Download Albert Speer

Albert Speer was born on 19 March 1905
and came from a wealthy German family
who lived in a spacious 14 bedroom
apartment. Family life was lacking in
warmth and affection in effect making
Speer appreciate solitude. He developed
into what most people would call a
handsome young man. In August 1928,
he married his childhood sweetheart
Margarete and they had six children
together.
Speer was a dedicated student whose
interest lay in math. His parents thought
architecture would be a more appropriate
career choice.
He began studying at the Technical
university of Karlsruhe and then
transferred to Munich’s more reputed
University of Technology.
Early Life and
Education
When Speer graduated in 1927, he
became a graduate assistant, a good
position for a first year out.
A turning point in Speer’s life came
about when he attended a political
meeting in 1930 which Hitler addressed.
Speer was fascinated by this “alluring”
speaker and applied to join the Nazi
party the very next day.
Timeline of Albert Speer
• 1905 – Speer born,
Mannheim Germany
• 1927 – Graduates
• 1931 – Becomes a
member of Nazi party
• 1933 – May Day Rally,
designed by Speer
• 1933 – Becomes a
personal friend of Hitler
• 1934 – Designs stadium
at Nuremberg
• 1943 – Appointed
Reichminister of
Armaments and War
Production
• 1944 – Informs Goebbels
the war is doomed
• 1945 - Hitler says Speer
“is the best of all”
• 1945 – Hitler orders the
scorching of Germany
• 1945 – Speer
countermands the
scorching policy
• 1946 – Speer Sentenced
to 20 years imprisonment
• 1966 – released from
Spandau prison in Berlin
• 1981 – dies in London
Hospital from a cerebral
hemorrhage
Speer – Themes and Roles.
Speer –
cold and indifferent
Personality?
Minister for
Armaments
and
War Productions
Hitler’s personal
friend
Nazi architect
Speer as Reichminister
Speer as Hitler’s
Architect & Friend
What was Speer’s relationship to
Hitler?
• Described as Hitler’s only
friend
• Albert and his family invited
to live in a mountain retreat,
near Hitler’s lair the Berghof
• 1945 – Hitler expresses that
Speer is the “best of all”
• Historic discourses that
stipulate Hitler designated
Speer as his successor
• Relationship deteriorates
over time
Portrait of
Hitler
What was the purpose of Speer’s
controversial architecture?
•Designs stadium
at Nuremberg –
used at Olympics
1936
•Nuremberg
parade/rally
grounds – based
on Doric style
• created
Cathedral of Light
•Reich
Chancellery in
1938
Propaganda poster featuring Speer’s Cathedral of Light
Hitler’s Personal Office in the Reich Chancellery, Berlin which Speer
designed.
Speer’s Architecture – some points
to consider
• Forced people to walk along certain paths,
manipulated their transport and environment –
Controlled space
• Propaganda purposes, for instance “Cathedral
of Light” made Hitler’s rallies sensational,
spectacular and unique, enhancing all effects
• Caters for Nazi German ideology - architecture
evokes discipline, submission, obedience and
efficiency, manifested through its stark
demeanour
• An initial excuse for further mistreatment of the
Jews? (Jew flats, labour)
• New ideas in architecture for the new city……..
Germania
Hitler’s new central capital of the world, where the Third
Reich would reign for the next 1000 years.
How involved was Reichminister Speer in the “slave”
camps for the armament works?
• “The result was that we had to work out guidelines for a joint
undertaking with the SS leadership – what was to be called the
Central Works. My assistants went into it reluctantly, and their fears
were soon confirmed”
• “Himmler promptly made every effort to push his way into the field of
armaments production”
From Speer’s Memoirs Inside the Third Reich, p 369
• “Total war, he (Speer) told Hitler, required sacrifices and discipline
from all Germans, whoever they were”
From Sereny’s Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth
• ………. “was one of mass deportation and mass enslavement
carried out by force, fraud, terror, arson unrestrained by any
considerations of compassion….was also a policy of underfeeding
and overworking foreign labourers [and] of subjecting them to every
form of degradation”
From American deputy prosecutor Thomas Dodd at Nuremberg 1945
Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials, tried a number of leading Nazis,
accused of a multitude of horrible crimes.
• Speer pleaded “not guilty”, as did all other Nazi defendants
(Hess said “nein”)
Court Transcript
Mr. Justice Jackson:……..you have said to us that you did use
and encourage the use of forced labour from the
concentration camp”
Speer: “Yes………”
• Denied knowledge of the Death Camps and
implications of Hitler’s Final Solution
• Took responsibility for certain actions
• Found guilty for Indictments
3 – War Crimes
4 – Crimes against humanity
•What attracted Speer to Nazi ideology?
Focus
Questions
•What was Speer’s relationship to Hitler?
•What was the purpose of Speer’s controversial German
architecture?
•How involved was Speer in the “slave” camps for the
armament works?
•How would you evaluate Speer’s presentation at the
Nuremberg trials?
•Was Speer effective as a Reichminister in the Nazi German
war effort and the Nationalistic machine?
•Could Speer be described as the “good Nazi”?