Nazi Temple of Honour Munich 1945 2

Description

Nazi Temple of Honour Munich 1945 2; Photo; Licensed item; Original: 5740×4315; Photographer: Unknown;a0 Licensable; Rights: a9 Bleek/zb Media. The Temples of Honour on Arcisstraße in Munich were two monumental NS cult sites, erected on Königsplatz in 1935. They served to glorify the National Socialists who died in the failed Hitler putsch of 1923.
Description of the structures
Two identical temple buildings made of stone, symmetrically located on Arcisstraße.
Each containing 16 stone sarcophagi, housing the so-called “blood witnesses of the movement.”
An open roof, to open the temples to the sky and “eternity.”
Torches and a stern neoclassical architecture emphasized the staging as a cult site of the NS regime.
Significance during the NS regime
The Temples of Honour were central NS pilgrimage sites where annual propaganda celebrations took place.
Hitler used them for staged memorial rituals to glorify the “blood witnesses” of the failed coup attempt.
The entire Königsplatz was redesigned as a monumental NS backdrop.
Destruction and post-war period
In 1947, the US military government demolished the Temples of Honour to remove NS symbolism from Munich.
The foundations remained visible for a long time but were later built over.
Today, there are lawns at the site, which remind of the past but purposefully do not represent a memorial.
The Temples of Honour are an example of the architectural self-staging of the NS dictatorship and show how Munich was deliberately remodeled as the “capital of the movement.”