Berlin In The 1930s

Berlin In The 1930s

The 1930s was one of the most tumultuous decades for Germany. Already crippled by the debt they accrued from World War One, the European nation faced even tougher times following the ripple effects of Wall Street’s stock market crash. With such instability and poverty, the population was receptive to the words and promises of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, setting in motion a chain of events that would greatly–and tragically–alter the course of history.

  

The grip of Nazism in the German capital of Berlin had begun the decade before, but it hit fever pitch in 1930 as Hitler and his Nazi Party launched a campaign to be voted into parliament. There were thousands of meetings, torchlight parades, propaganda posters and millions of Nazi newspapers in circulation. Hitler restored much of the population’s hope with vague promises of employment, prosperity, profit and the restoration of German glory. On election day in September 14, 1930, the Nazis were voted into parliament and thus became the second largest political party in Germany. This power increased by 1933, with Hitler named the Chancellor of Germany.

The rest, as they say, is history. The Nazi Party extended their power and reach with the formation of the Gestapo, the introduction of new laws sanctioning the persecution of Jews and other minorities, the establishment of abhorrent concentration camps and the annexation of neighboring countries. Even events including the 1936 Berlin Olympics were used as propaganda to perpetuate the image of Nazi Germany as a prolific and perfect governing party.

The end of the decade saw the escalation of tension with two major events in Berlin. The first was Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass), triggered by the death of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by a Jewish youth. It was held in November by the Hitler Youth, Gestapo and SS and involved the arrests and murders of thousands of Jewish people and the burning of synagogues in Berlin and across Germany and Austria. The second and most important was the declaration of war in 1939 after Germany occupied Poland. Despite the British Ambassador in Berlin demanding the German government to withdraw troops, no action was taken and on September 3rd, 1939, Neville Chamberlain declared war on the nation. The ensuing violence was one of the most horrific in human history and its devastating consequences rocked the world.

Hitler Reviews The Massive Gustav Railway Gun

Hitler Reviews The Massive Gustav Railway Gun

Developed in the late 1930s, the Schwerer Gustav was a massive siege railway gun used to destroy heavy fortifications. Weighing over 1,350 tonnes and firing shells that weighed 7 tonnes, the Schwere Gustav was capable of firing over 47 kilometers (29 miles). In the picture above, Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi officials review the massive Gustav railway gun before it was deployed to the Russian front.

Amazing Video Of The Gustav Railway Gun In Action

The Man Who Didn’t Salute Hitler

The Man Who Didn’t Salute Hitler

Joining the Nazi party purely in hopes of finding a job, German August Landmesser was eventually sentenced to two years at a labor camp for falling in love with a Jewish woman whom he tried to marry. But before he reached prison, this famous photograph captured Landmesser very public protest against the Nazi regime when he didn’t salute Hitler during a public rally in 1936. And so August Landmesser is now remembered in history as the man who didn’t salute Hitler.

Love overrode the anti-Semitism that swept throughout the country, though it wasn’t strong enough to save his would-be bride Irma Eckler from Nazi persecution. Like so many others, Eckler’s life came to a tragic and premature end at a death camp.

Awesome Xi'an City Wall

Awesome Xi'an City Wall

The first landmark visitors will encounter in Xi'an is the ancient city wall, which stretches round the old city. The northern side runs parallel to the railway. Xi'an was originally a walled city, and even today the wall is considered a landmark dividing the city into the inner part and the outer part. The city wall is massive - tall, long and thick. The South Gate and North Gate are the two main entrances to the inner city. The city itself is neatly arranged along the city wall.

History — Xi'an City Wall was erected in the 14th century Ming Dynasty, under the regime of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. When Zhu Yuanzhang captured Huizhou, long before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he was admonished by a hermit named Zhu Sheng, who told him to "build high walls, store abundant provisions and take your time in proclaiming yourself emperor." This advice Zhu Yuanzhang heeded. Once the whole country was unified, he sent orders to the local governments to build city walls on a large scale. Zhu assured that "out of all the mountains and rivers in the world, the area of Central Qin is the most strongly fortified and strategically impregnable." The current city wall is an enhancement of the old Tang Dynasty structure, as a result of the emperor's wall building campaign. 

The Structure of the City Wall — The first city wall of Xi'an was built of earth, rammed layer upon layer. The base layer was made of earth, quick lime, and glutinous rice extract, tamped together. It made the wall extremely strong and firm. Later, the wall was totally enclosed with bricks. A moat, wide and deep, ran around the city. Over the moat, there used to be a huge drawbridge, which would cut off the way in and out of the city, once lifted.

Xi'an's city wall, after its enlargement in the Ming Dynasty, stands 12 meters high. It is 12-14 meters across the top, 15-18 meters thick at bottom, and 13.7 kilometers in length. There is a rampart every 120 meters. The ramparts are towers that extend out from the main wall. The ramparts were built to allow soldiers to see enemies trying to climb the wall. The distance between the ramparts is within the range of arrows fired from either side. This allowed soldiers to protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. There are altogether 98 ramparts; each has a sentry building on top of it.

Battlements — Along the outer crest of the city wall there are crenellations or battlements. Under each of the 5,984 crenels there is a square hole, from which arrows were shot and watch was kept. The lower, inner walls are called parapets. They were used to prevent soldiers from falling off the wall, when traveling back and forth. 

Tunnels — The narrow tower and the main tower are connected by tunnels, in which soldiers could be stationed. From the tunnels there are also horse passages leading to the top of the wall. There are gradually ascending steps, made so that it was easy for war horses to ascend and descend. There are all together 11 horse passages around the city.

Watch Towers — A watch tower is located on each of the four corners of the wall. The one at the southwestern corner is round, probably after the model of the imperial city wall of the Tang Dynasty, but the other three are square-shaped. On top of the watch towers there is a corner rampart, higher and larger than the ordinary ramparts. This shows the strategic importance of the corners of the city wall in war times.

The Gates — The gates of the city wall were the only way to go into and out of town. Therefore, these gates were important strategic points, which the feudal rulers racked their brains to try to defend. In Xi'an's case, the north, south, east and west gates, each consist of three towers: the gate tower, which holds the drawbridge, the narrow tower and the main tower. The gate tower stands proud of the wall. It is used to lift and lower the drawbridge. The narrow tower is in the middle. Its inner walls have square windows to shoot arrows from. The main tower is the innermost one, and forms the entrance to the city.