Germania: Building Hitler's Mega City

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[@megaprojects9649]

Get Surfshark VPN at surfshark.deals/mega - Enter promo code MEGA for 83% off and 3 extra months for free!

[@top6ear]

That's a nice watch , what is it?

[@lawrenceallen8096]

QUESTION: Who returned slavery to Europe before Hitler and his NAZIs? ANSWER: The Soviet Union. More people died as property of the Soviet Union in slave camps in the Soviet Union than ever existed in the American Antebellum South. Yes, Americans ended slavery in 1863. But Europe had one more go of slavery in the 20th Century: behind the Soviet Iron Curtain and Hitler's NAZIs across Europe and elsewhere.

[@Jan12700]

VPNs are Scam

[@engineeringvision9507]

You make cheap insults about Hitler because you say you dislike evil leaders, so why are your videos about China all lavishing them with praise? China's President Xi has got death camps just like Hitler did. I look forward to your cheap jokes at the expense of Dictator Xi (Winnie the Pooh) and Dictator Jiang Zemin (Frog man) in your future megaprojects videos! It's amazing how brave people are in standing up to dead dictators, and how cowardly they are in the face of the ones that are still alive and in power. Also your Hitler insults still didn't save your video from demonetisation 😉

[@andrewphillips8341]

HEY SPARKY, now cover what the chinese have built.

[@daisukeds85]

Petition to have Shaq as the official unit of measurement for this channel forever more.

[@MimeHTF5]

And Jumbojets, Whales and Footballfealds

[@nickschulte3915]

Seconded

[@keithgoh123]

THIS PLEASE

[@brandonwest8108]

So centi-shaq, meli-shaq an what have you's???

[@chriscook3899]

That’s a Yea from me!😁

[@permafrost8322]

Seems like something I would plan to build in Minecraft and then never get around to

[@TheProtagonistDies]

😅

[@IRMacGuyver]

Several volkshalls exist in various minecraft servers

[@archlich4489]

Get on it! #minecraft

[@Jack-Hands]

@@IRMacGuyver of course they do. Leave a Minecraft Server running long enough and it will embrace Facism.

[@stanpines9011]

I built something like this but it wasn't really worth it, way too much empty space

[@Fuchswinter]

If you're ever in Berlin, there's "Berliner Unterwelten", a volunteer organization of history enthusiasts that offer tours of underground structures (bunkers, breweries, I believe even the underground street built for Germania). It's both interesting and haunting sometimes, and there's several different tours. Highly recommended

[@christasmith6004]

sounds great

[@infledermaus]

I found the chips out of the walls and pillars of many buildings In Berlin and other cities I visited from the fighting during WWII was both historical and sad at the same time. The Reichstag is covered with them as are the museums in Berlin on Museum Insel.

[@dougmassari6977]

It does sound great

[@TheKulu42]

Germania features in the alternative history novel "Fatherland" by Robert Harris. Berliners joke that the only way to avoid seeing the gigantic People's Hall dome is to be inside it.

[@centredoorplugsthornton4112]

The HBO movie adaptation briefly showed a computer created Berlin skyline that showed the big dome People's Hall. I think the tour guide called it the Albert Speer memorial.

[@jeffk464]

@@centredoorplugsthornton4112 Man in the High Castle, I thought it was just Hollywood creativity. I had no idea that it was based on historic plans.

[@Ozymandias1]

The French writer Guy de Maupassant hated the Eiffel Tower so much that every day he ate lunch at the restaurant at the base of the tower because it was the only place in central Paris where he could not see it.

[@TheKulu42]

@@Ozymandias1 I understand a lot of folks didn't like the tower when it was constructed. I didn't know that story about the French writer. Thanks!

[@gidi3250]

@@Ozymandias1 the guy who designed it also disliked it, he stated that it is now more famous then him and people would rather go see the effel tower than see him for any construction projects.

[@AFGuidesHD]

I think the Reich Chancellery is a testament to the quality of German craftmanship here, it survived quite well despite taking a pounding by bombs and battle. And it was all built under 12 months.

[@WristBench]

Very true. I have a conspiracy theory that it may have been hiding a vault that the soviets found and hid or destroyed.

[@dimadobrik4516]

Under 12 months??? For real?

[@AFGuidesHD]

@@dimadobrik4516 "Speer claimed in his autobiography that he had completed the task of clearing the site, designing, constructing, and furnishing the building in less than a year. In fact, preliminary planning and versions of the designs were already being worked on as early as 1935. To clear the space for the New Reich Chancellery, the buildings on the northern side of Voßstraße No. 2-10 had already been demolished in 1937." Yes, the NRC was by most people's standards all built in under 12 months. Of course the most ardent anti-Germans and contrarians that want to "prove" the Germans did nothing right and lied 100% of the time would try and dispute otherwise, as I have quoted one such statement above.

[@danieltobin4498]

Those big concrete Anti-Air towers in Berlin were also incredibly difficult to destroy as well. An impractical amount of TNT was needed to destroy even one

[@WristBench]

@@danieltobin4498 yeah they kept a few of them up

[@jasonhindle4054]

If you want to see a surviving example of Speer’s architecture, the New Documentation Museum, in Nuremberg, is worth a visit. It is based in what would have been the (pretty much completed) Nazi Party Congress Hall. I found the museum fascinating.

[@srice8959]

I’d like to see that if I ever make it back to Germany. I haven’t been in 40 years. I’m no Notzee, but I’ve been fascinated by Albert Spheer since I was a kid. Because my grandfather had too Beau Coup color picture from his time after the battle of the bulge, and the two years he was stationed after the fall of Berlin. Also my godfather/uncle was stationed there after his tour in Vietnam. He took a lot of pictures too. He even used his dad’s same camera that he used during his time there. So because of my grandfather and his son both used the same camera made it more interesting to me because it made it like the camera never left. I can’t remember the camera, but I knew it was really expensive one. My grandfather was friends with the photo editor at the times picayune newspaper. That’s the newspaper here in New Orleans and as my PawPaw said when I asked him how he could afford it as a Sargent and he’d tell me it fell off a truck. Was his favorite phrase to used for you know Edit I’ve always wanted to see the Flack Tower’s, and also the old gasworks building that was a bomb shelter. My godfather told me during the Cold War was both a scary and fascinating at the same time. He told me that standing watch at checkpoint Charlie, and I think also at Checkpoint Delta, but don’t hold me to that one. It’s been at least 20 years since I seen the pictures. I just remember it was at a bridge crossing

[@preussianblau5595]

National socialist*

[@theovlachotheo7814]

@@preussianblau5595 be silent. A nazi is a nazi. So shut up.

[@preussianblau5595]

@@theovlachotheo7814 enjoy your time in weimerica.

[@Mikeey1]

I really enjoyed Speer's book as well if you want to hear about WW2 from the viewpoint of someone who was high ranking on the German side but wasn't killed straight afterward the war. The most interesting thing with his city plans, in my opinion, is that they were built to look beautiful when they'd naturally decayed. The same way you look through roman ruins now and think they look beautiful, whereas if you look as a old housing block falling down it just looks awful. As such the whole thing was designed to still look good after all of the cladding was gone, the roof fallen in, the pillars split in half etc. There were also no metal grates for the concrete or any reinforcement for it either because if that was exposed whilst it was decaying it wouldn't look good. There were some really interesting concepts behind it all and some, like the idea of building something to still look good whilst decaying, that could and maybe should be implemented in a lot of stuff we do these days. It's just a shame that the Nazi's were such cunts

[@robwallace266]

Robert Harris describes the city really well in his novel “Fatherland”. Well worth a read. Great video

[@geraldbatts575]

"The Man in the High Castle" series has a lot of this. Definitely a must watch for any alternate history buff.

[@koboldengineering7687]

That show was awful lmao

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:30 - Chapter 1 - The city & the sick man 5:05 - Chapter 2 - The tyrant & the architect 8:25 - Mid roll ads 9:45 - Chapter 3 - The world capital 14:20 - Chapter 4 - What traces remain 18:45 - Chapter 5 - The end of the dream

[@carolinsohner9255]

thank you

[@unoriginal_username1]

Honestly I’m not nazi fan but I do wish more city’s had actually been designing not just for living but for culture and remembering the past. As Simon said Paris was completely designed and it’s one of the most beautiful city’s on earth. Pre war London was a testimony to its unique history and culture. It’s a shame we’re all concrete and glass now. No sense of place or belonging

[@shadowfox009x]

But to design a city the way Paris was, you have to destroy the past. All of the medieval parts of Paris were torn down and destroyed to make way for the wide avenues and buildings that we see today. Much was lost. What you so admire about Paris was the 19ths century version of concrete and glass. It was widely criticized by the people and I'm pretty certain many of the people who lived in the areas that were torn down, were unhappy about losing their homes and having to relocate. The plans for Germania were ugly. Berlin today is a modgepodge of different styles and time periods. You can also see the rebuilding after the war, but that has its own charm. And that's history. Not a planned city that is totally uniform without history or personality.

[@unoriginal_username1]

@@shadowfox009x I don’t deny that . My point was and remains that the city of Paris was built with a intended goal. It was a show to the world of the culture and capabilities of the “superior” french culture. You can say it was destructive but you can’t compare it to todays glass and concrete. My city of London is glass towers and soulless building that won’t last 100 years. Not one building today will be seen on the same level as Westminster abbey, Windsor castle, the treasury building, the museums of London. They may be different styles but they were built to uplift the public with Beauty, designed to last and be more then just a space for work. If you genuinely take an interest in this topic I’d suggest reading or listening to Rodger scruton on the necessity of humans to be surrounded by beauty. And as for Berlin , Berlin is a ugly city , I’ve been multiple times it’s just concrete grey and soulless, their our tons of beautiful places in Germany . Berlin isn’t one of them.

[@shadowfox009x]

@@unoriginal_username1 I grew up in West-Berlin so I might be biased, but there are areas that are rather pretty. They are just not areas most tourists or travelers will ever go to unless they are visiting friends/family and get dragged there. We lived in Schmargendorf/Dahlem which has some really pretty areas. Same with Pfaueninsel or Glienecke. Or even Charlottenburg. But overall Berlin is a Prussian city and it shows. Plus the ugly buildings the Nazis have left behind. I'm now living near Freiburg which has a completely different vibe, even with the obvious and ugly buildings of the 50s and 60s to fill the holes the war had left behind. I have to admit that I think Paris is ugly. Sure, some corners are pretty to look at, especially the area around Montmartre. But it all looks the same and somehow lacks personality. On the other hand, I love London and some of the modern buildings. Especially the Gherkin. It's just so fun and unusual in shape. A bit tongue in cheek even. And very eccentric. Making it very British ;-). But I do agree. Most of those buildings won't last. But they are not meant to last. They are utilitarian (office buildings or flats) while a cathedral is a monument to god and a palace is supposed to showcase the power of a ruling monarch. I wonder what kind of palace a king like Charles III would build for himself.

[@unoriginal_username1]

@@shadowfox009x you make some very interesting points and valid I haven’t traveled around a lot of Berlin but all I’d say is there is a huge gap between what architectures want and what the “average” Brit wants. Every time we’re asked we want traditional architecture ideally with a small garden. And it’s possible given the now ruling monarch built a huge town completely tradition and functional. I’m at work but will give a proper response later

[@SergeTheGod]

I suggest you to visit government quarter in Rome. It is astonishing, but you have no idea how inconvenient such designs are.

[@happilyham6769]

That dome would have been absolutely insane.

[@jonathanperry8331]

I didn't have time to watch the video so I will finish it later but the dome would have been so large that it would have created its own weather. It would have gotten so humid that the breath of the crowd would create a cloud of spit at the top and rain. It's kind of funny to imagine a bunch of Nazi spitting on themselves.

[@yodaddy4944]

@@jonathanperry8331 oh I’m sure extractor fans would have taken care of it

[@garrett_s7324]

I think you said, Simon, the diameter of the dome would have been 230 meters. The diameter of the Astrodome, built only 20 years after Germany fell, is 220 meters and rests on a swamp, so the German vision may have been possible.

[@jeffk464]

Makes you wonder if its even possible to build that dome even with today's engineering.

[@brodriguez11000]

@@garrett_s7324 Materials more than anything.

[@YungPalmtree15]

How many damn channels does Simon have 😭😭 respect the grind

[@that1nerdyblackgirl736]

Man looked at nebula and said fuck that. More channels + more subscribers = more sponsors

[@jayeng1150]

Simon is a babe! The more the merrier.

[@ColonelPeppers]

Simon's beard is getting longer and longer, I fully expect his beard to reach the ground by the time he hits five million subscribers.

[@needler117]

His beard is grown with the power of subs.

[@johnned4848]

In the new Reich Chancellory there was a massive reception hall leading to Hitler’s office made of polished marble. When Speer pointed out that visiting dignitaries would have trouble walking without sliding all over the place , Hitler laughed and said, that's exactly right. Diplomats should be good at walking on slippery surfaces.

[@this_is_who_we_are]

It has been said, that from the entrance of the Neue Reichskanzlei to Hitlers office one had to walk over one kilometer.

[@Meldonator]

one must say that Albert Speer was quite an impressive architect who knew about symbolism (the magnificient Hitler office and the hallway leading to it was meant to impress the visitors not be practical) and his concept of "ruin value" was interesting.

[@Siegfried5846]

I hold no thoughts about the third Reich whatsoever, good or bad, since it was so long ago, so I speak with no bias when I say that Speer was not a great architect. His buildings are too pointy. There is nothing human in them. They look a lot like communist architecture.

[@thirdcoastfirebird]

I disagree with Hitler's ideology, but to think of what it would have taken to make this is mind numbing.

[@donkeydik2602]

You don’t say

[@thirdcoastfirebird]

@@donkeydik2602 Well yes. Thinking about the construction of the Pyramids, the Parthenon, and Nero's palace are also mind numbing.

[@matsv201]

We are building large things today. Often with out people knowing it, and sometimes even totally invisible. Those things are built with high budget but also often with very little knowledge of the average person. A few example. The highest freestanding building in the world in the 90 tys, and also highest moving object ever, was a structure in Norway called Troll A. 472 meters high. Compare that to 319 meter, and that is the top of the spire. If you never heard of it, its becasue most of it is under the sea of Norwegian coast. The platform is still around, but it have been converted to an energy hub. Its actually even larger now (and Yes, troll B and C also exist, but they are less impressive) My second example is the LHC in Switzerland and France. Its a 26.6km Circumference mm accurate toroidal tunnel under rural areas of Switzerland and France, just outside of Geneva. That is not the impressive part. The whole tunnel is an electromagnet. All of it. Its 175 deep on average, so its totally invisible from the surface. And my last example here is similar

[@thirdcoastfirebird]

@@matsv201 This does not surprise me. It is just sad that what is on the news is who said then next 'bad thing'. Instead of this stuff.

[@matsv201]

@@thirdcoastfirebird Yea.. most TV try to make it sound like the west is in a downwards slump. But we are effectively richer than we ever was before... well... we was 2019. We are currently in a slump, but it will not last for ever. It probobly won´t even last that long.

[@christopherwilson7092]

Forget the person who was behind the idea and leave politics out of it , I have to say the plans for the city were impressive

[@shitslayer8a]

He planned an oversized square which was just a bit too big... So big it takes too long to get from A to B . Not very impressive.

[@douglasjohnson4382]

If you "forget the person who was behind the idea and leave politics out of it" then you have nothing.

[@shonenjumpmagneto]

Agreed

[@shonenjumpmagneto]

@@shitslayer8a nah, it was all possible.

[@shonenjumpmagneto]

@@douglasjohnson4382 haha in a way maybe he should've just said the second part lol

[@DensityDennis]

If there's one thing I got to give to Hitler it would be that I truly grief the fact that there's not anyone in the world right now who wants to make cities in that classical way. I'm often in awe when I look at ancient cities and the way they looked. I feel like we are staying off path when it comes to true beauty in architecture.

[@user-jh1ck9bx2v]

Fun fact. In my Swedish home town of Oskarshamn, a town so small that the majority of Swedes do not know about it, there are a lot och cut out stones shaped as cubes. The stones where ordered by the Nazi regime from a quarry, just outside of Oskarshamn. They where ordered to be used for the construction of Germania. These stones where however never delivered to the Germans because of the fall of the Nazi regime. In the aftermath the people in Oskarshamn didn't know what to do with the stones so now you can find the in a lot of places in the city. There is even a roundabout with art made with the stones in the center. Locally we call them, the Hitler-Stones

[@MrBell-iq3sm]

As crazy as all of this is there is something mystical, magical about the idea of such a massive city. Like a capital from a fantasy novel. All of this of course if the city functioned properly. If the (artificial) size significantly hinders a cities performance then it shouldn't be.

[@dianapennepacker6854]

Agreed. Sort of wish instead of killing so many. They instead used prisoners to build the monolithic structures. Obviously I'd want them to just be treated like, ya know, human of course. Just saying in some alternate history. We seem to be unable to do that as a civilization now. Seems like only real messed up countries ever even aspire to create things awe inspiring of such majestic shape or scale. Structures have to make profit, or be as cheap as possible... Even our great works of infrastructure have no flair really. I want to see knight statues battling hydra around the white house.. I want to see massive marble buildings in shape of mythical creatures. Why a massive 200 foot phoenix rising from the earth is dedicated to science? It doesn't matter. Science built it, and it looks majestic, and awe inspiring. That is good enough!

[@katesperinck1401]

@@dianapennepacker6854 Did you miss the part of the video that genocide, and the building of monolithic structures were not independent goals? Yeah no shit we don't do stuff like that now because humanity for the most part values human life and resources more than they did thousands of years ago.

[@dianapennepacker6854]

@@katesperinck1401 Wait what? You act like using labor like that is the only way to build a monolith. Even today... With all of our technology, and know how. Did you think I meant to go round up slaves, and prisoners, and work them to death? By hand? I can't even.

[@katesperinck1401]

@@dianapennepacker6854 It's all about the money fam. Monarchies and conquerors were able to build whatever they liked because they didn't have to care and used what they took from others. Just travel to Dubai, enjoy your egocentric megastructures and ask the people that built the things and live there how much they like them.

[@stefanocanonica519]

This city would have been a sight to see at least once in a lifetime, I love this kind of dystopia architecture

[@Icetea-2000]

If that’s dystopia architecture then nothing is utopian architecture by that logic. If you want a similar looking feeling of grandeur look at the entrance of the great mosque of Mecca. That just looks amazing no matter if you’re a muslim or not. You would be in awe from this architectural marvel. The context of who build this does not affect the way architecture should look. It doesn’t change what bricks were used, where they were placed, how high the ceilings are and what color schemes were used. Architecture is architecture, and you should judge it on its own merit. And I think that’s about the most beautiful and awe-inspiring architectural planning for a city I’ve ever seen. I would say the same if it was built by the soviets or Americans

[@rodneystanger1651]

@@GrugSmesh He doesn't realize he's living in a dystopia, anon.

[@stanpines9011]

I don't think the architecture is particularly dystopian, except for maybe its imposing size

[@HikuroMishiro]

Hitler tends to get a bad rap, but the man single handedly penetrated a secret nazi bunker and assassinated the leader of the Third Reich, ending Germany's war against Europe.

[@trolleriffic]

People give the guy a hard time, but I didn't see anyone else stepping up to perform such a dangerous mission.

[@akaroth7542]

Lool

[@leightonmoreland]

you had me in the first half there...

[@futeramonfuturamet4830]

What with the Holocaust and that.

[@AFGuidesHD]

*ending the Anglo-American war against Europe.

[@stephenreardon2698]

Reminds me of what Nicolae Ceausescu did to Bucharest some 40 years or so later.

[@centredoorplugsthornton4112]

Ceaucescu got help from an earthquake in 1977. Or at least the idea.

[@pyromania1018]

And that palace is slowly sinking.

[@kempmt1]

I watched a program on the History Channel that said it was known as “The World Capital”. The modeling of the city is impressive!

[@aleisterdenven]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3i8loihrZmAo9E

[@legendaryhunter1672]

Germania, aka the Nazi's goal of making their own Roman style capital city Both the Wolfenstein games and The Man in the High Castle show depict what that city would actually look like if it was ever built

[@KelgorothTheFinalShape]

The TNO mod for hoi4 also makes reference with Berlin being renamed to Germania and the volkshalle being on the map

[@toocoolforu]

And it would have been magnificent

[@vrannihilator4379]

@@KelgorothTheFinalShape BIG BUILDING IN NEU BERLIN?

[@michelvan97]

You Forgot the OHTER Hitler building programs: Munich same change as Berlin with railway station in size of Völkshalle ! Hamburg with Greatest Bridge and Skyscraper Linz pave with gigantic museum around Hitlers mausoleum. (his sarcophagus five times bigger as Napoleons) Nurnberg gigantic Völkshalle and Olympic stadium...

[@elliotsmith9812]

I found the Test Mass on day. It is indeed impressive. I have heard that the submarine bunkers in the North Sea also cannot be destroyed. Likewise the great "Flak Towers" mostly remain. The city is interesting in it's only topography comes from debris piles. You could do an entire episode (or maybe the History Guy could do it) on pneumatic delivery systems. Berlin's was first class. Weird lost tech.

[@UndeadScavenger]

There's actually several German cities with notable topography stemming from war rubble, Cologne being another example

[@loonie555]

Flak Towers was too hard to tear down so most build do still stand today. In Vienna they made sea life museum of one

[@Kirovets7011]

There are no submarine bunkers IN the North Sea. They are at the west coast of France. You can find them in Saint Nazaire, Bordeaux, Brest, La Rochelle, and Lorient.

[@Kirovets7011]

@@loonie555 Two of the Three Flak Towers in Berlin, have been destroyed after the war. The Biggest was the Zoo-Tower, wich was blown to pieces by the British Army, as well as another one. The third tower, at Humbold Hain, is for about 60 percent intact, because the French troops didn't succeed to demolish it. Today, a park is around this half demolished tower. Under the guidance of a guide, you can visit the Humboldt Hain Tower.

[@elliotsmith9812]

@@Kirovets7011 Wikipedia lists 7 in Germany, and there looks to be some remains at least.

[@warsmithmia]

You got to respect the balls on Albert Speer's father (also an architect) who, when seeing the model of the city his son was designing, simply commented: "You've all gone completely mad!"

[@vladilenkalatschev4915]

Not only Albert Speer played an important role in the Germania project. There was one more very important architect Ernst Sagebiel, who created the fantastic Tempelhof airport and the building of the Ministry of Aviation. Both buildings are still intact.

[@Waldemarvonanhalt]

Ngl, I'd be very interested in seeing a contemporary megacity built exclusively in a neo-classical style.

[@WalterVermeir]

In a much lower scale things like this keep happening. Railroad companies building bombastic stations by international renowned architects. But driving old stock trains. Or a fancy designed courthouse that after being grossly over budget needed to be put in a sale and lease back structure to finance it.

[@TheLiamster]

While Hitler was and always will be a truly evil monster, his visions for the city are fascinating and the buildings would have been architectural marvels if they had been built.

[@flyingaviator8158]

As evil monsters tend to they are shapping our architecture. Look at what Julius Cesar, Nero and napoleon did for example-

[@toocoolforu]

If you think Hitler was a monster. You’re in the wrong side of history in the scale of both number of death and genocides.

[@hue_lennoy6166]

Hf

[@ricardocantoral7672]

One should credit Albert Speer. I think his work is good but I wouldn't have wanted an entire city based on his work.

[@merafirewing6591]

​@@ricardocantoral7672 but you got admit, that is one heck of a city.

[@chadwahl9085]

In the series The Man in the High Tower, they gave a great interpretation of germania .

[@manoz6194]

I don't think having your enemies represent you is a good idea. WW2 is a lie, "The Man in the High Tower" is a show based up on an alternate future based upon lies. The truth is far more interesting if you dare to find it out.

[@arandommemer9926]

Yeah, Man in the High Tower does a really great job of depicting certain alternate events, especially Japanese America, shame about the quality of the show

[@bthsr7113]

There was also Wolfenstein the New Order

[@VodouSpartan]

@@arandommemer9926the quality of the show? What was wrong with it

[@Dene181]

"The Man in the High Castle" reference, a man of culture. The big dome would be so cool to have. Great video! 👌

[@npnth9220]

I wish Germania was real.

[@andrewdurand339]

Germania reminds me of that Shrek scene where Shrek and Donkey see Lord Farquaad's super giant castle and Shrek asks "do you think he's compensating for something?"

[@florians9949]

I love how you descrive the dome as “Saint-Paul but more fascist.”

[@anneeq008]

*Fascist

[@pedropedrohan102]

time stamp?

[@joshuakuehn]

Ah, so it was better then

[@florians9949]

@@pedropedrohan102 11:41

[@jonaseggen2230]

I was thinking those buildings would look cool if decorated by Versace. Fun for toga parties to

[@yodaddy4944]

150+ billion doesn’t actually seem too unreasonable to be honest considering the scale, not gonna lie it would be cool to see if it was built

[@nolmanimates3031]

I agree! If i ever go to Germany i hope to see the road and that cylinder thing to atleast see whats left!

[@Wolf-zs9vc]

Check out the "Tempelhofer Flughafen", its pretty close to what Germania would have looked like and it was actually built, just before the Nazis came to power. It had the same aesthetics though

[@beagleissleeping5359]

I laughed when you mentioned Putin's giant table. When I saw a picture of it I immediately thought of that scene from Batman. How's the soup? What? I SAID HOW'S THE SOUP? 🤣

[@jamesmccune2681]

Is that a tailored jacket? All those channels paying off nicely! Never looked more British.

[@toocoolforu]

Are we also talking about his golden Rolex?

[@iangodfrey4518]

Also, the beard just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

[@brydon5721]

Made my first trip to Berlin just last month and it really is a remarkable city, definitely somewhere I will be returning to.

[@reclawyxhush]

Fascinating... There was however notable counterpart of Volkshalle in soviet Moscow -- Palace of the Soviets, miasma of different ideology but the same spirit. Maybe you/your writers would find it worth a separate episode in your fantastic series and take a closer look at this piece of monumental insanity. I really love the way how you sum up the most gruesome endeavours of humanity. And also those most bizzare, ridiculous and, on the other hand those that let us retain some faint hope that not everything is stained with the human propensity to self-destruct. EDIT, somehow combing through this channel I missed your video featuring that soviet project, well done :)

[@B3L13V3R]

The ending commentary was spot on, Simon.

[@toocoolforu]

No, just winners’ propaganda. Don’t worry, you’d be the first admirer of the Reich if only they won the war, sheeple.

[@B3L13V3R]

@@toocoolforu No, just winners because evil eventually loses it wars against the greater good. Always has, always will as there will likely always be evil. Of course, evil is likely subjective to a troll.

[@brydro1505]

@@B3L13V3R world history is just like my marvel movies!!

[@lukasbeck4421]

Coincidental fact: Albert Speer's son Albert Speer Jr. despised his father, but he also became an architect (just more internationally operating) He was one of my father's professors at university

[@juzoli]

That city model looks like a regular city, they just used the wrong units, and everything is 2x bigger.

[@TheTrickster923]

Albert Speer: I call it "the theory of ruin value." All of my grand monuments will be built so they will crumble gracefully, in order to transmit to posterity the power and grandeur of the regime. Allied bomber pilots: Allow us to introduce ourselves.

[@calendarpage]

Interesting detail. I watch a lot of WWII videos and am familiar with Speer's work on the city plans with Hitler. However, the documentaries are always very broad in their description of the proposed city and don't go into details about how it would be built. They also tend to focus more on the relationship between Speer and Hitler (tho I imagine much of their info is taken from Speer's book, 'Inside the Third Reich'). I had no idea that so many residences were demolished for it, even in those early stages. And not planning for traffic or pedestrian issues seems odd. Glad I decided to watch this one.

[@duncanharrell5009]

Would you consider doing an episode on the Palace of the Soviets or rebuilding the Savior Cathedral?

[@sandybarnes887]

He did the Palace of the Soviets a year ago

[@aquila4228]

It was actually an impressive design, I would like to see it built. But at the same time VERY glad it never did

[@raijingaming9608]

Ya

[@dieterpetrr7331]

Speers grandson still owns one of the biggest architect firms in Europe. They build whole cities in China, and develop a lot in Germany. Still bearing the Speer name.

[@seanbrazell7095]

Yeah. He really aced his postwar Nuremberg trial performance, sadly. That said, he was quixoticaly responsible for rebuilding much of what he had such a criminal hand in destroying. That fact doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that he profited from it.

[@dieterpetrr7331]

@@seanbrazell7095 yeah and his family is getting stupid rich of his name. Also own a lot of real estate. The money should go somewhere else

[@rare6499]

@@dieterpetrr7331 why? His family didn’t commit a crime. Would you prefer if they changed their name?

[@dimadobrik4516]

@@dieterpetrr7331 guilt tripping much?

[@brydro1505]

@@dieterpetrr7331 are you jewish by any chance?

[@thedarkonestaint6105]

Man in the high castle was so good

[@MrTexasDan]

I agree, fantastic. But, I'm a few into Season 3 and I still don't know what it's about.

[@atomsofstardust]

Absolutely fantastic video! Thank you a lot!

[@williamzk9083]

Hitler may have been a rejected as a portrait artist but he did gain admission to study architecture. The giant Dome makes a lot of sense. Hitler knew that such things as the Eiffel Tower, Acropolis, Stature of Liberty, Sydney Barbour Bridge, opera house etc could give a people a sense of identity. Also it was normal for the cathedral of a medieval city to accept the entire population. It made sense at some levels.

[@JoshSweetvale]

Ah yes, the Volkshalle. Where spittle and sweat would make clouds and drippy rain, like in the Hagia Sophia but far worse. I already know this one. Including the one where 'Speer' (Spear) is a hell of a name for a fake-masculine dictator's best friend.

[@videorowtv5198]

You're saying 150 billion dollars is crazy and saying he was a lunatic, while Saudi Arabia has planned 2 500 billion dollar projects... If he succeeded it would not be all that crazy

[@robertb7918]

When I visited Berlin decades ago I walked through the city towards the Brandenburg Gate and when I got to the broad part lined with trees I assumed it must have been laid out before the war because it was clearly not modern and thought it looked really pretty... It came as a shock when I found out that it is the only part of Germania that was built. It just goes to show how deceptively attractive Nazism can be.

[@williamzk9083]

Nazi art and architecture has both power, inspiring, positively and seductive. It simply gets banned and hidden because of its political associations. David Bowie at one point was fascinated by it and experimented. Not politically just with the form. Modern art really is hideously sterile.

[@AlexDahlseid2002]

Germania is mentioned in “Fatherland” and “Man in the High Castle” which was adapted as Amazon tv series.

[@pdmacguire]

The recent high tech reconstruction of the Berlin Stadt Schloss is likely worth a show all on its own.

[@RIlianP]

As per some calculation if the new Reichstag in Germania was full, the combined moisture from the breath of all the people wood have condensed inside and created clouds and indoor rain, so the building would have spat back at you.

[@brodriguez11000]

Never upset a building.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Very forward thinking, just consider all the energy that saves on showers.

[@Fortunes.Fool.]

“Austrian artist” is such an amusing way to refer to someone like Hitler.

[@pyromania1018]

Austrian *failed* artist would be more appropriate.

[@dudoklasovity2093]

I really like the Nazi architecture, sort of megalomaniac neo-classical Roman style with tall ribbed columns white marble and perfect human physique statues, very impressive! 👍

[@bobdickens3674]

It essentially is just Fascist Ultra-Neoclassicism

[@henkschrader4513]

Indeed and Germania will soon rise in the Führers name

[@Atreid3s]

I love when Simon refers to the most influential man of the last 150 years as a "petty tyrant" lmao

[@yodaddy4944]

Right? Even pure evil demands the respect to be taken seriously enough so that his atrocities aren’t made light of. If we downplay the man we simultaneously downplay his actions.

[@PronatorTendon]

He is _petty_ Hitler was incapable of handling the position he himself created. He was too fragile and narcissistic to have anything more than temporary success. Look at how much he aged in the last three years of WWII

[@davidh5903]

And "because Germany was run by a lunatic..." keeps reinforcing the message that he wasn't a man like any of us. Like a fluke of history that can't happen again.

[@wildancrazy159]

@@PronatorTendon and don't forget drug addled , daily injections of uppers and male testosterone. A light bulb gets a little brighter just before it pops...

[@wildancrazy159]

@@PronatorTendon and don't forget drug addled , daily injections of uppers and male testosterone. A light bulb gets a little brighter just before it pops...

[@robbieschertz3726]

6:00 I went to Zeppelinfield last year on a trip through Germany. It’s across the lake from the Nazi documentation center and Kongresshalle. I’ve never been anywhere in my life that felt evil, but there… you can sense what happened there 80 years ago. It lingers like a blight upon the conscience of those who live near it.

[@Iratis_]

The amount of channels this man runs is too damn high

[@crownprincesebastianjohano7069]

Something should have been said about Speer's reactions to the plans after he was released from Spandau. He remarked that the whole building aesthetic was flawed. They were buildings all out of proportion to the humans that were supposed to live and work in them. A facade devoid of humanity. Yeah, it only took him 25 years to realize it.

[@williamzk9083]

Speer was suffering from Stockholm syndrome when he was released. He'd say anything to stay out of jail and he knew it.

[@ronaldhorton2438]

I really appreciate your work. Thank you for this video.

[@joaocalhandro]

12:16 "...in metric or imperial, it would be insane!" Everything is insane in imperial, I know that. lol

[@hagbard72]

One hundred and sixty billion? That's a small gift to Ukraine from the US. I'm actually impressed it would have been that cheap.

[@Gihad97]

It would have been a cool project though. A shame that so many homes were demolished for no reason in the end. In general, a huge construction project is always interesting to me. I always support construction and infrastructure. But this was a little too crazy.

[@nowy5]

Albert Speer to Fuhrer: Is it not this dome will be an easy target for a bombers? Fuhrer to Albert Speer: Nope, Göring assured me that none enemy bomber will come closer to III Reich. Churchill: Hahaha!

[@Castragroup]

Germany laughs in britain bankruptcy

[@willmfrank]

Churchill: "Hold my room-temperature pale ale."

[@lesjones6745]

One other building designed by Speer still exists, although no one can see it, because it is buried underneath the massive mound of rubble that was the ruined Berlin. That mound is now Teufelsberg, on which the US/British spy station which was operational from the early 1960s until the early 1990s was constructed. The Allies tried to destroy Speer's building but it was so sturdily constructed that burying it was the only other option.

[@kl0wnkiller912]

While stationed in Germany in the 1980s I took a trip to Nurnburg. I stood right where Hitler stood when he gave his speech at the parade ground at Nurnburg... eerie.

[@Sandouras]

It's Volkshalle (Folks-hal-e), not Vauxhall.

[@ZacVaper]

"Adolf Speer"....Don't you mean Albert Speer???

[@cameronmadden8723]

Yeah..the editor caught it first

[@TampaBossLady]

Nailed that nerd 🤓

[@COYOTE_N8]

Duh, you seen the picture

[@chesspiece81]

I was making the bed after having stripped it, I heard that and thought I better check the comments because I thought it was Albert not Adolf.

[@hidesbehindpseudonym1920]

In Simon's words "he doesn't care"

[@antonboludo8886]

Incredibly, all of this was actually feasible.

[@Torgo1001]

The Soviet Union also had lots of abandoned mega projects that never made it past the drawing board. For example, see The Palace of the Soviets., which bears a resemblance to Sauron's fortress of Barad-dûr.

[@theidioticbgilson1466]

dictators think alike

[@michaelhowell2326]

Pre-war Berlin sounds like another place I've heard of. I just can't remember where.

[@willsmithens5529]

Berlin back then had the nickname in Europe of 'Athens of the North', so perhaps you're thinking of Athens.

[@asgeirbergmann]

"right up to the moment the did then decent thing and shot him self" cracked me up so bad. Probably the best thing he ever did

[@Henninger420]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HH

[@engineeringvision9507]

It's always suspicious when people are overly keen to reassure you that they dislike Hitler by making out of place negative statements about him. It's almost as if Simon's writer is more interested in keeping his video monetised than giving a factual account.

[@Parc_Ferme]

Not even this, the coward made right. His properly end would be if he had made a toy when fallen into soviets hands.

[@engineeringvision9507]

@@Parc_Ferme That makes no sense

[@atinofspam3433]

arguably hitler shooting himself was a bad thing. While I am more than glad that he died, if he lived he could’ve actually been held accountable for his actions during the Nuremberg trials. He definitely would have been executed for his crimes, we could’ve at least seen him fail miserably at trying to defend his actions.

[@Marta-ir8kc]

Would you consider doing an episode about city Zamość? Founded in 1580 by Zamoysky and build for him by Morando example of Italian concept of the "IDEAL CITY", called Padua of the North or the Pearl of the Renaissance with oldest pharmacy in Poland operating continuously since 1609 till now.

[@jeepershangouts2043]

Dome of the US Congress has its own weather. Domes in Rome have their own weather. It happens.

[@coimbralaw]

You must be joking.

[@superchug2469]

You actually see this building in wolfenstein new order game. It's a nice detail the game did.

[@nestortomaselli6372]

“When Hitler did the decent thing and shot himself” Damn, Simon went full savage on that one

[@shawnnewell4541]

Thank you Simon and crew for this very informative post. I had never heard about Germania.

[@craigandahalf]

I built a pillar, then it sank into the marsh. So I built another pillar, and that sank into the marsh. And yet another, but that too sank into the marsh. But the fourth, that stood atop all the other pillars and stands to this very day.

[@TopFix]

Simon could make himself a wig with that beard

[@Hellmood_CZ]

mom can we have Vsauce? No, we have Vsauce at home Vsauce at home :

[@jacobzimmermann59]

There is a lot to admire in the German people but their reputation for efficiency seems to be more of a myth rather than something rooted in any reality. From personal experience the Frankfurt Airport could rival LAX or CDG in terms of overall chaos. And speaking of airports, how about the new Berlin one - ten years behind schedule and THREE TIMES over budget? The German response to COVID wasn't much better - each Land going its own way with no coordinated planning at the central level, yet alone with the rest of Europe. Napoleon himself famously said that the Germans would make excellent soldiers if only they had the slightest sense of military discipline. And I've got it from the mouth of a Berliner that today, a vast part of the city's population doesn't bother working and simply lives off social welfare. I really like Germany, I've been there many times and always enjoyed it. Germany gave the world some of its greatest philosophers, writers, composers and of course engineers. The Germans I've met with personally have all been very nice, hospitable, generous and open minded people. But efficient they aren't.

[@usonumabeach300]

I lived in West Berlin while my parents were stationed at Templehof in the mid 80s

[@BaddBadger]

I went to school in Gütersloh while my father was stationed there in the early 80's. I never made it to Berlin to look around. Wish i had. I would have loved to have stayed there when techno took off about a decade later!

[@mergendy]

greetings from just round the corner from Tempelhof Airport 🙂it's a great place to relax / walk in these days, a pair of green lungs in the middle of the city

[@luism5514]

Sorry but this mega project is actually pretty beautiful.

[@AFGuidesHD]

It's pretty pathetic when they can't admit as much, if this city was proposed by some artsy liberal democrat then he'd be saying how beautiful it is etc. but no, bad man designed it so its bad, depressing etc. etc.

[@luism5514]

@@AFGuidesHD yup. The entire video was just him constantly saying how bad he was, as if we didn’t already hear about this, instead of focusing on the topic at hand, architecture.

[@AFGuidesHD]

@@luism5514 just grinds my gears the tone these people always deliver the video in. Like duh, of course people would marvel at these structures, we marvel at structures that exist that are much smaller than what was proposed here lol

[@mergendy]

I live within walking distance of the Schwerbelastungskorper (it's really not that hard to say, poor old Deutsch getting a bad rap again!)...being inside it is a bit freaky to see the least...I'm by no means some kind of new age type, but there's certainly a weird kind of energy about the place, considering the reason it was built and who built it... it's also very noticeable how close it is to neighbouring houses (this is the main reason it won't be knocked down, because it can't be without almost certainly damaging some of them)...but in any case the authoritites are of course committed to making sure the madness of the Nazi years is never fogotten, so having it standing as a testament to the folly is probably more apt than getting rid anyway... the existing nearby railway lines allow you to at least sort of conceive of what the area would have looked like with the massive avenue stretching northward, and to be eternally grateful while doing so that such never came to pass!

[@colderbeer]

Even after the Nazis and Hitler were defeated, it would have been so cool if this new city had been built.

[@Augustus_Imperator]

This video makes me sad because so much could have been/can be achieved if people would spend their time building instead of destroying, fighting and hating each other.

[@ImrahilToChaos]

Ehhh. These buildings were funded by the mass suffering of millions, so I’m not sure about that one. This stuff doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

[@pac1fic055]

Well, we will always have DC as the closest thing.

[@johnpluta1768]

Albert Speer was a professional architect and the models of Germania have survived and are located in Berlin at the Archives

[@lexie6238]

me, an American: tonnes? what is that? "86k shaqs" me: ohhhh shit that's heavy

[@Kirovets7011]

Sorry, but there is an error in this video, Simon. Hitlers architect was not Adolf Speer, but Albert Speer.

[@AnjaKestrel]

Update: Berlin and its infrastructure continues to suck to this very day.

[@david5uper529]

During surf shark ad read "there's all sorts of weirdo's out there on the internet" way to alienate all your subscribers! lol

[@11Mikuiztli]

Would of been a spectacular sight if it ever got built.