The Nuremberg Rallies

The Nuremberg Rallies

1. Were mass assembles of Nazi supporters.

2. Usually took place in September to coincide with the Annual Nazi Party Congress

3. Origins

   • First NR took place in Jan and Aug 1923 -- Attracted 20'000
   • From '26, they became a yearly Nazi Custom known as Party Days
   • Used very effectively to Spread Nazi propaganda
   • Hitler would deliver up to 20 speeches and attend army manoeuvres
   • Week-long festival
   • Peak Years 1933-38 - about half a million people participated each year

4. Speeches & Themes

   • Each Rally had a theme
   • 1934 - Celebrated Hitler's rise to power
     • Subject of the film 'Triumph of the Will' by Leni Riefenstahl
       • One of the most powerful propaganda film's every made
         • Made use of the cheering crowds, precision marching, military bands and Hitler's closing speech to glorify Hitler and the Nazi Regime
   • 1935 - Nuremberg Laws were announced
   • 1936 - Evils of Communism and Germany's need for economic self sufficiency
   • 1938 - Celebrate Germany's union with Austria (Anschluss)
   • 1939 - Rally Cancelled - Outbreak of WWII - theme was 'Peace'

5. Eye-Witness Accounts

   • Hitler welcomed foreign visitors, journalists and diplomats
   • Believed their reports would act as a source of propaganda and demonstrate the strength and determination of the Nazi state
   • 'I looked at the faces around me and saw tears streaming down people's cheeks'

6. Great Auditorium

   • Albert Speer
   • Congress hall seating 60'000 and a stadium for 405'000 was planned
   • Built to reflect the grandeur of the 'Third Reich'
   • Were to be built from marble and granite
   • Cornerstone was laid, 1937 Rally
   • Was to be a future memorial to Nazi Achievement
   • During the war, work bean to slow down, 1942 construction cranes were transferred to Auschwitz
   • It was unfinished and remained years after the war as a reminder of the excess of the Nazi State

7. Nuremberg Trails

   • Chosen as the location mainly because it had been the venue for the rallies
   • Tried Major Nazi figures for war crimes
   • From November 1945 to September 1946
   • International Military Tribunal
   • Albert Speer sentenced to 20 years