A unique then and now 4 part series tracing the rise and fall of Third Reich through it's massive buildings, monuments and rally grounds. By fusing first generation archival film together with colorful footage of each structure as it appears today, the Ruins of the Reich series is a chilling and fascinating journey into depths of what once was the Third Reich. A tremndous educational treasure trove.
Part 1 - Rise To Power Begins with a tour of the sites that played key roles in Adolf Hitler's Rise to Power. Viewers will visit Munich's Feldherrnhalle, scene of the failed Nazi beer hall Putsch of 1923 and the infamous Hotel Hanslbauer, site of the bloody SA purge known as "The Night of the Long Knives" Other visits include President von Hindenburg's lavish Neudeck estate, the Tannenberg National Memorial as well as an in-depth tour of the Fuehrer's mountain top retreat known as "The Obersalzberg" You'll see the sprawling compound as it appeared during the Third Reich and as it appears today. Highlights include Hitler's Berghof, the small teehaus on the Mooslahnerkopf, the Platterhof Hotel, Bormann's Guest house, the Gutsof, Hermann Goring's Alpine Chalet, Albert Speer's design studio, the SS Barracks and the world renowned Kehlsteinhaus more commonly known as The Eagle's Nest.
Part 2 - The Glory Years Focuses on the massive Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg. It's here that some of the largest structures of the Third Reich can still be seen today including Albert Speer's enormous Zeppelinfield grandstands, the mammoth Congress Hall, the Hitler Youth Stadium, the war memorial on the Luitpold Field and the sprawling granite road that stretches nearly a mile long. The viewer will also take an inside tour of Hitler's Bavarian headquarters known as "the Braun haus" where the 1938 Munich conference was held which ultimately lead to the occupation of the Sudentenland and the introduction of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich. The program concludes with an insight of Heydrich's career, his family, assassination, funeral and his clandestine grave site at the Invaliden cemetery in Berlin.
Part 3 - Occupied Territories Occupied Territories continues with a tour of the former Nazi Occupied Territories of France and Poland. Highlights include the former Warsaw ghetto, Gestapo headquarters, the notorious Pawiak Prison and the massacre field in the Palmiry Forest. Then it's on to Krakow and Oscar Schindler's Enamel works factory and the infamous Plaszow labor camp.as well as Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka death camps. In France the tour continues with visits to several major fortresses along the Maginot Line including Fermont, Immerhof and Hackenberg. It's also here in Part 3 that viewers re-trace the steps of Adolf Hitler during the French surrender at Compiegne and his hastily planned tour of Paris which included the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame Cathedral and the of Napoleon. The chapter concludes with a fascination tour of the massive German U-boat Pens and along the Atlantic coast and the gigantic German Gun Batteries on the Pas-de-Calais.
Part 4 - The Final Chapter This part explores the historic series of events that lead to the fall of Hitler's thousand year Reich. Visits include the D-Day landing Beaches, General Rommel's western front headquarters and the Fuehrer's Hauptquartiers at Wolfsschlucht II and Wolfsschanze. The tour also visits to the various sites made famous during the Battle of the Bulge including Malmedy, Bastogne, the Remagen Bridge and the former Nazi Order Castle known as Vogelsang. In Berlin stops include Army General Headquarters, the execution chamber at Plotzensee Prison and Gestapo headquarters.
But without question the highlight of the "Ruins" series is the chilling inside tour of the completely intact Reichs Chancellery Bunker in Berlin. Filmed in June 1992 just moments before it was sealed for the final time, this rare film is the only known piece of footage in existence that shows how the colossal concrete structure appears today. As part of the new Chancellery Bunker system this massive underground fortress, which once connected to the Fuehrer Bunker gives viewers a truly accurate insight as to how Hitler's Bunker probably looked since both were practically identical in appearance.
