Cathedral of light

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The Cathedral of Light was the term used to describe the main aesthetic feature of the Nuremberg Rallies. It consisted of 130 anti-aircraft searchlights, at intervals of forty feet, aimed skyward to create a series of vertical bars that surrounded the audience. The effect was a brilliant one, both from within the design and on the outside. The Cathedral of Light was documented in the Nazi Propaganda film Festliches Nürnberg released in 1937.

It was the brain child of Albert Speer, who was commissioned by Hitler to design and organise the Nuremberg Parade Grounds for the annual celebrations. It is still considered amongst Speer's greatest works.

The idea was disliked by the Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring, because the number of seachlights represented most of Germany's strategic reserve, but Hitler overruled him, suggesting it was a useful piece of disinformation. "If we use them in such large numbers for a thing like this, other countries will think we're swimming in searchlights."

British Ambassador Sir Nevile Henderson referred to it as the "Cathedral of Ice".

[edit] See also

• Nuremberg Rally
• Documentation Center Nazi Party Rallying Grounds

[edit] References

• Speer, Albert (1970). Inside the Third Reich. New York and Toronto: Macmillan.  [Translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston.] Republished in paperback in 1997 by Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-82949-5.
• Nürnberg City Museum