The Luitpold Arena could hold over 150,000 Nazis, and was the scene of SS and SA gatherings. At one end was the Ehrenhalle, a war memorial built in 1929. The arena is now a large grassy park, very popular on sunny afternoons. Only the Ehrenhalle is left at this end, the adjacent grandstands having been removed.  (U.S. National Archives RG 242)

The other end of the Luitpold Arena was a grandstand with a speaker's platform and three tall swastika banners, designed by Albert Speer. The large eagles on either end were by the sculptor Kurt Schmid-Ehmen. On the right above, the ruins as seen by U.S. Army GIs on 27 April 1945. Only the steps at one end of this grandstand remain today, all the other ruins having been removed and covered over with earth.  (above left and below - period postcards; above right - National Archives Record Group 111-SC, #205452)

These aerial views show the Luitpold Arena, with the Ehrenhalle at the lower center and the grandstand at the upper center (in the view on the left). The long building at the upper left was the Luitpoldhalle, scene of the Nazi Party congresses. The Luitpoldhalle was a converted industrial exhibition building. It was badly damaged during wartime bombing attacks and its ruins were later removed.  (period postcards)

The SS and SA gathered at the Luitpold Arena to participate in a ceremony honoring Nazi dead at the Ehrenhalle. On the left - Hitler's speaker's platform.  (left - period postcard; right - National Archives RG 242-HB)

The view from ground level, in front of the Ehrenhalle. The paving stones at the spot where Hitler stood have been removed by souvenir hunters (see period photos above).  (period postcard)

The Ehrenhalle (Hall of Honor) was built to memorialize soldiers of the First World War, but was appropriated by the Nazis. The memorial is now dedicated to all the victims of war and National Socialism.  (1941 postcard in author's collection)

Another demonstration field designed by Albert Speer was the Zeppelinfeld, with its massive colonnaded Zeppelintribüne grandstand. Above, German athletes and Labor Service assemble before Hitler at the 1938 Party Rally.  (above left - National Archives RG 242-HB; above right - Bundesarchiv; below - period postcard, courtesy Rob Berg)

The Zeppelinfeld was first used for Parteitag demonstrations in 1933, using a provisional wooden grandstand on the opposite side of the field from the later stone grandstand. On the left, Pzkw. I tanks parade past the stone grandstand still under construction in 1934, lacking the later rear façade and side columns. The first Hoheitszeichen national insignia on the Zeppelintribüne was a large wooden eagle designed by Albert Speer for the 1933 Parteitag.

Right - a rare color image of the Zeppelintribüne in its finished state. "Tag der Gemeinschaft" (Day of Community) during the 1937 Parteitag (Life collection).

More color images from the 1937 Reichsparteitag. On the right, the girls from the "Glaube und Schönheit" (Faith and Beauty) movement perform.  (Life collection)

Members of the Kriegsmarine (Navy) parade past Hitler at the 1935 Parteitag. This photo shows a good view of Speer's initial wooden eagle. ("Adolf Hitler, Bilder aus dem Leben des Führers," Altona, 1936)

By 1936, the Zeppelintribüne grandstand was finished, although the final touches were not added until 1937. 1936 also saw the completion of the stands surrounding all sides of the field. Compare this view to the 1945 photo at the bottom of the page. The long building seen at the center top of this view was a transformer building for electrical power (see below).  (period postcard)

The Zeppelinfeld during a parade in 1937. The U.S. Army blew up the large swastika on the top of the Zeppelintribüne in 1945. The columns on either side of the grandstand were removed in 1967 because they were thought to be deteriorating and considered dangerous.  (Bundesarchiv Koblenz)

An artillery crew demonstrates a 150mm howitzer on the Zeppelinfeld during Army Maneuvers Day in 1937. Hitler spoke from the platform at the center-front of the grandstand (covered with a swastika flag in the photo to the left).  (Bundesarchiv Koblenz)

Hitler at the speaker's platform, during an RAD (Reichs Arbeits Dienst - Labor Service) rally. An RAD man holds the Führer's personal standard. A taller iron railing has been added around the speaker's platform, replacing the original seen in the period photo. (Bilderdienst Süddeutscher Verlag)

The SA assembled on the Zeppelinfeld - a view from just behind the speaker's platform. The configuration of the steps has been changed since the Nazi period - originally there was a platform behind the dais with steps leading up on either side, but these steps and platform were removed in the 1980s and steps were added inside the speaker's dais - one of several post-1945 changes to the Zeppelintribüne. Compare this photo taken in 1945, which shows the original configuration. (Many visitors who stand here assume that they are standing on the spot where Hitler once stood, but they actually are not, due to the added steps - note that the metal railing is also different.)  (Bundesarchiv)

The Zeppelintribüne during its heyday in the late 1930s. The design was influenced by the Pergamon Altar, a classical Greek structure from ancient Turkey, on display in a Berlin museum. (left - 1938-dated postcard; right - Münchner Illustrierte Presse, 8 September 1938)

In 1967 the columns on either side were removed. Below, the Zeppelintribüne as it appears today. The upper parts of the end structures were removed in the mid-1970s.  (Ausstellung "Faszination und Gewalt")

View of the rear of the Zeppelintribüne. The removal of the side columns in 1967 radically changed this view. The staircases for the side wing doors in the back of the Tribüne were also removed.  (above - Fr. Prof. Gerdy Troost, "Das Bauen in neuen Reich," Bayreuth, 1938; below - Hubert Schrade, "Bauten des Dritten Reiches," Leipzig, 1937)

Thirty-four small buildings were grouped around the periphery of the Zeppelinfeld, dividing the seating areas. Each mounted six flag poles, but in reality, the buildings were actually toilet facilities.  (Werner Rittich, "Architektur und Bauplastik der Gegenwart," Berlin, 1938; below - 1938-dated postcard; bottom - courtesy Rob Berg)

The large columns at either end of the Zeppelintribüne mounted cauldrons which were lit during nighttime gatherings. These cauldrons have been preserved - one (shown above) is inside the Zeppelintribüne (but not accessible to the public, as the display inside is now closed). The other is now displayed at the rear of the Zeppelintribüne. It is painted in garish colors because it used to be located beside the swimming pool at the nearby Franken Stadium.  (National Archives RG 242-HB)

The ceilings inside the Zeppelintribüne feature intricate mosaics (the mosaic in the Golden Hall, on the left above, was somewhat restored in the 1960s or 70s). The mosaic on the right below had a golden swastika in the center, which was removed by the U.S. Army in 1945. But enough of the golden mosaic tiles remain that you can still pick out the swastika shape if you look closely.

Because the Zeppelintribüne was built hastily, of somewhat shoddy materials, it is deteriorating today. Wire guards protect visitors from pieces of masonry that come loose from the upper façade. The entire rear wall has been fenced off for the same reason. Above right - A section of the rear wall shows damage from the impact of a high explosive round, presumably fired in 1945 (see also similar damage to the Kongreßhalle). These views also show how the Zeppelintribüne, in common with many other Third Reich structures (such as the Kehlsteinhaus "Eagles Nest"), was not built of solid rock, but of stone blocks laid over a brick or concrete base (in this case, limestone laid over brick).

For nighttime rallies, Albert Speer designed a "Lichtdom," or Cathedral of Light around the Zeppelinfeld. The beams from 120-150 Army flak searchlights around the periphery of the field went thousands of feet into the night sky.  (period postcards; lower left - from Baldur von Schirach, "Das Reich Adolf Hitlers," Munich, Zentralverlag der NSDAP, 1940; bottom left - Bundesarchiv, right - courtesy Rob Berg)

The electricity needed to power the searchlights that surrounded the Zeppelinfeld was supplied from a transformer building (Umspannwerk) on Regensburgerstraße, behind the Zeppelintribüne. The original location of the eagle and swastika over the doorway can still be plainly seen.  (Bundesarchiv)  July 2006 Note - A Burger King restaurant has now opened inside the Umspannwerk building, which is jokingly called the "Reichs Burger King" by locals.

The original location of the eagle and swastika Hoheitszeichen shows clearly in the closer view.

On 22 April 1945 the 3rd U.S. Infantry Division ("Rock of the Marne") held a ceremony at the Zeppelinfeld to commemorate the capture of the Nazi city of Nürnberg (a similar ceremony had been held downtown at the Adolf-Hitler-Platz two days earlier, on Hitler's birthday, immediately following the fall of the city; see photo here). A large United States flag was raised to cover the swastika on top of the Tribüne (the swastika was blown up by explosives on 25 April, see below). During the ceremony, the Medal of Honor was awarded by 7th Army commander Lt.Gen. Alexander Patch to the following Marne-men: Lt.Col. Keith L. Ware (later killed in Vietnam as a Maj.Gen.), Lt. John J. Tominac, T/Sgt. Russell E. Dunham, S/Sgt. Lucian Adams, and PFC Wilburn K. Ross.  (Donald G. Taggart, "History of the Third Infantry Division in World War II," Washington, Infantry Journal Press, 1947)

The U.S. Army blew the swastika from the top of the Zeppelintribüne on 25 April 1945, shown in this sequence of Army Signal Corps photos (a similar motion picture also exists).  (National Archives Record Group 111-SC, #205199-205201)  (Watch the film on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEAo7JnDm_I - thanks to Willem Oosterhof for the link.)