Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds

Still today, the gigantic remains of buildings in the southern districts of Nuremberg are a reminder of the megalomania of the National Socialist regime. Across eleven square kilometres, a monumental backdrop was to be created for the self-staging of the Nazi Party.

Today the unfinished Congress Hall, designed to hold 50,000 people, houses the Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds. A stake fashioned from steel and glass, it provides a striking contemporary architectural counterpoint. Covering 13,000 square metres, the permanent exhibition "Fascination and Terror" looks at the causes, the context and the consequences of the National Socialist regime of terror. Its emphasis is on the history of the party rallies, gigantic mass events used by Nazi propaganda for a stage production of the "Volksgemeinschaft", the people’s community. Modern media, such as computer animation, films and touch screens, but also photographs and documents are used to illustrate the buildings on the rally grounds, as well as the history and the background of the party rallies. Audioguides provide texts and commentary in seven languages.

The exhibition is supplemented by an educational programme and special exhibitions. At 23 locations all over the former party rally grounds, panels in German and English provide information about the history of the site.