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Nuremberg rallies

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The Totenehrung, or "Honoring of the Dead," at the 1934 Nuremberg rally. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and SA leader Viktor Lutze stand in front of the Ehrenhalle, or "Hall of Honor."

The Nuremberg rallies (officially Reichsparteitagⓘ, meaning Reich Party Congress) were a series of celebratory events coordinated by the Nazi Party and held in the German city of Nuremberg from 1923 to 1938. The first nationwide party convention took place in Munich in January 1923, but the location was shifted to Nuremberg that September.[1] The Nuremberg rallies usually occurred in late August or September, lasting several days to a week.[1] They played a central role in Nazi propaganda, using mass parades, "military rituals," speeches, concerts, and varied stagecraft methods to project the image of a strong and united Germany under Nazi leadership.[2]

The rallies became a national event following Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933, and were thereafter held annually. Once the Nazi dictatorship was firmly established, party propagandists began filming the rallies for a national, and international, audience. Noted Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl produced several films, including Triumph of the Will (1934) and The Victory of Faith (1933), at the rally grounds in Nuremberg.[3] The 1938 rally celebrated the Anschluss—Germany's annexation of Austria—which occurred earlier that year.[3]

The planned 1939 rally was cancelled due to Germany's invasion of Poland. Scheduled to begin on 2 September, this rally was ironically called the Reichsparteitag des Friedens, or "Rally of Peace."[4][5] The regime never held another rally, as Germany prioritized its efforts in the Second World War.[5] By March 1940, construction at the rally grounds had "almost halted," although prisoners of war continued work as late as 1943, being housed in barracks originally "erected for rally participants."[5]

History and purpose

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The first Nazi "Party Day" was held in 1920 by the "National Socialist German Workers' Association," the precursor of the Brownshirts.[6] Early party rallies occurred in 1923 at Munich, and in 1926 at Weimar.[6] At the 1926 rally, Hitler was able to hold "both the general parade as well as the consecration of the flags" at Weimar, where he spoke about the meaning of the Nazi flag as "some three hundred" of the banners were displayed on stage behind him.[6]

Postcard for the 1938 Nuremberg Rally, featuring a Nazi Reichsadler with Nuremberg Castle in the background.

Political purpose

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The rallies were not a "decision-making body," and Hitler did not allow their "parliamentarization."[6] Rather, their purpose was to "instill the Hitler myth deeply into the hearts of the faithful," with "rituals," "fireworks," and "invocations surrounding the flag" all playing a part.[6] Nuremberg was "designed from the start as a place for show and spectacle," and not for "debates" over the party's policy.[7] Hitler himself declared that the rallies should be a "clear and understandable demonstration of the will and the youthful strength" of the party, while Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels said that the rallies changed a participant "from a little worm into part of a large dragon."[7]

From 1927 onward, party rallies took place exclusively in Nuremberg.[8] The party chose Nuremberg because of its "rich history," as the "city had been the diet of the Holy Roman Empire" in the medieval era.[7] The Nazis also began calling it the "the most German of German cities."[7] Moreover, the Luitpoldhain park gave Nuremberg the "advantage of a large open space for mass gatherings."[7]

Content of rallies and architectural design

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Hitler chose architect Albert Speer to improve the rally complex and, in the summer of 1933, Speer "reshaped Nuremberg" to make it "suitable for hosting what was now the party in power."[7] In 1934, he enlarged the Zeppelin Field structures and built them in stone, specifically pink and white granite.[7] In Speer's own words, he designed a "mighty flight of stairs topped and enclosed by a long colonnade, flanked on both ends by stone abutments. Undoubtedly it was influenced by the Pergamum altar."[7] Hitler agreed with Speer's plan, and the finished stadium had a capacity of hundreds of thousands of people.[7] Speer also used lighting to highlight the architecture—and present Hitler in an impressive way—with "130 aircraft searchlights" arranged around and above the stadium.[7]

Rallies opened with Richard Wagner's 1868 opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, performed by the Berlin State Opera, and ceremonies included a parade where district party flags were touched to the Blutfahne, the flag used during the failed Beer Hall Putsch coup attempt of 1923.[7] The rally ended with a speech from Hitler. Spotlights focused on the "place where Hitler entered the arena," and music played from "multiple bands, orchestras, and loudspeakers" as he approached the podium.[7] Hitler's speeches at Nuremberg have been described, like his other speeches, as "less about meaningful content and more about creating a dramatic impact using a mishmash of stereotypes, rhetorical devices, and emotionally-charged language."[7]

Rallies

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Reich Labor Service members march past Hitler at the 1937 rally.
British Pathé Gazette newsreel of the 1936 rally, with Hitler speaking and Hitler Youth singing.
A crowd renders the Nazi salute at the 1936 rally.

Each rally was given a programmatic title, which related to recent national events:

  • 1923: The First Party Congress took place in Munich on 27 January 1923.[9][8]
  • 1923: The "German Day Rally" was held in Nuremberg, 1–2 September 1923.[8]
  • 1926: The 2nd Party Congress ("Refounding Congress") was held in Weimar, 3–4 July 1926.[9][8]
  • 1927: The 3rd Party Congress ("Day of Awakening") was held in Nuremberg, 19–21 August 1927.[9][8] The propaganda film Eine Symphonie des Kampfwillens was made at this rally.
  • 1929: The 4th Party Congress, known as the "Day of Composure", was held in Nuremberg, 1–4 August 1929.[9][8] The propaganda film Der Nürnberger Parteitag der NSDAP was made at this rally.
  • 1933: The 5th Party Congress was held in Nuremberg, 31 August – 3 September 1933.[8] It was called the "Rally of Victory" (Reichsparteitag des Sieges). The term "victory" relates to the Nazi seizure of power and the victory over the Weimar Republic. The Leni Riefenstahl film Der Sieg des Glaubens was made at this rally. Hitler announced that from then on all rallies would take place in Nuremberg.[10]
  • 1934: The 6th Party Congress was held in Nuremberg, 5–10 September 1934,[8] which was attended by about 700,000 Nazi Party supporters. Initially it did not have a theme. Later it was labeled the "Rally of Unity and Strength"[8] (Reichsparteitag der Einheit und Stärke),[8] "Rally of Power"[8] (Reichsparteitag der Macht), or "Rally of Will"[8] (Reichsparteitag des Willens).[11] The Leni Riefenstahl film Triumph des Willens was made at this rally.[12][8] This rally was particularly notable due to Albert Speer's Cathedral of light: 152 searchlights that cast vertical beams into the sky around the Zeppelin Field to symbolise the walls of a building.[13]
  • 1935: The 7th Party Congress was held in Nuremberg, 10–16 September 1935.[8] It was called the "Rally of Freedom" (Reichsparteitag der Freiheit).[9] "Freedom" referred to the reintroduction of compulsory military service and thus the German "liberation" from the Treaty of Versailles. Leni Riefenstahl made the film Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht (Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces) at this rally, and the Nazis introduced the Nuremberg Laws.
  • 1936: The 8th Party Congress was held in Nuremberg, 8–14 September 1936.[8] It was known as the "Rally of Honour" (Reichsparteitag der Ehre).[9] The remilitarization of the demilitarized Rhineland in March 1936 constituted the restoration of German honour in the eyes of many Germans. The film Festliches Nürnberg incorporated footage shot at this rally, as well as the rally of 1937.
  • 1937: The 9th Party Congress was held in Nuremberg, 6–13 September 1937.[8] It was called the "Rally of Work" (Reichsparteitag der Arbeit).[9] It celebrated the reduction of unemployment in Germany since the Nazi rise to power.
  • 1938: The 10th Party Congress was held in Nuremberg, 5–12 September 1938.[8] It was named the "Rally of Greater Germany" (Reichsparteitag Großdeutschland).[14][9] This was due to the annexation of Austria to Germany that had taken place earlier in the year.
  • 1939: The 11th Party Congress, scheduled for 2–11 September 1939, was given the name "Rally of Peace" (Reichsparteitag des Friedens).[8][5] It was meant to reiterate the German desire for peace, both to the German population and to other countries. It was cancelled at short notice, as one day before the planned start date, Germany began its offensive against Poland, starting World War II on 1 September 1939.

Propaganda films

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The "Cathedral of Light" created by searchlight at Zeppelin field, September 1937.

The first film to document a Nuremberg rally was A Symphony of the Will to Fight, released in 1927.[15] The most famous films, however, were made by director Leni Riefenstahl for the rallies between 1933 and 1935. Her first movie, Victory of Faith (Der Sieg des Glaubens), was released in 1933.[16][17] Because the film featured SA chief Ernst Röhm, who was later killed at Hitler's orders during the 1934 Night of the Long Knives, almost all copies of Der Sieg des Glaubens were destroyed.[18] It was considered a lost film until a copy was found in East Germany's film archives in the 1980s.[18]

The rally of 1934 became the setting for Riefenstahl's award-winning Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens).[19][20] In 1935 she made Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces (Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht) about the German Army,[20] filmed because the army felt it was not represented well enough in Triumph of the Will.[21] Riefenstahl, who lived until 2003, would face lifelong controversy because of her films and closeness to the regime.[22]

The 1936 and 1937 rallies were covered in the short film Festliches Nürnberg, directed by Hans Weidemann.[23]

Rally books

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There were two sets of official, or semi-official, books covering the rallies. The so-called "Red books" were officially published by the Nazi Party and contained the proceedings of each rally, along with the full text of speeches.[24]

The "Blue books" were published initially by Julius Streicher, the Gauleiter of Nuremberg, and later by Hanns Kerrl, not by the party press.[24] These were larger scale books that included excerpts of speeches in addition to photographs.[24]

Alongside these books, collections of photos by Hitler's official photographer, Heinrich Hoffman, were published to commemorate each Party congress, as well as pamphlets of Hitler's speeches.[24] Hoffman created 100-image series on the 1936, 1937, and 1938 rallies.[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Nürnberg Rally". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 8 January 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  2. ^ "The Nazi Party Rally as ritual". The Nuremberg Municipal Museums: Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b Sinclair, Thornton (1938). "The Nazi Party Rally at Nuremberg". Public Opinion Quarterly. 2 (4): 570–583. doi:10.1086/265232. ISSN 0033-362X. JSTOR 2745103.
  4. ^ Rawson, Andrew (2012). Showcasing the Third Reich: The Nuremberg Rallies: The Nuremberg Rallies. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-8353-5.
  5. ^ a b c d Macdonald, Sharon (2010). Difficult Heritage: Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremberg and Beyond. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-1-134-11106-0.
  6. ^ a b c d e Hoffmann, Hilmar (1996). The Triumph of Propaganda: Film and National Socialism, 1933-1945. Berghahn Books. pp. 151–152. ISBN 978-1-57181-066-3.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cartwright, Mark. "Nuremberg Rally". World History Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 8 January 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rawson, Andrew (2012). Showcasing the Third Reich: The Nuremberg Rallies: The Nuremberg Rallies. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-8353-5.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "Reichsparteitage der NSDAP, 1923-1938 – Historisches Lexikon Bayerns". www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  10. ^ Piper, Ernst (30 August 2008). "Der faule Nazi-Zauber von Nürnberg" [The lazy Nazi magic of Nuremberg]. Der Spiegel (in German). Hamburg. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  11. ^ Rawson, Andrew (2008). In Pursuit of Hitler: A Battlefield Guide to the Seventh (US) Army Drive. Barnsley, England: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-78159-970-9.
  12. ^ Triumph des Willens (1935)
  13. ^ Propaganda in Nazi Germany
  14. ^ archive.org: page 1139ff.
  15. ^ Geng, Johannes (2019), Geng, Johannes (ed.), "Das Sensorische Regime von Körper, Masse und Raum im NS-Propagandafilm", Sensorische Regime: Die wahrnehmungsformierende Kraft des Films (in German), Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien, pp. 109–204, doi:10.1007/978-3-658-23502-4_5, ISBN 978-3-658-23502-4, retrieved 26 November 2022
  16. ^ "New York Times - Movie reviews". Archived from the original on 25 October 2003. Retrieved 20 October 2005.
  17. ^ Erlanger, Steven (24 August 2002). "THE SATURDAY PROFILE; At 100, Hitler's Filmmaker Sticks to Her Script". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  18. ^ a b Trimborn, Jürgen (2008). Leni Riefenstahl: A Life. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-1-4668-2164-4. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  19. ^ Barsam, Richard M (1975). Filmguide to Triumph of the Will. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. p. 21.
  20. ^ a b Rother, Rainer, ed. (2003). Leni Riefenstahl: The Seduction of Genius. London and New York: A&C Black. pp. 71, 238. ISBN 978-0-8264-7023-2.
  21. ^ Aitken, Ian, ed. (2013). The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of the Documentary film. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. 760. ISBN 978-0-415-59642-8.
  22. ^ Connolly, Kate (9 December 2021). "Burying Leni Riefenstahl: one woman's lifelong crusade against Hitler's favourite film-maker". The Guardian. Jürgen Trimborn, author of a highly critical biography published in 2002, declared that there was "no evidence that, due to her proximity to the regime, Riefenstahl knew more than others did about the mass annihilation of the Jews. But it is obvious that, like most Germans, she knew enough to be sure that it was better not to know even more." (Gladitz would later judge this analysis as far too generous.)
  23. ^ Zimmermann, Peter (2005). Hoffmann, Kay (ed.). "Propagandafilme der NSDAP". Geschichte des dokumentarischen Films in Deutschland. Band 3 'Drittes Reich' 1933-1945 (in German). Reclam. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  24. ^ a b c d e "Nuremberg Parteitag Rallies - Documentary Record". www.worldfuturefund.org. Archived from the original on 8 January 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
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