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For the son of Albert Speer, also an architect, see Albert Speer, Jr..
Albert Speer
Albert Speer (Neurenberg)
Birth 19 March 1905
Mannheim, Germany
Death 1 September 1981
London, England
Party National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
Party and Political Positions
  • General Building Inspector of the Third Reich
  • Minister for Armaments

Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, commonly known as Albert Speer (listen (help·info); 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981), was an architect, author and high-ranking Nazi German government official, sometimes called "the first architect of the Third Reich". Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Mannheim is a City in Germany. With 327318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after the capital Stuttgart Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers

Speer was Hitler's chief architect before becoming his Minister for Armaments during the war. He reformed Germany's war production to the extent that it continued to increase for over a year despite increasingly intensive Allied bombing. The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War. After the war, he was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for his role in the Third Reich. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after As "the Nazi who said sorry",[1] he was the only senior Nazi figure to admit guilt and express remorse. Following his release in 1966, he became an author, writing two bestselling autobiographical works, and a third about the Third Reich. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers His two autobiographical works, Inside the Third Reich and Spandau: the Secret Diaries detailed his often close personal relationship with German dictator Adolf Hitler, and have provided readers and historians with an unequalled personal view inside the workings of the Third Reich. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Speer died of natural causes in 1981, in London, England. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland

Contents

Biography

Early years

Speer was born in Mannheim, Germany, the second of three sons of Albert and Luise Speer. Mannheim is a City in Germany. With 327318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after the capital Stuttgart Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Although Speer became an architect, he originally wanted to become a mathematician. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Instead, he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and studied architecture. He began his architectural studies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; his decision to study locally instead of at one of the more prestigious institutes was dictated by the inflation of 1923. The University of Karlsruhe, also known as Fridericiana, was founded in 1825 In 1924 when the inflation had stabilized, Speer transferred his studies to the more esteemed Technical University of Munich. Technische Universität München ( TUM, technical university of Munich) is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and In 1925 he transferred again, this time to the Technical University of Berlin. The Technical University of Berlin ( Berlin Institute of Technology, TUB, TU Berlin, German Technische Universität Berlin) is located It was there that he was under the tutelage of Heinrich Tessenow. Heinrich Tessenow (April 7 1876 &ndash November 1 1950 was a German Architect, professor and Urban planner active in the Weimar era. Speer had a high regard for Tessenow and when he passed his exams in 1927 he became Tessenow's assistant. His duties as assistant involved teaching seminar classes three days a week. Although Tessenow himself never agreed with Nazism, a number of his students did, and it was they who persuaded Speer to attend a Nazi Party rally in a Berlin beer-hall in December 1930. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945

Speer claims to have been apolitical as a young man; nevertheless, he did attend the rally. He was surprised to find Hitler dressed in a neat blue suit, rather than the brown uniform seen on Nazi Party posters. Speer claimed to have been quite affected, not only with Hitler's proposed solutions to the threat of Communism and his renunciation of the Treaty of Versailles, but also with the man himself. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. Several weeks later he attended another rally, though this one was presided over by Joseph Goebbels. Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation ˈɡœbəls English generally ˈɡɝbəlz (29 October 1897 1 May 1945 was a German politician and Reich Minister of Public Speer was disturbed by the way he had whipped the crowd into a frenzy, playing on their hopes. Although Goebbels' performance offended Speer, he could not shake the impressions Hitler made on him. The next day he joined the Nazi Party as member number 474,481.

In the summer of 1922 he got to know Margarete 'Margret' Weber from Heidelberg (1905 - 1987). They married in Berlin on 28 August 1928 despite Speer's mother being against the relationship. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Events 475 - The Roman General Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his Capital Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Between 1934 and 1942 Margret gave birth to six children: Albert (*1934), Hilde (*1936), Fritz (*1937), Margarete (*1938), Arnold (* 1940, born Adolf, renamed after 1945) and Ernst (*1942). Hilde Schramm (born 1936 is a German politician Internationally she is most known as the daughter of Albert Speer, who was a member of Adolf Hitler 's inner circle Margret Nissen (June 19 1938 as Margarete Speer is a German Photographer.

Speer's first major commission as a Party member came in 1932 when Karl Hanke (whose villa Speer previously worked on) recommended him to Goebbels to help renovate the new District Headquarters in Berlin, and, later, to renovate Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry. Karl August Hanke ( 24 August 1903 - 8 June 1945) was an official of the National Socialist German Workers Party ( Nazi Party or A villa was originally an Upper-class Country house, though since its origins in Roman times the idea and function of a villa has evolved considerably Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Goebbels was impressed with his work and recommended him to Hitler, who assigned him to help Paul Troost renovate the Chancellery in Berlin. Paul Ludwig Troost ( August 17, 1878 &ndash 21 March 1934) born in Elberfeld, was a German Speer's most notable work on this assignment was the addition of the famous balcony from which Hitler often presented himself to crowds that assembled below. Speer subsequently became a prominent member of Hitler's inner circle and a very close friend to him, winning a special place with Hitler that was unique amongst the Nazi leadership. Hitler, according to Speer, was very contemptuous towards anybody he viewed as part of the bureaucracy, and prized fellow artists like Speer with whom he felt a certain kinship, especially as Hitler himself had previously entertained architectural ambitions. Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government

First architect of the Reich

Zeppelintribune
Zeppelintribune

When Troost died in 1934, Speer was chosen to replace him as the Party's chief architect. One of his first commissions after promotion was perhaps the most familiar of his designs: the Zeppelintribüne, the Nuremberg parade grounds seen in Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda masterpiece, Triumph of the Will. Nazi party rally grounds (in German Reichsparteitagsgelände) is the name of a site in the southeast of Nuremberg ( UGN:) where the Nazi Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl ( August 22 1902 – September 8 2003) was a German Film director Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens is a propagandistic Documentary film by the German filmmaker In his autobiography, Speer claimed that, upon seeing the original design, he made a derogatory remark to the effect that the parade ground would resemble a "rifle club" meet. He was then challenged to create a new design.

The grounds were based on ancient Doric architecture of the Pergamon Altar in Anatolia, but magnified to an enormous scale, capable of holding two hundred and forty thousand people. The Doric order was one of the three '''orders''' or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or Classical architecture; the other two Canonical The Great Altar of Pergamon, a massive stone podium about one hundred feet long and thirty-five feet high was originally built in the 2nd century BCE in the Ancient Greek Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black At the 1934 Party rally on the parade grounds, Speer surrounded the site with one hundred and thirty anti-aircraft searchlights. Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces A searchlight is an apparatus with Reflectors for projecting a powerful beam of Light of approximately parallel rays in a particular This created the effect of a "Cathedral of Light", (which referenced columns) or, as it was called by British Ambassador Sir Neville Henderson, a "cathedral of ice". The Cathedral of Light was the term used to describe the main aesthetic feature of the Nuremberg Rallies A column in Structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located An ambassador is the highest ranking Diplomat who represents their country Sir Nevile Meyrick Henderson, KCMG, PC ( 10 June 1882 &ndash 30 December 1942) was the Ambassador of the British Empire Speer later described this as his greatest work. In 1935 Speer started a close cooperation with the German-French sculptor Arno Breker. Arno Breker ( July 19, 1900 &ndash February 13, 1991) was a German sculptor best known for his public works in Nazi Germany, which They were friends over decades until the death of Speer.

Nuremberg was also to be the site of many more official Nazi buildings, most of which were never built; for example, the German Stadium would have held another four hundred thousand spectators as the site of the Aryan Games, a proposed replacement for the Olympic Games. The Aryan Games were a proposed replacement for the Olympic Games by the National Socialist government to be housed permanently in Nuremberg at the The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games While planning these buildings, Speer invented the theory of "ruin value. Ruin value ( German: Ruinenwert) is the concept that a Building be designed such that if it eventually collapsed it would leave behind aesthetically pleasing " According to this theory, enthusiastically supported by Hitler, all new buildings would be constructed in such a way that they would leave aesthetically pleasing ruins thousands of years in the future. Such ruins would be a testament to the greatness of the Third Reich, just as ancient Greek or Roman ruins were symbols of the greatness of their civilizations. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC In practice, this theory manifested itself in his marked preference for monumental stone construction, rather than the use of steel frames and ferroconcrete. Reinforced concrete is Concrete in which reinforcement bars (" Rebars quot or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen a material that would otherwise be

In 1937 Speer designed the German Pavilion for the 1937 international exposition in Paris. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (International Exposition dedicated to Art and Technology in Modern Life was held in 1937 in Paris Speer's work was located directly across from the Soviet Pavilion and was designed to represent a massive defence against the onslaught of Communism. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Both pavilions were awarded gold medals for their designs.

Speer was also directed to make plans to rebuild Berlin, which was to become the capital of a "Greater Germany"—Welthauptstadt Germania. Welthauptstadt ("World Capital" Germania was the name Adolf Hitler gave to the projected renewal of the German capital Berlin, part of The first step in these plans was the Olympic Stadium for the 1936 Summer Olympics, designed by Werner March. The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, an International Multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin Werner Julius March ( January 17, 1894 &ndash January 11, 1976) was a German Architect, amongst others working for Speer also designed the new Reich Chancellery, which included a vast hall designed to be twice as long as the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The Reich Chancellery ( German Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the German Chancellor The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal Château in Versailles, in France 's Île-de-France region Hitler wanted him to build a third, even larger Chancellery, although it was never begun. The second Chancellery was damaged by the Battle of Berlin in 1945 and was eventually demolished by the Soviet occupiers after the war. For the bombing campaign on Berlin by the RAF from November 1943 to March 1944 see Battle of Berlin (air.

Almost none of the other buildings planned for Berlin were ever built. Berlin was to be reorganised along a central three-mile- (five km) long avenue. At the north end, Speer planned to build the Volkshalle—an enormous domed building, based on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The Volkshalle (People's Hall also called Große Halle (Great Hall or Ruhmeshalle (Hall of Fame was a huge monumental building planned but never built by A dome is a common structural element of Architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a Sphere. The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 The dome of the building would have been impractically large; it would be over 700 feet (210 m) high and 800 feet (240 m) in diameter, 17 times larger than the dome of St. Peter's. At the southern end of the avenue would be an arch based on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but again, much larger; it would be almost 400 feet (120 m) high, and the Arc de Triomphe would have been able to fit inside its opening. An arch is a structure that spans a space while supporting weight (e The Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris, France that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle also known as the Place de l'Étoile. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 led to the abandonment of these plans. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Part of the land for the boulevard was to be found by building two major railway stations, one just north and one just south of the boulevard. This would free up many of the tracks in between. However, according to Speer in The Spandau Diaries, 80,000 buildings would have to be destroyed to complete his plans.

While the north-south axis was not completed, an east-west axis, focused upon the Brandenburg Gate was completed and remains in Berlin today. The Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor is a former City gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany. While none of the buildings designed by Speer during the Nazi era still stand in Berlin, some lampposts remain.

It has been alleged that Speer was responsible for the forced evictions of Jews from their houses to make room for his grand plans, and for re-housing only Aryans affected by this work. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ These allegations are, however, disputed. He was also listed as being present at the 1943 Posen Conference, a charge Speer later contested by saying that he had in fact left early. The Posen Conference was a meeting attended by SS - Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, Nazi Party officials and Gauleiters on October 6

Speer did have an architectural rival: Hermann Giesler, whom Hitler also favoured. Hermann Giesler ( April 2 1898, Siegen - January 20, 1987, Düsseldorf) was a German architect during the Nazi era one There were frequent clashes between the two in regard to architectural matters and in closeness to Hitler.

Minister of Armaments

Hitler was always a strong supporter of Speer, in part because of Hitler's own frustrated artistic and architectural visions. A strong affinity developed between Hitler and the ambitious young architect early in their professional relationship. For Speer, serving as architect for the head of the German state and being given virtual carte blanche as to expenses, presented a tremendous opportunity. For Hitler, Speer seemed to be capable of translating Hitler's grandiose visions into tangible designs which expressed what Hitler felt were National Socialist principles. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German

After Minister of Armaments and War Production Fritz Todt was killed in a plane crash in 1942, Hitler appointed Speer as his successor in all of his posts. Fritz Todt (4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942 was a German engineer and senior Nazi figure the founder of Organisation Todt. Hitler's affinity for Speer and the architect's efficiency and avoidance of party squabbling are believed to have been considerations in Speer's promotion. In his autobiography, Speer recounts that the power-hungry but lazy Hermann Göring raced to Hitler's headquarters upon word of Todt's death, hoping to claim the office. Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also spelled Goering) (12 January 1893 15 October 1946 was a German Politician, Military leader and a leading member Hitler instead presented Göring with the fait accompli of Speer's appointment.

Faced with this new responsibility, Speer tried to put the German economy on a war footing comparable to that of the Allied nations, but found himself incessantly hindered by party politics and lack of cooperation from the Nazi hierarchy. In general allies are people groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose Nevertheless, by slowly centralising almost all industry control and cutting through the dense bureaucracy, he succeeded in multiplying war production four times over the next two and a half years, and it reached its peak in 1944 during the height of the Allied strategic bombing campaign. Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government In general allies are people groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose Strategic bombing during World War II was greater in scale than any wartime attack the world had previously witnessed Another big hurdle in his way was the Nazi policy of excluding women from factory work, a serious hindrance in war production and a problem not experienced by Germany's enemies, all of whom made use of the female workforce. To fill this gap, Speer made heavy use of foreign labour as well as forced labour, the latter mainly from the various types of prisoners in the Third Reich. Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations especially in modern or early modern history in which people are employed against their will

Speer was considered one of the more "rational" members of the Nazi hierarchy, in contrast with Hitler, Göring, Goebbels, and Himmler. Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation ˈɡœbəls English generally ˈɡɝbəlz (29 October 1897 1 May 1945 was a German politician and Reich Minister of Public Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945 was a Nazi German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel (SS. Speer's name was found on the list of members of a post-Hitler government envisioned by the conspirators behind the 1944 July 20 plot to kill Hitler. However, the list had a question mark and the annotation "if possible" by his name, which Speer credits with helping save his life from the extensive purges that followed the scheme's failure. By his own account, Speer considered assassinating Hitler in 1945 by releasing poison gas into the air intake vent on the Führerbunker, but the plan, such as it was, was frustrated for a number of reasons, one of them being the alterations made to the ventilation system by Hitler shortly before the plan was to come in action. AssassiNation is the sixth album by Krisiun, released in 2006 on Century Media. The Führerbunker ( German, literally meaning "shelter for the leader" or "the Führer's shelter" is a common name for a complex of subterranean rooms Independent evidence for this is sparse. Some credit his revelation of this plan at the Nuremberg trials as being pivotal in sparing him the death sentence, for which the Soviets had pushed. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia.

On 13 January Speer gave a presentation to army corps commanders in a camp near Berlin. Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks According to Speer, Allied bombing was not the biggest problem for German industry. In general allies are people groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose He pointed out that German industry had produced 218,000 rifles in December 1944 alone, nearly double the monthly average in 1941. The production of automatic weapons was up by four times and tank production was up by nearly five times. In addition, the tanks produced were much heavier. [2]

Speer talked for over forty minutes reeling off production statistics. German industry's problem, according to Speer, was Germany's shortage of fuel. Speer did not mention to the corps commanders anything about the shortage of ammunition or the growing reliance on slave labour. [3]

Hitler continued to consider Speer trustworthy, though this trust waned near the war's end as Speer, at considerable risk, campaigned clandestinely to prevent the implementation of Hitler's Nero Decree. The Nero Decree was issued by Adolf Hitler on March 19, 1945 ordering the destruction of German infrastructure to prevent their use by Allied forces The Nero Decree was issued on 19 March and it promoted a scorched earth policy on both German soil and occupied territories. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method (possibly more often referred to as a tactic but this is not entirely correct as there is a difference between Speer worked in association with General Gotthard Heinrici, whose troops fighting in the east retreated to the American-held lines and surrendered there instead of following Hitler's orders to make what would have been a suicidal effort to hold off the Soviets from Berlin. Gotthardt Heinrici ( December 25, 1886 – December 13, 1971) was a General in the German Army during World War

Speer even confessed to Hitler shortly before the dictator's suicide that he had disobeyed, and indeed actively hindered Hitler's "scorched earth" decree. According to Speer's autobiography, Speer visited the Führerbunker towards the end and stated gently but bluntly to Hitler that the war was lost and expressed his opposition to the systematic destruction of Germany while reaffirming his affection and faith in Hitler. The Führerbunker ( German, literally meaning "shelter for the leader" or "the Führer's shelter" is a common name for a complex of subterranean rooms This conversation, it is said, brought Hitler to tears. On 23 April Speer left the Führerbunker. Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Now in disfavour, on 29 April, Speer was excluded from the new cabinet Hitler outlined in his final political testament. Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. The last will and testament of Adolf Hitler was dictated by Hitler to his secretary Traudl Junge in his Berlin Führerbunker on April 29 This document specified that Speer was to be replaced by his subordinate, Karl-Otto Saur.

Nuremberg trials

Immediately after the war, there seemed to be little indication that Speer would be charged with war crimes. War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied Speer travelled unprotected and openly participated in the so-called Flensburg government for weeks, in the presence of Allied officers. The Flensburg government was the short-lived administration that attempted to rule Germany during most of May 1945 at the very end of World War II. Upon request, he held a series of widely-attended lectures for officials of the Allied occupying powers on various topics, including mistakes made by the Nazi government in industrial and economic affairs and the effectiveness of the Allied strategic bombing campaigns. Strategic bombing is a Military strategy used in a Total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability to wage war rather Some journalists and spectators even expected Speer to be appointed by the occupying powers to help restore Germany's economy. A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices Journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events trends He was taken to Versailles, to Eisenhower's then-headquarters. However, any such speculation ended when he was arrested and sent to Nuremberg for trial.

According to his memoirs, Speer was greeted civilly upon arrival at Nuremberg Prison by prison Commandant Colonel Burton C. Andrus, who was known for treating Nazi war criminals under his jurisdiction with icy disdain. Colonel Burton C Andrus USA (b1892 d 1977 was an army officer and West Point graduate who became infamous as the Commandant of Nuremberg Prison during the The same memoir mentions Andrus apologizing to Speer for his policy of strictness with the prisoners under his jurisdiction.

At the Nuremberg Trials, Speer was one of the few officials to express remorse. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after He was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment, most of which he would serve at Spandau Prison, West Berlin, largely for his use of slave labour. Spandau Prison was a Prison situated in the borough of Spandau in western Berlin, constructed in 1876 and demolished in West Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990

According to interviews after his imprisonment, as well as his memoirs, Speer adopted a "see no evil" attitude towards the Nazi atrocities. For example, he claimed to have learned of unspecified disturbing events at Auschwitz through his friend Karl Hanke. "Auschwitz" redirects here For the town see Oświęcim Auschwitz-Birkenau () was the largest of Nazi Germany Karl August Hanke ( 24 August 1903 - 8 June 1945) was an official of the National Socialist German Workers Party ( Nazi Party or He then purposely avoided visiting the camp or trying to get more information about what was taking place. In his autobiography, he claims that he had no direct involvement or knowledge of the Holocaust, although he admits having blinded himself to its existence and expresses remorse for this. The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as He certainly was aware, at least, of harsh conditions for the slave labour, and some critics believe that his books understate his role in the atrocities of the era. Moreover, documents uncovered by the Berlin historian Susanne Willems suggest that Speer knew a great deal more about the atrocities than he claimed to. [4]

Speer's acknowledgement of guilt was nuanced. He acknowledged guilt for being a high official of a criminal government, without acknowledging guilt for any crimes committed by himself. His self-described crimes seem to be more acts of omission, including failure to make inquiry into the Holocaust, and failure to challenge Hitler. He painted himself as a nonpolitical technocrat. However, according to The Guardian, [5] Speer revealed in a letter he wrote in 1971 to Hélène Jeanty, the widow of a Belgian resistance leader, that he knew of Himmler's plans to exterminate all the Jews, in spite of his earlier claims to have left Himmler's Posen speech early. In the letter he says, "There is no doubt - I was present as Himmler announced on 6 October 1943 that all Jews would be killed".

One problem with assessments of Speer's complicity in the Holocaust comes from his status in post-war Germany—he became a symbol for people who were involved with the Nazi regime yet did not have (or claimed not to have had) any part in the regime's atrocities. As film director Heinrich Breloer remarked in the above-linked article:

“ [Speer created] a market for people who said, "Believe me, I didn't know anything about [the Holocaust]. A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Just look at the Führer's friend, he didn't know about it either". ”

Imprisonment

Main article: Spandau Prison

During his time in prison, Speer painstakingly documented his experiences in his secret prison diary, which was later released as Spandau: The Secret Diaries. Spandau Prison was a Prison situated in the borough of Spandau in western Berlin, constructed in 1876 and demolished in He described his time in prison as consisting mainly of a mind-numbing and pedantically enforced daily routine; incessant petty personal rivalry between the seven prisoners; a pervasive and bloated prison bureaucracy; and, as three prisoners were released early due to ill-health, many false hopes of his own early release. Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government Speer and most of the prisoners had established secret lines of communication to the outside world via sympathetic prison staff. Speer made full use of this by, amongst other things, writing innumerable letters to his family (which were restricted to one outgoing page per month under official regulation) and even having money spent on his behalf from a special bank account for a variety of benign purposes.

Speer, as recounted in his diary, made a deliberate effort to make as productive use of his time as possible. In the first decade, he wrote the first draft of his tell-all memoirs. for other uses see Memoir (disambiguation As a literary Genre, a memoir (from the French: mémoire He considered this to be his "duty" to history and his people as the sole surviving member of Hitler's inner circle, in possession of knowledge and a degree of objectivity that no one else had. As the prison directors both forbade the writing of a memoir and recorded each sheet of paper given to the prisoners, he wrote much of his memoir secretly on toilet paper, tobacco wrappings, and any other material he could get his hands on, and then had the pages systematically smuggled out.

All the while Speer devoted much of his energy and time towards reading books from the prison's library, which was organised by fellow prisoner and ex-Grand Admiral Erich Raeder. Grand Admiral is a historic naval rank generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country Erich Johann Albert Raeder ( April 24, 1876 – November 6, 1960) was a naval leader in Germany before and during The prisoners could also have books sent over from the local branch of the Berlin library, and, later, from the central library. Speer was, more so than the others, a voracious reader and he completed well over 500 books in the first three years alone. [6] His tastes ranged from Greek drama to famous plays to architectural books and journals, partly from which he collected information for a book he intended to write on the history and function of windows in architecture.

Later, Speer took to the prison garden for enjoyment and work. Heretofore the garden was divided up into small personal plots for each prisoner with the produce of the garden being used in the prison kitchen. When regulations began to slacken in this regard, Speer was allowed to build an ambitious garden, complete with a meandering path, rock garden, and a wide variety of flowers. A rock garden, also known as a rockery or an alpine garden, is a type of Garden that features extensive use of rocks or stones along The garden was even, humorously, centred around a "north-south axis", which had been the core design element of Speer and Hitler's plan for a new Berlin. To maintain his physical fitness and his ability for imagination, Speer then took up a virtual "walking tour of the world" by ordering geography and travel books from the local library and walking laps in the prison garden visualising his journey. Meticulously calculating every metre travelled, and mapping distances to the real-world geography, he began in northern Germany, went through the Balkans, Persia, India, and Siberia, then crossed the Bering Strait and continued southwards, finally ending his sentence in central Mexico. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving The Bering Strait (Берингов пролив Beringov proliv) is a sea Strait between Cape Dezhnev, Russia, the easternmost point (169°43' The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America.

While Speer was incarcerated, his Nuremberg counsel, Dr. Hans Flächsner, remained as his attorney. His major work during this time was stalling the de-Nazification proceedings against Speer. While Speer could not have been subject to further incarceration, the property upon which his family survived during that time could have been confiscated. The proceedings were eventually ended by West Berlin Mayor and future Chancellor Willy Brandt. Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm (18 December 1913 - 8 October 1992 was a German politician Chancellor of West Germany 1969&ndash1974 Flächsner would accompany Margarete Speer to Spandau to greet Speer on his release.

Release and later life

Speer's release from prison in 1966 was a worldwide media event. Abandoning plans to return to architecture (two proposed partners died shortly before his release) he then revised and published two autobiographical books based on the diary entries he had made in prison as well as a third about the SS, which was less well-received. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write" His books, most notably Inside the Third Reich and Spandau: The Secret Diaries, provide a unique and personal look into the personalities of the Nazi era, and have become much valued by historians. Inside the Third Reich is a Memoir written by Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942 to 1945 serving as Hitler's main architect Speer was aided in shaping the works by Joachim Fest and Wolf-Jobst Siedler from the publishing house Ullstein. Joachim Clemens Fest ( December 8, 1926 &ndash September 11, 2006) German historian journalist critic and editor is best known for [7] Speer died of a cerebral hemorrhage in London, England, on September 1, 1981. A cerebral hemorrhage (or intracerebral hemorrhage, ICH) is a subtype of Intracranial hemorrhage that occurs within the Brain tissue itself London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981

Speer himself appeared in the ITV television series The World at War which was first broadcast in 1973. Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent The World at War is a 26-episode television documentary series on World War II, including the events leading up to it and following in its wake Speer appeared in a number of episodes including the 12th episode entitled "Whirlwind", in which he admitted that he regarded the bombing of Germany by the RAF's Bomber Command as a second front. In a number of the other episodes he spoke at length of his relationship with Hitler and how he became Minister of War Armaments Production after Fritz Todt was killed in a plane crash. Speer revealed that he was meant to have been on the plane along with Todt, and was informed half an hour after the news was given to Hitler he was summoned to Hitler to take on all of Todt's offices.

He also revealed that, unlike most of the senior OKW commanders and Reichministers, he had direct access to Hitler. He stated that he was not told exactly what was going on in the death camps, but was told by a Gauleiter that terrible things were occurring. A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP (more commonly known as the Nazi Party) or the head of a Gau or of a He also contributed to Dudley Saward's official biography of Bomber Harris the Commander of Bomber Command by giving interviews and access to his files which demonstrated the effects of the bombing on manufacturing and on how artillery pieces were directed to air defence and not to the Eastern Front. Bomber Command is an organizational Military unit generally subordinate to the Air force of a Country.

Speer's daughter Hilde (married Schramm) became a noted left-wing parliamentarian. Hilde Schramm (born 1936 is a German politician Internationally she is most known as the daughter of Albert Speer, who was a member of Adolf Hitler 's inner circle Speer's eldest son, Albert, became a successful architect in his own right. An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction Second daughter Margarete (married Nissen) became a photographer and Arnold, Speer's second youngest son became a community doctor. Margret Nissen (June 19 1938 as Margarete Speer is a German Photographer.

Bibliography

Biographies

Portrayal in the media

Albert Speer has been portrayed by the following actors in film, television and theater productions. [8]

See also

References

  1. ^ The title of a BBC2 documentary. Nuremberg Nazis on Trial, is a BBC Documentary film series consisting of three one-hour films that re-enact the Nuremberg War Trials 2007 saw major releases such as The Simpsons Movie, National Treasure Book of Secrets, 2009 in film has numerous films in production to be released in 2009 as well as films that have announced release dates but have yet to begin filming Valkyrie is a 2008 historical thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and starring Tom Cruise. Inside the Third Reich is a Memoir written by Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942 to 1945 serving as Hitler's main architect Nazi architecture was an architectural plan and integral part of the Nazi party 's plans to create a Cultural and Speer und Er (literally "Speer and He" released as Speer and Hitler The Devil's Architect) is a three-part German Docudrama starring
  2. ^ Beevor, Antony. Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5, Page 9
  3. ^ Beevor, Antony. Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5, Page 10
  4. ^ Kate Connolly, "Wartime reports debunk Speer as the good Nazi," The Daily Telegraph, May 11, 2007. Retrieved August 16, 2007.
  5. ^ Letter proves Speer knew of Holocaust plan | World news | The Guardian
  6. ^ Fishman, Jack (1986). Long Knives and Short Memories: The Spandau Prison Story. Breakwater Books, pg 129. ISBN 0-920911-00-5.  
  7. ^ Siedler, Wolf Jobst Wir waren noch einmal davongekommen, Siedler, 2004
  8. ^ Albert Speer (Character) (English). IMDb.com. Retrieved on May 8, 2008. Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common
  9. ^ Albert Speer (English). National Theatre. Retrieved on May 8, 2008. Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common
Persondata
NAME Speer, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Speer, Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION German architect and minister for armaments
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1905(1905-03-19)
PLACE OF BIRTH Mannheim, Germany
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1981
PLACE OF DEATH London, England
Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Mannheim is a City in Germany. With 327318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after the capital Stuttgart Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
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