About Schwerbelastungskörper
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
The Schwerbelastungskörper (German: "heavy load-bearing body"; a.k.a. Großbelastungskörper - GBK) is a hefty concrete cylinder in Berlin, Germany located at the intersection of Dudenstraße, General-Pape-Straße, and Loewenhardtdamm in the northwestern part of the borough of Tempelhof. It was erected in 1941–1942 by Hitler's chief architect Albert Speer to determine the feasibility of constructing large buildings on the area's marshy, sandy ground, specifically a massive triumphal arch on a nearby plot. The arch, which would be in the style of the Nazi architectural movement, was to be about three times as large as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and was one component of a plan to redesign the center of Berlin as an imposing, monumental capital reflecting the spirit of the Third Reich as envisioned by Hitler.
