Skylighters, The Web Site of the 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion: Photo of the Week -- 26 April 1999

The World War II Photo of the Week
for 26 April 1999

CATHEDRAL OF LIGHT (81 K)

Cathedral of Light at Nuremberg

Reich Party Day sees a mass assemblage of political leaders on the searchlight-illuminated Zeppelin field in Nuremberg. The idea of surrounding the area in searchlights pointing straight up into the night sky was Albert Speer's. His goal? To create the sense that "one was inside a giant cathedral of light." In the center of the photograph is the massive stone swastika that was blown up by Americans following the war in a famous bit of newsreel footage. [NWDNS-131-GR-164(2)]. Picture reproduced courtesy Still Picture Branch (NWDNS), U. S. National Archives.

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