By dpa
NUREMBERG (CONVERSEER) – A city in southern Germany is giving new life to an unfinished Nazi rally site by building an opera house within its walls, transforming a space once planned for propaganda into a venue for art and culture.
The Nazis planned to use the site in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg as a congress hall, fit to hold 50,000 people during rallies. But due to World War II, the building was never finished and only the shell remains.
Now, it is being transformed into a new opera house to serve as a replacement venue for the state theatre while the city’s historic opera house is renovated.
The construction of the new building, which began eight months ago, is progressing as planned, the city administration said, with the stage, orchestra pit and auditorium already visible in the shell of the building.
The opera house is expected to be completed early next year. At first, the building will make a “rough impression,” project manager Josef Kraus explained.
But planted with climbing ivy, winter jasmine and periwinkle, the structure will eventually be covered in life.
The opera house is intended to a be a counterpoint to the architectural megalomania of the Nazis, with a green cube in front of the monumental congress hall.
The whole project is part of a €296-million ($342-million) cultural initiative, with the replacement venue alone costing €85.5 million.
Once the renovated opera house reopens in 2028, the listed building is then to be converted into studios and event spaces for the arts and cultural scene.
