Dresden- Festplatz / Sachsen
The origin of this thingplatz-like riverside grandstand has not been clearly clarified to this day. There was already a “Königsuferplan” in 1933, which provided for a “festival site for national rallies”. It is not known to what extent this had anything to do with the additional Thingstätte planned for Dresden in 1934. The latter was planned on the banks of the Elbe at the Ministry of Finance, the aforementioned festival site and parade ground on the other side of the river. This two-part overall facility, which was to have the Elbe flowing through it, was intended for a crowd of up to 300,000.
Today, the site is used as an open-air cinema.
[1]
Historic Name
„Festplatzanlage für nationale Kundgebungen“ (Festival ground for national rallies)
Link to Deutsche Fotothek for a historic photo by Else Seifert: View from the Thingplatz at the Ministry of Finance to the southeast towards the Carolabrücke and the residential development on the Terrassenufer, ca. 1940
Use today
Movie nights on the banks of the Elbe / https://dresden.filmnaechte.de/
Further Info::
Both the realization of the aforementioned building project and the plans for the new Dresden Gauforum and the associated far-reaching urban development measures were no longer implemented during the Nazi era. However, parts of the planned reorganization and widening of the main streets were implemented by the later GDR regime almost 1:1 later.[2]
[1] Stommer, Rainer, Die inszenierte Volksgemeinschaft, Jonas- Verlag Marburg, 1985, S. 229
[2] Thomas Kantschew, Das geplante „Gauforum Dresden“. Werkzeug zur Massenmanipulation – Gigantomanie des deutschen Faschismus, http://www.das-neue-dresden.de/gauforum.html (accessed Sept 30th 2023)