Thing place (thing movement)
As Thing courts or thingsteads outdoor theater are called, from 1933 to in 1936 for the Thing Games as part of the Thing movement in the era of National Socialism were built and later used for political rallies.
Intent and design
Things games should mainly allow individuals to experience an emotional and ethical absorption in their home country and national community . For this reason, places with impressive scenery were chosen as thing sites: atmospheric areas surrounded by forests, on bodies of water, embedded in hills or natural rocks, on ruins or other traces of local history. Of course, this meant that all events there were exposed to the unpredictability of the weather. Typical was the round shape, resembling an amphitheater , and the entrances and exits through the stage, through which the actors came to the stage past the audience.
Thingspiele consisted of many extras, especially from the Sturmabteilung or Reichsarbeitsdienst , who helped with the construction. They were choral mass theater pieces, in contrast to the left-wing liberal elite theater ostracized by the National Socialists, which they wanted to oppose a patriotic mass theater: myth, heroism and a folkish community experience in the open air. The intended Thing cult could not prevail among the local population and also within the National Socialist German Workers' Party , on the one hand the building projects stalled, on the other hand the pieces on display did not materialize and ultimately led to the thing game movement only lasting a few years. Instead of mystical things games, the National Socialists relied primarily on propaganda in film and radio. Between 200 and 400 thing sites were planned; Only about 40, 50 or 60 were completed. They were one of the largest architectural building projects of the Nazi era, as well as the largest open-air theater building program since ancient times .
Few thing sites are still in use today and when they do, few are unaware of their original use. Funded by the municipal administration or the local tourist office, they can be used, for example, as open-air theaters or for music events. The most famous former thing places are the Berlin Waldbühne and the Kalkbergstadion in Bad Segeberg. The facility planned as a Thingstätte in Heidelberg was only referred to as a celebration site after completion , which can be traced back to a ban on the term Thing by Joseph Goebbels in autumn 1935; from then on they were called a place of celebration , place of consecration or open-air theater .
In his opening speech on June 22, 1935, Joseph Goebbels, formerly a student in Heidelberg, then Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda :
“In this monumental building we have given our style and our view of life a lively, sculptural and monumental expression. These places are really the parliaments of our time. A day will come when the German people will walk to these stone sites in order to confess their immortal new life in ritual games. "
The Heidelberg Thingstätte clearly shows the adaptation and alienation of the historical idea by the Nazis. Instead of focusing on gathering and discussing matters, the Thingstätten built under the National Socialists now enabled the cult of the Führer to be staged thanks to their centric layout .
Architects from Thingstätten
- Fritz Schaller , authoritative designer of thing places
- Hermann Alker , architect of the Thingstätte (Heidelberg) and design of a Thingstätte for Karlsruhe
- Georg Buchner , architect of the Thingstätte an der Theresienwiese (together with German Bestelmeyer )
- Attributed to Wilhelm Hübotter , Thingstätte Sachsenhain
- Wilhelm Jost (architect) , Brandberge
- Werner March , architect of the Dietrich-Eckart-Freilichtbühne , Berlin
- Walter Tießler , Brandberge
- Robert Tischler , landscape architect, architect of the Thingplatz with the Freikorp monument on St. Annaberg in Upper Silesia, 1926–1959 chief architect of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge
- Ludwig Moshamer , architect of Thingstätten, among others in Freyburg (Unstrut) , Halle (Saale) , Passau , Bad Schmiedeberg and Jülich , 1934–1938
- Otto Wittgen , German politician ( NSDAP ) and Lord Mayor of Koblenz , 1933–1939
List of Thingstätten (National Socialism)
| place | Thing place | Coordinates | image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sankt Annaberg , Polish Góra Świętej Anny (Poland) | Reich memorial for the free corps fighters | 50 ° 27 ′ 19 ″ N, 18 ° 9 ′ 36 ″ E |
.JPG)
|
| augsburg | Open-air theater, condition unclear | ||
| Bad Segeberg | Kalkbergstadion , today the stage for the Karl May Games in Bad Segeberg | 53 ° 56 ′ 8 ″ N, 10 ° 19 ′ 4 ″ E | |
| Bad Windsheim | Thing site on the wine tower hill | 49 ° 30 ′ 31 ″ N, 10 ° 23 ′ 21 ″ E | |
| Berchtesgaden- Strub | Former Thingplatz, later Adolf Hitler Youth Hostel, today Berchtesgaden Youth Hostel | 47 ° 37 ′ 27 "N, 12 ° 58 ′ 50" E | |
| Mountains on Rügen | on the rugard | 54 ° 25 '24 "N, 13 ° 26' 49" E | |
| Berlin | Inaugurated as Dietrich-Eckart-Freilichtbühne in 1936, part of the Reichssportfeld for the Olympic Summer Games in 1936 , today the Berlin Waldbühne | 52 ° 30 '57 "N, 13 ° 13' 45" E |
|
| Berlin | Inaugurated in 1936. Today open-air cinema in the Rehberge park | 52 ° 33 '18 "N, 13 ° 19' 49" E |
|
| Berlin-Lichtenberg | “Thingplatz Lichtenberg”, is to be called “Floraplatz” today, condition unclear | ||
| Bochum -Wattenscheid | today an open-air stage in the Wattenscheid city park | 51 ° 29 ′ 9 ″ N, 7 ° 8 ′ 28 ″ E | |
| Borna | Volksplatz Borna , restored complex | 51 ° 7 ′ 39 "N, 12 ° 29 ′ 53" E | |
| Bous (Saar) | Former Thingplatz with an attached HJ home, place where the Redemptorist monastery in Heiligenborn was built in 1949 | 49 ° 16 ′ 23 "N, 6 ° 48 ′ 32" E | |
| Brahmsee | Thingplatz at Brahmsee , | ||
| Braunschweig | am Nußberg : Thingstätte , today in ruins | 52 ° 16 ′ 14 "N, 10 ° 33 ′ 21" E | |
| Bückeberg near Hameln | (see Hamelin) | ||
| Dorweiler | Open-air stage on the Waldeck castle ruins , formerly used by the Wandervogel movement , now in ruin | ||
| Drossen , West Sternberg District, (today Ośno Lubuskie, Poland) | Thing place for a planned redesign of Drossens as a "city of youth", today floating stage directly on Reczynek (Röthsee) | 52 ° 28 '8 "N, 14 ° 52' 6" E | |
| Dresden | Today's "People's Stage" as part of Gauforum planned for National rally, later used as Thingplatz, today will find the Movie Nights at the Elbe river instead | 51 ° 3 ′ 21 ″ N, 13 ° 44 ′ 40 ″ E |
|
| Bad Schmiedeberg | Thingplatz in the Dübener Heide , second Thingstätte, located on the mountain path, inaugurated in September 1934, today almost entirely overgrown with forest | 51 ° 40 ′ 45 "N, 12 ° 42 ′ 29" E | |
| Ehrenfriedersdorf | Today's natural theater Greifensteine , presumably also used as a thing site | ||
| Eichstatt | Thingstätte on a hill north of Eichstätt with a view of the Willibaldsburg , today still easy to recognize despite the natural influences | 48 ° 54 '9 "N, 11 ° 9' 41" E |
|
| Eisenberg (Palatinate) | Stauf castle ruins , Donnersbergkreis, Rhineland-Palatinate | ||
| Freital , district Hainsberg (Freital) ? | Location uncertain. Identical to the Gauforum Dresden? | ? | |
| Freyburg (Unstrut) | Thingplatz auf dem Haineberg (March 21, 1934: first groundbreaking) with a view of Neuchâtel , on June 20, 1936 the ceremonial handover of the rally site by Gauarbeitsführer, used for solstice celebrations , fire dances of the BDM or marches, today more and more overgrown with bushes. | 51 ° 12 ′ 17 "N, 11 ° 45 ′ 20" E | |
| Friedland in East Prussia , today Правдинск (Pravdinsk) in Russia, Kaliningrad Oblast | |||
| Ganderkesee -Bookholzberg | Open-air theater Stedingsehre , Nazi cult site as part of the Thing movement | 53 ° 5 ′ 54 ″ N, 8 ° 31 ′ 27 ″ E | |
| Gable City | Thingplatz in front of the Florian Geyer Castle , today the location of the Florian Geyer open-air theater | 49 ° 39 ′ 3 ″ N, 9 ° 56 ′ 46 ″ E | |
| Halle (Saale) | first thing site Brandberge , inaugurated on June 5, 1934 | 51 ° 30 ′ 23 "N, 11 ° 55 ′ 47" E | |
| Hamelin | "Reichsthingplatz" on the Bückeberg , place of the " Reichserntedankfest " | 52 ° 3 ′ 17 "N, 9 ° 24 ′ 8" E | |
| Heidelberg | Heidelberg Thingstätte | 49 ° 25 '24 "N, 8 ° 42' 23" E |
|
| Herchen | Thingplatz (Herchen) | 50 ° 46 ′ 50 "N, 7 ° 30 ′ 26" E |
|
| Ostseebad Heringsdorf-Ahlbeck | Thingstätte Heringsdorf-Ahlbeck, formerly also called “Waldstadion Heringsdorf”, opened in 1934 | ||
| Holzminden | Largely preserved thing place in the city park, today barbecue and playground | 51 ° 48 ′ 36 "N, 9 ° 27 ′ 15" E | |
| Integrated community of Ilmenau , Lüneburg | Ilmenau - Funkenburg: location uncertain | ? | |
| Jülich | former Thingplatz in the bridgehead , some parts of which have been preserved, e.g. B. the foundations of the former stage between the central and zoo bastions to the surface of the moat | 50 ° 55 '15 "N, 6 ° 21' 1" E | |
| Kamenz | Thingplatz on the Hutberg , today the "Hutbergbühne", has also preserved the stumps of the five former columns | 51 ° 16 ′ 15 "N, 14 ° 4 ′ 45" E | |
| Koblenz | Forecourt of the Electoral Palace (destroyed in World War II), the trees on the sides of the former entrance pylons have been preserved | 50 ° 21 '22 "N, 7 ° 35' 59" E | |
| Kuhlmühle near Wittstock / Dosse | Thingplatz Kuhlmühle , condition unclear | ? | |
| Lamspringe | Thing site in the former monastery garden , hardly visible today | 51 ° 57 ′ 52 "N, 10 ° 1 ′ 11" E | |
| Leutkirch | Thingplatz below Wilhelmshöhe, hardly visible today | 47 ° 49 ′ 40 "N, 10 ° 1 ′ 51" E | |
| on the Loreley rock ( Sankt Goarshausen ) | Today's open-air theater Loreley , built 1934–1939, today used for rock u. Pop concerts | 50 ° 8 ′ 33 "N, 7 ° 43 ′ 53" E | |
| Lübeck- Travemünde, OT Travemünde | Open-air stage on the Priwall Trave peninsula , preserved but overgrown facility | ? | |
| Mewe in West Prussia (now Poland ) | Former Thingplatz on the right bank of the Vistula opposite the city (with a view of the city and castle), condition unclear, briefly shown in a TV documentary about East Prussia (old recordings) | ||
| Mülheim an der Ruhr | Mülheim an der Ruhr open-air theater | 51 ° 25 ′ 19 ″ N, 6 ° 53 ′ 9 ″ E | |
| Munich- Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt | Thingstätte at the Theresienwiese in Munich | ||
| Nordenburg in East Prussia , Russia, Kaliningrad Oblast | only overgrown remains, u. a. a staircase | 54 ° 19 ′ 53 "N, 21 ° 33 ′ 34" E | |
| Northeim | Gesundbrunnen open-air stage , today " Waldbühne " | 51 ° 42 '11 "N, 10 ° 1' 30" E | |
| Oldenburg- Brokhausen | Celebration site Stedingsehre | 53 ° 10 ′ 40 ″ N, 8 ° 9 ′ 43 ″ E ? | |
| Passau | at the Veste Oberhaus | 48 ° 34 ′ 43 "N, 13 ° 28 ′ 6" E | |
| Barkhausen at the Porta | Goethe open-air theater Porta Westfalica , alleged thing site | ||
| Rathen | Rathen rock stage | 50 ° 57 ′ 49 ″ N, 14 ° 4 ′ 29 ″ E | |
| Rheinsberg, either Rheinsberg in Brandenburg or Rheinsberg in Pomerania | Thingplatz "Deutschlandlager", built in 1935 for a Hitler Youth race | ||
| Rostock | Barnstorfer Wald at today's "Platz der Jugend" (largely redesigned, including a playground) | 54 ° 4 ′ 56 "N, 12 ° 5 ′ 57" E | |
| Rössel in East Prussia , Poland, Warmia-Masuria | Open-air theater, in ruins | ||
| Rothenfels | "Thingplatz an der Linde" in front of Rothenfels Castle | ||
| Schildau near Torgau | Former Thingplatz, now barely visible | 51 ° 26 ′ 59 ″ N, 12 ° 56 ′ 6 ″ E | |
| Schleiden (Eifel) | in the Ordensburg Vogelsang | 50 ° 35 ′ 17 "N, 6 ° 26 ′ 52" E |
|
| Schwarzenberg | " Grenzlandfeierstätte Erzgebirge ", today's "Waldbühne" | 50 ° 31 '53 "N, 12 ° 46' 50" E | |
| Soldin , West Pomerania / Neumark, today Myślibórz in Poland | Celebration site at Soldiner See , 1934–1939 | ||
| Sankt Goarshausen | Open-air theater Loreley (see Loreley) | ||
| Stolzenau | next to today's Weserkampfbahn on Schlüsselburger Strasse; Stairs or seats were preserved in remnants | 52 ° 30 '26 "N, 9 ° 4' 37" E | |
| Stuttgart pipe | Thingstraße / Thingplatz with HJ-Heim, today Albert Schweitzer School, and Ostmarkschule, today Pestalozzi School | 48 ° 43 '12 "N, 9 ° 5' 50" E | |
| Tilsit, today Sovetsk (Russia) | Thingplatz Tilsit, is still used for festivals today | 55 ° 4 '22 "N, 21 ° 52' 41" E | |
| Tecklenburg | Conversion of the Tecklenburg to the NS-Thingstätte, today Tecklenburg open-air theater | 52 ° 13 ′ 11 "N, 7 ° 48 ′ 35" E | |
| Verden (Aller) | Thingstätte Sachsenhain , but there never was a real Thingplatz here | 52 ° 56 ′ 44 ″ N, 9 ° 13 ′ 30 ″ E | |
| Werder / Havel | Former thing site at the city park, green area preserved and unused | 52 ° 22 ′ 31 ″ N, 12 ° 55 ′ 8 ″ E | |
| Zella Mehlis | Thingplatz near Zella, around 1936 | ||
| Zwickau | Thingplatz Zwickau, today "Freilichtbühne am See" next to the Schwanenteich, has also received a building that is / was the stage of the Thingplatz |
See also
- Architecture in the time of National Socialism
- Thing , the romanticized model of the Thing site movement.
- Nazi party rally grounds , Nuremberg
- Goethe open-air theater in Porta Westfalica
Web links
- List of some thing places with historical photos (English)
- Jürgen Oppermann: The drama "The Wanderer" by Joseph Goebbels: Early Forms of National Socialist Literature . Dissertation. Karlsruhe 2005, pp. 198–203: National Socialist Battle Stages.
literature
- Katharina Bosse (ed.): Thingstätten. On the importance of the past for the present. Kerber, Bielefeld / Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-7356-0693-8 . ISBN 978-3-7356-0699-0 [ENG]
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Bosse, Katharina, Gelderblom, Bernhard, Strobl, Gerwin, Wielgosik, Beata, Wunsch, Stefan: Thingstätten On the importance of the past for the present. 1st edition. Kerber, Bielefeld 2020, ISBN 978-3-7356-0693-8 , pp. 256 ( OCLC 1144136241 [accessed June 18, 2020]).
- ↑ a b c d e f The Thingstätten of the National Socialists. In: From cultural and social sciences - Deutschlandfunk. June 18, 2020, accessed on June 19, 2020 (with audio formats).
- ↑ a b c d e Relics with a brown past: Thingstätten. In: WDR. May 8, 2020, accessed May 9, 2020 .
- ^ M Heidegger: lectures and essays. Günter Neske, Pfullingen 1954, p. 173.
- ↑ Thingstätte Bad Windsheim. ( Memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) at: www.steinerne-zeitzeugen.de
- ↑ Thing place . In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
- ↑ Wattenscheid city garden. ( Memento from January 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) at: bochum.de
- ↑ volksplatz.de
- ^ The Reichserntedankfeste on the Bückeberg. on: gelderblom-hameln.de
- ↑ Seebühne in Ośno Lubuskie (Drossen). on: neumark.pl
- ↑ Eichstätt - Thingstätte. ( Memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) at: www.steinerne-zeitzeugen.de
- ^ Nazi cult in Eichstätt - The history of the Thingstätte. youtube
- ↑ The structural condition of the Thingplatz on the Haineberg - stones set into the ground for the benches in the rows of spectators - remained unchanged until the beginning of the 1950s. Then the stones were removed and used to build the municipal swimming pool. The area on the Haineberg is still called the “Thingplatz” in common parlance (especially among the older residents of Freyburg).
- ↑ Report on the Bückebergfest ( memento of the original from January 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ March 24, 1935. Inauguration of the Thingstätte in Koblenz. ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: State Main Archive Koblenz
- ↑ loreley-touristik.de ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Reisebericht (2000) ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Oldenburg-Brokhausen in Google Maps
- ^ Martin Kaule: Ostseeküste 1933–1945. The historical travel guide . Berlin 2009, p. 62.
- ↑ Stadtjugendring Stuttgart, traces of district history (s)
- ↑ Photo of the former Thingstätte Werder / Havel
