You can see examples of fascist-era architecture in Mussolini’s EU. The suburb just south of Rome. (Photo via Rick Steves)
The exposure on terrorism in Berlin’s topography aims to teach visitors about the fall of Nazism. (Photo by Rick Steves)
The fascist movements of 20th century Europe had a massive impact around the world, in a way that still resonates today. And travelers have a merit when it comes to learning from this history: when we see their legacy in person, we can better perceive their classes. Europe is dotted with desirable and resilient monuments that have been thoughtfully designed to recapture those sobering lessons. When we look at the struggles for democracy on both sides of the Atlantic today, we can see that those who seek to derail democracy follow the same pattern.
The roots of fascism date back to turbulence after World War I, when other people’s masses rose and their charismatic leaders manipulated that anger. Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler in Germany remodeled the marginal movements that claimed to be champions of oppressed in totalitarian fascist regimes.
Mussolini was the first, ruling with dictatorial power and — for a time — success. He pumped up the economy, created jobs, and invested in infrastructure.
Two examples of this infrastructure that you can see today in Rome are the Foro Italico (the one in Rome’s immense Olympic stadium, north of Vatican City), and the barren planned city called E. U. R. of the center of the town.
Part of a sports complex originally called the Mussolini Forum, the Olympic Stadium (still in use today) was built with the stated aim of selling Rome as a venue for long-running Olympic Games. But it was also built to advertise physical prowess as a key detail of fascism. ideology. The athletes represented the “new fascist man”: able to believe, obey and fight. This can be seen in the 18 imposing statues of towering men that surround the Stadio di Marmi track, just outside the main stadium. stadium, and in the propaganda messages of the mosaics that pave the façade of the stadium.
At the end of the 1930s, Mussolini planned a foreign exhibition, the Universal Exhibition of Rome (E. U. R. ), to show the wonders of its fascist society. While the advent of World War II suspected this celebration, the megaproject ended in the 1950s. Today, it houses apartment buildings, corporate offices and governmental and giant museums rarely visited.
Despite its obscurity beyond, the E. U. R. (10 minutes by metro from the center of Rome) is now an elegant community with a mix of businessmen and women and young people enjoying its trendy cafes. Because some emblematic buildings of Italian modernism are located here, E. U. R. It is a vital destination for architecture enthusiasts. As you walk along the wide pedestrian boulevards, you’ll see patriotic artwork and stern plazas decorating the barren buildings, as well as patriotic quotes etched into the walls. The uniform buildings and rigidly planned streets were meant to celebrate order and conformity, while echoing a harsh afterlife and promising an excellent future. These buildings were also meant to intimidate: to make the average user feel small and powerless.
Inspired through Mussolini and supported through the Great Depression in 1929, Hitler’s similar promises of a greater life gained traction in Germany. For the Nazis, the city that most embodied their sense of national unity was Nürnberg. As “the ultimate German of German cities,” it was one of Hitler’s favorites to display his pomp and nationalist statehood, and it was with giant gatherings here that he encouraged Germans to come on board.
In rally terrains, an domain of four squares squares, a 10-minute tram adventure south-east of the old the city of Nürnberg, Hitler made Zeppelin Field the of his large collectings. Today, the Stark remains of this large collecting position stimulate reflection. It is also component of this complex – which is looming on a now non violent lake – is its large yet not infinite congress room, which now houses the just right museum of the documentation middle. The largest surviving example of Nazi architecture, Hitler modeled this construction after the Roman ColosseumArray. . yet made it even more colossal. The documentation middle meticulously retraces the evolution of the socialist national movement, focusing on the way it has energized and terrified the German people.
Another scenario for this propaganda exhibits Hitler’s eagle nest, which crowned the mountain. This alpine getaway, south of Munich, in Berchtesgaden, used to melt the image of Hitler. A stone tunnel built with fascist precision leads Hitler’s luxurious elevator, which today takes visitors to visitors to visitors to visitors to visitors to Hitler visitors, who takes visitors to visitors to visitors to Visitors to visitors take visitors to visitors to the visitors of Hitler, who takes visitors to visitors to visitors to Hitler. The upper part.
Berlin is full of sites that allow us to reflect on those dark times: the German History Museum and its hard exhibition of propaganda art; The Reichstag Parliament building, which was burned by mysterious cases in 1933, giving Hitler an excuse to blame the communists and take power; and the topography exposure of terror, which is on the rubble of what was once the most feared place in the city: the headquarters of the Secret Police of the Gestapo and the elite forces of the SS.
Hitler’s life would end in Berlin, deep underground in a bunker with his capital smoldering in ruins. Shortly thereafter, in the spring of 1945, the war in Europe ended. But the aftermath will always linger in the minds of those who live in its wake and those who visit.
While visiting remnants of Mussolini and Hitler’s reigns in preparation for my TV special on fascism, I was struck by how entire nations have become mesmerized and led astray by fascist leaders. My best souvenir from that trip — and what I hope viewers will take away from the TV special — is a realization of how fragile democracy is … and how, if you take freedom for granted, you can lose it.