The Nazi Buildings

Now turn back towards Arcistrasse. Amongst the ambitious projects of Troost were a number of buildings dedicated to the glory of the Nazi Party. This is because contrary to what you’d expect, the headquarters of the Party did not move to Berlin, but remained in Munich. Berlin represented, as it were, the administrative but not the political capital. For this reason, the principal administrative buildings of the Nazis were grouped round Arcistrasse and we’re going to take a look at a few of them now. Turn left into Arcistrasse and continue as far as the 1st building at number 12 which houses the Munich Music Academy. We can in fact already see it from here.

PRESS PAUSE

Here we are outside number 12, the Music Academy. It’s true to say that this building is rather cold and unwelcoming. Just look at this enormous uniform, concrete-coloured block. There’s no ornamentation or gilding, and above all, no colour. For those who are interested, we’ll now talk a little about this building and its history.

Let's begin by considering the number one aesthetic rule of that time – uniformity. In this instance this is reflected in the perfect horizontal and vertical alignment of the windows throughout the 3 storeys. Rule number 2 was to have little or no decoration. Take a look at the pillars supporting the terrace, which are devoid of capitals. There is no other decoration here whatsoever. The imposing military structure of this sturdy building could only date from the Hitler period and indeed it was built in 1935. Far from having an administrative purpose, this was in fact the Munich residence of Adolf Hitler and used to bear the ominous name of Führerbau, or Führer’s building. During the evening of 30th September 1938 the infamous Munich Agreement was ratified here. Chamberlain and Daladier, the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and France, signed the agreement with Mussolini and Hitler agreeing to the annexation of the Sudetenland to the German Reich. The Sudetenland was a region to the north of Czechoslovakia with a substantial German population. However, as we all know, this betrayal of the Czech people didn’t avert war which broke out one year later. Subsequently this building survived the bombardments, which obviously is one advantage of concrete! In 1945 it was used as an assembly point for the works of art that had been pillaged throughout Europe by Goering, Hitler and Goebbels. Nowadays it’s home to the Music Academy of Munich.