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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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Berlin Opens Hitler's 'Future City' Tunnels

Network provides glimpse of megalomaniac's plans for world capital

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(Newser) – Berlin has opened three vast tunnels under the city built as part of Adolf Hitler's vision of a grandiose Nazi capital, Reuters reports. The tunnels were to house a transit system beneath planned boulevards, squares, and huge buildings, including a Great Hall with room for 180,000 people. The Albert Speer-designed plans for the new capital—known as "Germania"—were halted by the outbreak of World War II.

"The acoustics are incredible," said a local historian as he took journalists on a tour of the tunnels. The 50-foot-deep tunnels have been opened as interest grows in the history buried beneath Berlin. Some of the city's 1,000 WWII bunkers remain intact, with Nazi propaganda posters still on the walls.

A model of the
A model of the "Great Hall" stands among other buildings conceived by the Nazis for central Berlin.   (Getty Images (by Event) Individuals)
Albert Speer types a letter from Nuremberg jail in 1945.
Albert Speer types a letter from Nuremberg jail in 1945.   (Getty Images)
A model of the
A model of the "Great Hall" stands among other buildings conceived by the Nazis for central Berlin at the exhibition "Mythos Germania" in Berlin.   (Getty Images)
Journalists walk through a bunker complex that housed Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun during the last days of WWII in Germany.
Journalists walk through a bunker complex that housed Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun during the last days of WWII in Germany.   (Getty Images)
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The tunnels, which are in surprisingly good condition, were part of Speer's grand plans, what we now call 'Germania.' - historian Dietmar Arnold, head of the Berlin Underground Association

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cochiserocks
Aug 10, 09 5:40 AM CDT
I saw a fascinating documentary on Speer - His 'Great Dome' was meant to be so big that it would effectively have its own weather system! The idea was that when the 100,000 + people were all inside it, the steam rising from them would condensate and produce a fine rain which would fall on them from above. How nuts was that!!?! Reply
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