Führer Cult and Megalomania: Nuremberg: The Holy Shrine of the Nazis 2011
Distributed by First Run Features, 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1213, New York, NY 10036; 212-243-0600
Produced by Michael Kloft
Directed by Michael Kloft
DVD, color and b&w, 52 min.
College - General Adult
Propaganda, World War II
Date Entered: 04/03/2015
Reviewed by Alexander Rolfe, Technical Services Librarian, George Fox University, Newberg, ORThis film examines the construction and use of the Nazi party’s rallying grounds at Nuremberg, where they convened annually. Hitler was very involved in planning the monumental architecture that he intended would last through the ages. He spared no expense, transplanting thousands of oak trees and bringing in granite from 80 quarries to host up to 1.5 million people for the 8-day rallies. Although not everything was completed, the colossal works remain, crumbling (except for the colonnades, which were dynamited in 1967 due to safety concerns).
There is a lot of footage of Hitler himself, not just in propaganda footage, but as also as he’s walking about with his architect. There is even some color footage from the time. All told, the film is very well-produced; my only complaint is the English voiceover has to compete too much with the original German during interviews.
This is an interesting look at an important component of Nazi propaganda, but sticks pretty closely to its fairly narrow topic of the grounds at Nuremberg. Most classes would want something broader, but this would fit well in a semester-long course on Nazi Germany, or propaganda in general, and belongs in many libraries.