Munich, May
22, 1938
Within the past five years, a series of
construction projects has been undertaken in Munich and now that some of these
projects have already been completed, on this day we commence a new project. I
am certain it is the greatest yet for the expansion and beautification of this
city.
The task which we have resolved to undertake is one that has been around
for generations. Already prior to the War, people were aware that Munich’s
railroad facilities were not only disgraceful but also could not keep up to the
demands of technological advance. However, there was a shortage of power to
arrive at a true solution for the problem. At the time, this was due to the
disintegration of the Reich and to the eternal bickering in the parliaments of
the Lander.
The question of an underground for Munich was already on the table in times
of peace. Following the War, the issue was raised again, and a superficial plan was
drawn up. In order to preserve the old Munich and the Munich of the times of
King Louis I, it is necessary to arrive at a solution which keeps at least part
of the traffic off the streets. Therefore, there is only one possible way to
go, the way under the earth.
As soon as the amount of traffic has doubled or tripled, the streets in the
inner part of the city will no longer suffice to handle this massive flow of
traffic.
However, the flow of traffic will not only triple or quadruple but, let me
assure you, it will increase by a factor of six or eight. Today it is our
obligation to anticipate this development and its consequences instead of
waiting until a catastrophe occurs and it will have become impossible to master
the problem.
The men before us did not have the force of character to take this
realization seriously and to implement the measures necessary for its
resolution. However, today, the maxim of the National Socialist Movement
applies to this issue as well: never to capitulate in face of difficulties!
Acknowledging the exponential growth of the flow of traffic demands us to take
timely precautions today that shall allow us to smoothly channel the flow of
traffic in the future. Here this shall be done in an uncommonly generous
fashion.
At this point, I would like to thank the gentlemen of the Reichsbahn, and
especially its brilliant chief Dr. Dorpmuller, for not broaching this problem
with half-hearted attempts at resolution, but rather seeking a real solution
for a real problem and ensuring its implementation.
Therefore, the city receives an exemplary net of suburban fast trains
linking the surrounding areas with the center. In a few years, it will be
possible to remove the streetcars from the city center and hence to make the
streets calmer than is the case today. I would like to point out right away
that, of course, some streets will be tumultuous in the next few years. Other
big cities have had to go through this, too! Wherever there are subways, there
is noise for an initial period. However, once construction is complete, the
noise will disappear, and you will not hear a thing. In this or that street,
where the underground will be built, there will be some noise for about a year.
But one has to take that upon oneself to have peace for the next five hundred
or thousand years. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the humor of our Munich
people will help them over the initial period.
Besides that, we experienced something similar when we laid the foundation
for the Haus der Deutschen Kunst and 1,600 cement pillars had to be driven into
the earth. At the time, it was as noisy there as it will be noisy here in a
moment.
Some may have shaken their heads back then, and certainly there were some
particularly annoyed by the commotion, but 1 believe that there is not one man
among Munich’s citizens today who is not proud of his Haus der Deutschen Kunst.
We have now determined to find a generous solution for the traffic problems
of the city of Munich. And you should know me well enough by now: whatever we
begin, we will finish.
At the latest in five or six years, this task will be accomplished. Munich
then will call an exemplary rapid mass transportation system its own as well as
enormous railroad constructions surrounding the great new central railroad
station. The same thing will happen in Berlin. I hope that both cities will
enter into a noble competition of the kind where each attempts to outdo the
other in realizing the necessity of the problems posed. The resolution of the
traffic problems is the first step toward the resolution of other major
problems facing us in Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg.
The second reason is the following: up to now it has been customary for
everyone in Germany to build how and where he liked. This caused the disharmony
in the overall design of German cities. Do you think a Ludwigstrasse would ever
have been constructed had it been up to the citizens and other institutions of
Munich? Great architectural solutions can only come about through a central
plan, and this is the way it will be once again today.
All architectural projects, be it those of the Reich, of the Lander or
communities, of insurance companies or private buildings, will be placed under
one single central planning authority. This will be done in due consideration
of aesthetic conditions and exigencies, of the needs of the cities and of
traffic flow.
And this is how it will be done in this city.
In addition, there will be a plan to secure those culturally important
buildings which are essential in defining Munich’s character as a city of the
arts.
Here, too, the maxim applies: idleness rusts the mind. When you review the
new projects, you must admit efforts are being made constantly to improve the
physical appearance of the city.
Thirdly, we wish to resolve these problems in the spirit of our times, a
spirit of concern for the future of our German Volk. 1 desire that these
construction projects we are undertaking today will be considered magnificent
for centuries to come. A few statistics reveal that our ancestors also shared
these concerns for magnificence: when the boulevard ‘Unter den Linden’ was
built in the 17th century, Berlin had less than 40,000 inhabitants. And when
the Ludwigstrasse was built, Munich had scarcely 70,000 inhabitants. Today Munich
has a population of more than 800,000 and Berlin has more than 4,500,000.
Nobody shall dare to come up to me to say that the new streets we are building
are too wide.
The tasks we have to solve today simply cannot be of too grandiose a
nature.
As a National Socialist I have from the very first day divorced myself from
the bourgeois and sluggish attitude of, “Yes, this street has to be
constructed, but we shall leave that to our children.” I have always followed
the one maxim that says: there is no such thing as a problem requiring
resolution which we do not resolve ourselves.
In just a few years’ time, a new Berlin will have become a metropolis
synonymous with the German Reich and its leadership, and a new Hamburg a
metropolis synonymous with German trade. A new Nuremberg will come into being,
symbolizing the festive spirit of the National Socialist Movement. A new Munich
will come into being as the great city of German art and as the capital of our
Party, of the National Socialist Uprising.
I have taken great care to choose four cities at once so that no one can
claim receiving special treatment. No, everyone has to say to himself: if the
others can bear it, so can we. Whoever feels himself unfairly burdened by the
constant noise of piledrivers or the like, to him all I can say is: “My dear
friend, it would sound entirely different if you had to stand next to it or had
to work down there. If thousands of German workers can bear it, so can you!” It
will take five years, perhaps six, and no more than one year per street, and
then the great feat shall be accomplished, a feat of which generations to come
will be proud and which will place the great creations in our great and
beautiful city in an even more favorable light.
Now as we begin this enormous work, we realize time and again that all this
is only possible because the concentrated force of seventy-five million people
stands behind it. It is not Berlin building Berlin, not Hamburg building
Hamburg, not Munich building Munich, not Nuremberg building Nuremberg, but
rather Germany building its cities-its beautiful, proud, and magnificent
cities! And that is why once again our thoughts turn to our Germany to which we
loyally pledge our life and soul. In this spirit, let us begin our work!
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