-nationalist student group and began to read intensely in the racist-nationalist literature popular on the essential right of the interwar German political field. By the time he received his university degree in August 1922, Himmler was a nationalist and a political activist. Forced to take a job in a manure-processing factory near Munich, Himmler made contact with t...
Did you know what hitler wanted to go to school for? He wanted to be an artist. Hitler was the leader of germany from 1933 to 1945. On September 1, 1939 he started World War I. In this paper will cover his early years (Like school, home life, mother, and father). His homeless years in Vienna. What was World War I like for him, and After World War I. The purpose of this paper is to show why hitler did what he did and how became what he was. The reason for this paper is to tell more people about hitler and how his childhood and things that happened as an adult and made him like he was.
As the young boy grew, he began to have a love for art and wanted to become an artist, but his father, however, did not have a care of his son’s dreams, but instead wanted him to grow up, following in his footsteps; in which Adolf rebelled against.
Rossel, Seymour. "Hitler's Rise to Power." Rossel Home. Rabbi Seymour Rossel. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. .
Bibliography Primary Sources J Hite and C Hinton, ‘Weimar and Nazi Germany 2000’. Manchester Guardian Report, 13th April 1933. Franz Von Papen’s Speech at Marburg University, 17th June 1934. Rohm’s Speech to foreign press April 18th 1934. Field von Weich’s account of Hitler’s Speech to the leaders of the SA and most of the senior Reichswehr generals 28th February 1934.
Throughout this essay I will analyse Thomas Herzog’s House at Regensburg and explain the themes and principles behind different aspects of the houses in comparison to two other houses in extruded form.
Because of the state of Germany’s economy, Hitler portrayed himself as the saviour of Germany, the man that was going to restore the respect that their forefathers had earned & installed. However, under no uncertain terms was he going to do it alone, he pr...
...2. Between the July and November elections the Nazi party lost 34 seats. However the implementation of Schleicher, to attract trade unionists and members of the NSDAP, only succeeded in making Hitler’s position in the Nazi party stronger. This was because Schleicher’s ‘policy of diagonal’ only attracted Strasser, for which he was ousted from the Nazi party. This was Hitler’s main opponent in the quest for leadership of the nazi party.
The German Pavilion, more commonly known as the Barcelona Pavilion, is one of the most recognizable buildings of the modern period during the early 20th century. It encapsulates every element of modern architecture in one structure. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the fathers of modern architecture, was the architect of this beautiful building. In this essay I will explore how Mies impacted the modern movement in architecture through his groundbreaking ideas, using the Barcelona Pavilion as a case study. The German Pavilion was designed in 1929 for the International Exposition in Barcelona.
Adolf Hitler joined a small political party in 1919 and rose to leadership through his emotional and captivating speeches. He encouraged national pride, militarism, and a commitment to the Volk and a racially "pure" Germany. Hitler condemned the Jews, exploiting anti-Semitic feelings that had prevailed in Europe for centuries. He changed the name of the party to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, called for short, the Nazi Party. By the end of 1920, the Nazi Party had about 3,000 members. A year later Hitler became its official leader Führer. From this, we can see his potential of being a leader and his development in his propaganda.