Berlin
Through Gleichschaltung,
the Nazis placed the rail network under direct government control on
10 February 1937, adding swastikas to the Hoheitsadler on the railcars.
Here, at the back of the central office of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, is
the stone emblem- a winged wheel- although the swastika relief at the
base has been removed.
The Regionaldirektion Berlin-Brandenburg der Bundesagentur für Arbeit
as it appeared when it served as the administration building for Fritz
Todt's Armaments Ministry and today, where it serves as the state labour
department. The eagle remains unmolested, overlooking the capital
still.
Post office on Knesebeckstraße 95, showing Reichsadler above door
Nazi-era Eagle at the Siemens Ehrenmal
Joseph Wackerle reichsadler dating 1935
The encircled swastikas on the top left panel and the right surmounted by the Nazi eagle have been erased
Amtsgericht, Wedding
The Reichsadler remains on the front façade of the Amtsgericht in the Berlin suburb of Wedding.
Nuremberg
Located behind the Grandstand on Regensburger Straße, the station was built in 1936 by Albert Speer for the power supply to the Party Rally Grounds. It supplied the power for the Party Rally Grounds and the so-called 'Cathedral of Light.' The energy demands of lighting and the general running of the grounds was extremely high. The transformer station could handle the power supply for a major city.You can still see the faint outline of the Reich eagle which apparently does not cause concern to Burger King.
Arabella Sheraton Hotel (Fränkischer Hof)
The Fränkischer Hof had originally mostly accommodated the press during Party Rallies.
Reichsbahndirektion
The Nazi eagle still adorns the main administrative building for the railway.
Munich
Luftgaukommando, Prinzregentenstraße
(VII Regional HQ of the Luftwaffe)
right across the street is the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum(VII Regional HQ of the Luftwaffe)
Topping-out ceremony May 12, 1937 and today.
Built between 1935-1936
by the architect German Bestelmayer, this building still displays the
steel helmets, eagles, and, incredibly (and illegally) swastika window
grills today:
Inside a Nazi eagle still greets visitors, albeit sans swastika.
Inside a Nazi eagle still greets visitors, albeit sans swastika.
Bavarian State Tax Office (Oberfinanzpräsdium)
This building at Sophienstr. 6 was constructed between 1938 to 1942. During
the Nazi era this building administered the expropriation of assets of
political opponents and racial undesirables through public auctions of
furnishings. Regarding the “Arisierung” of Jewish property, the fiscal
authority located here played a key role. After 1945 it was found that
1,589 Munich properties had been confiscated by this office.
Victims of Hitlerism still have to endure this symbol when entering a government building. That this building served a key role in the unrestrained plundering of the Jews during the Nazi period, its continued existence is all the more striking.
This less-offensive Eagle in the courtyard represents the Bavarian Free State.
After the war this building served the American Military Authorities
before hosting the America Haus (until it moved to the former Führerbau in 1948). This is also where the Bavarian State Parliament met from May 1947 until January 1949.
Nazi Party offices Schellingstraße 50
The Reichsadler is still above the door even though, as can be seen in the 'then and now' photos above, the exterior has been changed completely.
Funk-Kaserne
Dating from 1936, now used by the police.
Just outside the reichsadler remains, shorn of its swastika (although traces are left).
Reichszeugmeisterei (RZM)
The
Reich General Ordnance Depot (Reichszeugmeisterei) "was one of the
largest concrete skeleton constructions erected during the Nazi period"
(Kopleck, 73) which housed party vehicles. Today can be seen the traces
of the reichsadler above the entrance and, along the sides, surviving reliefs depicting German enterprise.
These
siedlung on Klugstrasse all have bizarre Third Reich, astrological,
masonic, and other obscure symbols over every door frame leading inside.
To me, it's incredible that they continue to survive and form the
entrances to people's homes:
The swastika is still faintly visible...
...whilst this one, dated 1933, is obscured by the shaking hands
Here the hakenkreuz has been erased, but the Nazi salutes allowed to remain!
And yet a couple have had their bizarre symbols completely removed.
A number of reichsadlers remain
93 Winzererstr.
Another
surviving building from the Nazi era with its iconography intact (with
the colour still maintained) complete with reichsadler dating from 1936
found by odeon at Axis History Forum.
Deutsches Museum Kongreßsaal
Completed
in 1936 by architect German Bestelmeyer, this building in front of the
museum "was used during the Third Reich for meetings, exhibits,
speeches, and the state funeral of Gauleiter Adolf Wagner." (http://www.thirdreichruins.com/munich5.htm#dtmuseum)
The eagles that are allowed to continue to adorn the building were designed by Munich artist Kurt Schmid Ehmen (1901-1968) who had specialised in reichsadlers and swastikas (such as those found at the "Ehrenmal" der Feldherrnhalle and Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg and the Reich Chancellery in Berlin).
Deutsches Museum Kongreßsaal
The eagles that are allowed to continue to adorn the building were designed by Munich artist Kurt Schmid Ehmen (1901-1968) who had specialised in reichsadlers and swastikas (such as those found at the "Ehrenmal" der Feldherrnhalle and Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg and the Reich Chancellery in Berlin).
Cologne
Reichsadler found on the Autobahnbrücke Rodenkirchen
Reichsadler found on the Autobahnbrücke Rodenkirchen
Rodenkirchen is a southern borough of Cologne.
Dortmund
The nazi eagle remains above the entrance to the
former Gestapo headquarters (and way station for those being sent to
concentration camps) which today serves as the site for the exhibition Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Steinwache.
Another reichsadler, this one of the luftwaffe, remains in situ on the façade of the police academy
NS Ordensburg Vogelsang
Eagle on a wall above the Assembly Square
Munster
Nazi eagle actually commandeered to decorate a Munster shopping centre.
At the top of the city's Hauptklinik at 56-58 Esmarchstrasse is a Nazi eagle with the caduceus replacing the swastika.The
relief itself dates from 1937-8 and the warriors on the Tympanonrelief
created by Hermann Kissenkötter are now lacking their weapons.
Düsseldorf (Westphalia)
Polizeipräsidium
The Nazi eagle over the entrance of police headquarters at Jürgensplatz remains, but is covered by a plaque reading "All are equal before the law." Built from 1929 to 1932, this served as headquarters for representatives of the ϟϟ Upper Section West, the 20th SS regiment, the 6th ϟϟ Rider standard and the 4th ϟϟ Lieutenant Colonel.
In June 1933, the ϟϟ-group leader Fritz Weitzel was appointed to President-Polizeiprä. Weitzel was had joined the ϟϟ at the age of 22, and was only 29 years old when he was police chief although he was considered in Nazi circles as incompetent.
From 30 January 1933 to 8th May 1945, 7101 men and 851 women imprisoned as opponents of the Nazis. Many prisoners were handed over to the Gestapo for interrogation.
In June 1933, the ϟϟ-group leader Fritz Weitzel was appointed to President-Polizeiprä. Weitzel was had joined the ϟϟ at the age of 22, and was only 29 years old when he was police chief although he was considered in Nazi circles as incompetent.
From 30 January 1933 to 8th May 1945, 7101 men and 851 women imprisoned as opponents of the Nazis. Many prisoners were handed over to the Gestapo for interrogation.
Schweigen-Rechtenbach (Rhineland-Palatinate)
From a 1940 postcard
The Weintor, built in the autumn of 1936, marks the start of the Weinstrasse
in the south of the Palatinate, less than a mile from the French
border. The swastika in the eagle's talons has been defaced but can
still be made out.
Alzey
Bochum
The
nazi eagle over the entrance to the former air raid shelter at
Boltestraße 38, dated 1941-1942, remains, denuded of its swastika.
Berchtesgaden
The reichsadler still looks over the town. On the right is a tour of Berchtesgaden showing all the main sites described below.
Berchtesgaden is a town in southern Bavaria on the border with Austria.
Although Berchtesgaden itself is nestled in a deep valley, it lent its
name to Adolf Hitler’s retreat, officially known as the Berghof, on the
Obersalzberg, 1,640 feet above the town. Also perched on the
Obersalzberg were chalets occupied by Hermann Göring and Martin Bormann,
among other top-ranking Nazis. To all appearances a large holiday
retreat, the Berghof was often used by Hitler for important conferences,
including that with Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg in
February 1938, compelling him to accept Anschluss, and the meeting with
Britain’s prime minister Neville Chamberlain in September 1938, in which
Hitler presented his demands with regard to Czechoslovakia. A network
of bunkers and air raid shelters existed under the Berghof, and a
private elevator, its shaft cut through solid rock, connected it with
Hitler’s sanctum sanctorum, “Eagle’s Nest,” at the very top of the
mountain. The Berghof proper was destroyed in an Allied air raid in
April 1945, and the building’s ruins were razed in 1952. A stand of
trees was planted on the site. Eagle’s Nest survived the bombing and is
now a teahouse, which may be visited by tourists.
Reichskanzlei Berchtesgaden
Reichsadler still present after 70 years....
Bremen
Nazi eagle remaining on the façade of Allianz-Haus at Sögestraße 59.
Pelzerhaken (Schleswig-Holstein)
This
lighthouse on the Baltic was built in 1843 and stands at 19 metres,
although the eagle itself has remained since its establishment in 1936
Kiel
Kiel
At the east shore of Kiel Bay is the U-boat Memorial at Möltenort to the memory of submariners who lost their lives. The reichsadler is by Fritz Schmoll, responsible for others seen on this site. The photo on the left shows its inauguration in 1938.
Erlangen
This town of 100,000 is located just over ten miles north of Nuremberg. There are two notable examples of reichsadlers still existing:
The Amtsgericht
The Amtsgericht
The reichsadler of the doorway of the Amtsgericht on Sieboltstraße 2
Friedrich-Rückert-Schule
The
entrance to Friedrich-Rückert-Schule at the Ohmplatz with a detail of
the shield (dated 1936) and one of the carvings adorning the side of the
door.
Bergen-Hohne
Hoppenstedter Strasse with reichsadler above the door, still overlooking the entrance
Established
by the Wehrmacht in 1935, at the end of war it was taken over by
British occupation forces and some of its facilities used as a
liberation camp for survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp,
which was located a few miles away.
Hanover (lower Saxony)
On
top of the 18-metre column erected in 1936 by the Hannover town counci
is a 4.5-metre statue of the torchbearer by Hermann Scheuernstuhl for
the official inauguration of the Nordufer des Maschsee, a man-made lake
in the town. Poised on a sphere, the nude figure actually maintains
his Hitler salute whilst holding the Olympic flame carried to the Games
from Olympia for the first time in 1936. The "Victory Column"
glorified the Nazi state on its plinth inscription, from which the
swastika was struck off in 1945.
Marburg
The Eagle remains sans swastika at the Hessian State Archives, but the ceiling maintains them.
Above the door the small bust replaces the one of Hitler's during the Third Reich whilst outside one can find another eagle defaced on the Hausecke der ehemaligen Jägerkaserne in Marburg
Darmstadt
The Technische Universität Darmstadt einst und jetzt
Eagle
above the rear main entry to the Robert-Piloty building, department of
Computer Science, Technical University of Darmstadt.
On the night of September 11 September 12, 1944 eighty per cent of the
city, including many of the university's buildings were destroyed
during a bomb attack. So far to date Darmstadt is the only German city that has given a synagogue to its Jewish community as a gesture of reconciliation.
A reichsadler also remains on the façade of the Psychologiegebäude, here shown then and now
Offenbach am Main
Ulm
A reichsadler still remains above the doorway of an office building, its removed swastika inviting graffiti.
Villingen-Schwenningen
The Friedensschule at Mozartstraße 12 dates from the 1930s and still sports the nazi eagle
The
Burenhaus then and today. After taking power in 1933, the NSDAP used
the building as its party headquarters. Given its location at the centre
of the marktplatz, it was ideally suited for parades and national
celebrations and party events. In common parlance, the building soon
became known as the 'Brown House'. Its fuhrer balcony was created and
remains today, the nazi eagle still present in the grill.
Augsburg
Just from the train station down Prinzregentstr. is the Landratsamt (District administration office) with the reichsadler still above the door and state-protected by a mesh screen.
The
left shows a relief on a building at Am Haus Theodor Wiedemann Strasse 35 representing a link between the Roman Empire and
the Third Reich whilst the right shows under the claws of an eagle a
tank and the navy, with above it the air force bombing and the army. The
tank and lightnings are toward the east aligned. If one puts the realm
eagle on a map, heading direction the north, the view is against
France. The line of sight of the NSDAP Reichsadlers was modified to the
right (the east).
Herrsching am Ammersee
Herrsching
am Ammersee on the east shore of the Ammersee southwest of Munich is
usually the starting point of trips to Andechs Abbey. This, one of the
most impressive Nazi eagles remaining in Germany, is found on the façade
of the former Reichsfinanzschule.
Schwäbisch Hall
Rohrbühl Münchberg
This was built in the mid 1930s to honour the war dead of the Great War. The reichsadler has long since been removed.
Straubing
Overlooking the Danube and towards the bridge is this reichsadler, created by Munich sculptor Fritz Schmoll.
Going....
Going.....
Gone!
Although
not in Germany and thus outside the stated scope of this site, it's
nearby in Hagenau, Bergheim bei Salzburg in Austria. The eagle had been
on the footings of the Autobahn bridge next to the bike path and has
now been recently obliterated after 71 years.
