Nazi arena
A flat area within the Brandberge which had been used for military exercises had also been an assembly area for Nazis, and that and the Germanic "Thing" site led to its being selected for the first official open-air theatre, or Thingplatz, in association with the Thingspiel movement of nationalistic multi-disciplinary theatre. [5] (In actuality, it turned out to be the Celtic burials that lay above the arena site.) [4] Ground was ceremonially broken on 19 February 1934 in front of 110,000 spectators, three times the number expected. [6] Work was hurriedly completed so that the theatre could be dedicated that May 1, on the "National Day of Work", but the first performance did not take place until 5 June. [7]
The theatre was designed by Ludwig Moshamer and placed on a site abutting the existing assembly field, roughly extending its semi-circular shape with a parabolic amphitheatre (rather than the oval of most of the Nazi arenas). The stage area was on three levels and extended into and was easily reachable from the audience area; the upper stage area was formed by a building, whose rounded rear wall extended into the field like an apse so that it could also serve as a speaker's tribune for gatherings there. Within this building were the dressing rooms and also in the centre a hall of honor for workers (the erste Ehrenmal der Arbeit, first monument to labour; the arena itself was officially the erste Thingstätte des Reiches, first Thing site of the Reich). (In fact the arena at Heringsdorf was begun first, in early February 1934, and also dedicated that May Day, but the official designation of Thingplatz was withheld from it until later, perhaps so as not to overshadow the Brandberge site.) [8] Financed and built by the German Labour Front, the hall of honour opened onto the assembly field and was intended to symbolise that "art in actuality belongs to the people". [9] It was made of porphyry and contained six larger than life sculptures by Alfred Vocke in rhyolite from Löbejün depicting different kinds of workers: a labourer, a farmer, a researcher, a miner, a smith and an ironworker, [10] and an eternal flame for which a gas line was specially installed. The stage above was also defined by two pillars resembling altars and surmounted by braziers which were ignited during performances. [9] Moshamer's original design, prepared in January 1934, had been for 5,500 seats; this was reduced to 5,050, in the form of benches. Amplification was not installed, but was temporarily added for the first performance, of Kurt Heynicke's Neurode. The slope into which the theatre was built originally had very few trees, but many were planted on both sides to enclose it. [11]
Neurode was presented by a cast of 1,000 to about 6,000 spectators. Later the same month, the summer solstice was celebrated using both the arena and the assembly field, with Joseph Goebbels participating and 225,000 people present. Further use was made of the theatre for drama, beginning in 1935 in association with other open-air theatres in the Gau. [12] However, by that year the Propaganda Ministry was already withdrawing support for Thingspiel performances in Halle as not worth the cost. [13]
Since the Second World War the disused theatre has largely collapsed and been overgrown, although it was made a city monument in 1995. The statues from the workers' hall of honour were removed under the German Democratic Republic and in July 1951 were installed in the Kurt Wabbel Sports Stadium; [14] [15] when this was demolished and rebuilt, the exterior walls were protected as local monuments and the statues currently form part with them of the new Erdgas Sportpark. [10]
