The History Hunter

Hunting history one place at a time

  • The Schwerbelastungskörper or The Load Bearing Body.

    Most tourists visiting Berlin stop off at the Brandenburg gate, Checkpoint Charlie or the Reichstag building.

    Me?

    One of my first ports of call was a humongous lump of concrete.

    It’s an important lump of concrete though.

    It represents the only part of a megalomaniac dictators plans to completely rebuild the city.

    How so?

    In the early part of the second world war Hitler had plans to completely rebuild Berlin with massive structures a huge wide avenue leading up to a huge triumphal archway way bigger than the Arc De Triomphe in Paris.

    The land here though was quite marshy so, in 1941, a huge structure was erected on the spot that the planned huge triumphal arch would stand.

    This massive structure was a huge cylinder of solid concrete 21 meters in diameter and 14 meters high. It’s purpose was to see just how marshy the land was and, if the arch was built, would it start to sink into the ground.

    This huge lump of concrete was not designed to be destroyed as it would have buried under the road that would have been built over it.

    The Triumphal Arch that could have been. The Volkshalle can be seen to the left of the drawing.

    Also as part of this design would have been a huge wide road, perfect for processions, that would have ran for a mile or or so with the triumphal arch at one end and the Volkshalle at the other.

    The Volkshalle (‘Hall of the People’) was a monumental design that was to have served as the architectural centrepiece for Adolf Hitler’s capital of Germania and would have featured a massive dome inspired by Rome’s Pantheon..

    Germania was designed by the architect Albert Speer, many of his designs were never built though a couple of his creations can still be found in Germany, the Japanese – Germany embassy in Berlin is one notable building.

    The Japanese Embassy, Berlin

    The projected measurements of the Volkshalle demonstrate the enormous scale and size of the ambitious designs.

    A massive stone podium 315 x 315 m (1,033 x 1,033 ft) and 75 m (250 ft) high would have served as the base on which the dome sat. The granite dome was to measure 290 m (950 ft) high, with a diameter of more than 250 m (820 ft), and an oculus at the top measuring 46 m (150 ft) in diameter.

    Imagine if you took St Pauls Cathedral in London and enlarged it to four times its size, that’s the kind of scale we are talking about here.

    These plans never fully came to fruition though.

    Why?

    Well, Germany was losing money due to the ongoing war and funds were diverted from the planning of the new Germania to the war.

    A relief map of how Germainia would have looked. The arch is the small square on the right of the map.

    I’m sure we all know the end of this story – the triumph for Germany never came and Germania was never to see the light of day and remained in the planning stages.

    Except for one piece.

    Just one piece of Germania ever saw completion.

    That piece was a humungous lump of concrete that stood on the outskirts of Berlin.

    The only part of this gargantuan plan that ever became reality.

    After the second world war there were plans to blow up the, now useless, concrete giant but these were abandoned due to the area around it becoming inhabited and built up.

    I have no idea what this once was. It had dials and switches on it so was obviously used for measuring something.

    The German Society for Sail Mechanics took over the site and continued using it for it’s original purpose, to see how the weight affected the land it was on.

    The Society left the site in 1983 and the area became overgrown and forgotten about as there were no other uses for the structure, it couldn’t be destroyed and nobody really knew what to do with it.

    In 1995 the Schwerbelastungskorper was entered into the list of historic buildings as the only tangible relic of the new city that the National Socialist party had planned.

    The structure has been owned by the local borough of Tempelhof-Schoneberg since 2002 and now has an information point and an observation platform to view it.

    You can enter the area under the load bearing body too. There are lots of things that probably did something once but are now just oddities.

    There are empty shelves that once held stuff and, rather oddly, what looks like a small pool in one corner.

    Thingys. I have no idea what any of these things are or were used for.
    Old shelving.
    Weird pool thing.

    If you are ever find yourself in Berlin and have an interesting in historical oddities then I highly recommend paying the Schwerbelastungskorper a visit.

    There is a great visitor centre which has all the information you could possibly want in regard to Germania and a viewing platform that will get you right to the top.

    There are plenty of stairs, there is no lift, and I climbed up on the hottest day of the year so far. I was out of breath and the sun was beating down on me but it was well worth it.

    The Schwerbelastungskorper is totally free to visit.

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  • Wordless Wednesday.

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  • Wordless Wednesday

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  • Cannon Cinema, Liverpool.

    It was a boiling hot May Saturday.

    We exited Liverpool’s Lime Street Station to head for Pier Head where we had been invited to the Eurovision party there.

    As we left the station this building caught my eye. A beautiful building that looked like it had seen better days, and it had.

    This building was the former ABC cinema which has been on this spot since 1931.

    This huge building has a Portland stone exterior and is quite a feature of the street.

    It’s also a forgotten relic of a different age.

    It was originally called the Forum and was designed by architects William Riddle Glen and Alfred Ernest Shennan for Associated British Cinemas(ABC) at a cost in excess of £200,000.

    It opened on the 16th of May 1931 with the first movie shown there as “Almost A Honeymoon” starring Clifford Mollison.

    The cinema in 1971 still with just one big screen.
    Judging by the movies showing this is from 1986. Would recommend all of them. You’d have to be in the right frame of mind for When the Wind Blows though.

    In 1971 the ABC group renamed the cinema as the ABC to fit in with their corporate branding.

    1982 saw the cinema carved up, as was the thing at the time, so instead one one huge screen the cinema now had one big one and two smaller ones.

    The Cannon group purchased the cinema in 1986 and renamed it, logically, The Cannon.

    1989. Showing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

    The cinema closed down in 1998 with a special showing of the Humphrey Bogart classic Casablanca.

    Since then the building has sat derelict.

    For 25 years!

    There have been plans to save the building, some ambitious including one that would have seen the building turned into a theatre and a television studio. There was even a newspaper report that Liverpool council would be willing to sell the property for just £1 just to get it off their hands!

    These plans have never come to fruition though for one reason or another and the building still stands empty and forgotten.

    The building was temporarily reopened for use as an exhibition space for the Liverpool Biennial in 2016. The following photographs, taken by Brad Law, were taken at that time.

    Since 2016 nothing has been done with the building.

    I read the blog of an urban explorer, who has visited the cinema several times, he wrote that the building had started to be vandalised inside. The once beautiful curtains surrounding the proscenium arch have been set light to several times.

    A couple of pictures he took and uploaded to his site are below.

    Fire damage can be easily seen on the left side of the proscenium arch.
    Cracked and peeling paint has fallen from the ceiling in this photo.

    It’s incredible that nearly everything is still in situ inside. Just seeing those curtains takes me back to the days of cinema when presentation was so important and the curtains would raise just as the BBFC film certification card was on screen.

    I think this building could be used for much better things.

    There is a couple of cinemas already in Liverpool city centre so , anything that gets done with it, will have to be drastically different than just showing current movies. Maybe reopen it as cinema that specialises in old films, independent films something like that.

    Let’s face it, if the council don’t do something soon then the building will only be salvageable by a wrecking ball and I’m sure Liverpool city council don’t want that. Or do they?

    After all this cinema could be incorporated into the history of the city, I’m sure that if they checked then they would find at least one of the Beatles saw a movie there. Ian McCulloch of the band Echo and the Bunnymen definitely did.

    For such a big historic building to be left derelict for 25 years seems stupid. It will become dangerous soon enough, there has been another fire there just this year and the building is now being hidden with hoardings.

    Maybe Liverpool council have no idea what to do with the building.

    Maybe they just have the idea to just let it rot and leave the vandals to destroy it for them. they could then just wash their hands of it.

    One day this building may well be gone, turned to rubble and buried under another faceless office block.

    That would be a real shame.

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  • Wordless Wednesday

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  • Wordless Wednesday

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  • Wordless Wednesday

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  • A Passage Through India

    Back in November 2019 we took a tour of India, the so called “Golden Triangle”.

    It was such an amazing holiday and a trip I’ll always hold very dear in my heart.

    We saw some amazing sights, the Taj Mahal at sunrise, beautiful palaces and historical sites that have become very important places.

    A couple of weeks ago, while preparing for a trip to Berlin, I decided to clear my phone of all the photos that were on it. I plugged my phone into my laptop and removed hundreds of photos, hundreds!

    Looking through them I came upon these pictures that I had taken in India and thought I’d share them.

    It seems like forever ago, before Lockdown. Seems like a different time.

    I remember always being made to feel welcome wherever we went and, in one hotel, I was given an Orange flower garland which made me feel like George Harrison.

    Please enjoy these photos from over three years ago while I prepare some new stuff from Berlin.

    The view from our first hotel in New Delhi. Other people in the tour group were complaining about the diesel smelling smog that hung in the air. Growing up in 70’s London it was a familiar smell for me and I found it quite a familiar smell.

    This guy looked so serene and thoughtful.
    This picture. I have no idea who this woman is but look at her face. Her joy sums up just what this trip was like and the Taj Mahal at sunrise is amazing.
    Dogs. Dogs everywhere, just sitting in the street. I was told not to touch them but I’m sure I stroked a couple.
    These guys live around the Taj Mahal. I wanted to go and stoke one so much but my tour guide advised me against it and told me the scratch at the face.
    The Red Fort in New Delhi. You can tell how it got it’s name.
    Another dog. I gave this one some water thus the footprints.
    A train in India. They’re not like you see them on the TV with hundreds of people cramming in them and sitting on the roof. The one thing that really stood out for me on these trains is, they don’t have someone walking along them selling coffee. Oh no. They have someone walking along selling Tomato Soup from a massive container on their back.
    Whilst on a safari to see a Tiger in Ranthambore our jeep stopped for what looked like a huge log in the road. This “log” then stood up and walked off to the banks of the lake. That was no log!
    We did eventually find a Tiger and she was beautiful. Her sister cam and joined her and they sat in the mid morning sun. Again, my tour guide said do not try to pet them. Obviously I didn’t but I really wanted to go and tell this beautiful creature she was a good puss and scratch under her chin.
    We kept seeing these little owls hiding in the trees.
    More Monkeys. I think they are monkeys anyway, they probably aren’t so please correct me if I’m wrong.

    This was our hotel in Ranthambore, an old hunting lodge. Had a great swimming pool too.

    Someone had parked their Camel outside a shop.

    We visited the house from the TV show The Real Marigold Hotel which starred Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who), Roy Walker (host of Catchphrase), Miriam Margolyes (Harry Potter) and Wayne Sleep (Ballet Dancer who I once saw in the West End as Frank N Furter in the Rocky Horror Show. The view from the top of the building was incredible and we got to try some local made Indian Gin.

    Elephants. They always looked so sad. Our tour guide said that some of them are not treated so well and are just marched about for tourists.
    This was a demonstration of fabric printing by hand. We got to take our printed pieces with us.

    All of these amazing things are used to tell the time and and date just by the position of the sun. In the 1800’s astronomers would use them to position the stars.

    Our view from the hotel restaurant window in New Delhi on our final day in India
    A cow. In the street!. Some guys on a moped stopped to throw this grass at her which she ate happily. Our tour guide tells me they do it to get good karma in their day, that’s certainly something I felt I could get on board with.
    They don’t eat Beef in India. As I once decided I was going to McDonalds in as many countries as I could there was no way I was missing out on the incredible Maharaja Mac. It’s made with chicken and has a slightly spicy kick.
    Here is the final photo I took in India. We were to board a Virgin Airways bound for Heathrow that would take 11 hours but I couldn’t resist getting a quick shot of the Air India planes preparing for their journeys.

    It was an amazing trip to India, something I will remember for the rest of my life.

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  • Museums of the World: Liverpool Beatles Museum.

    There are two Beatles museums in Liverpool. Firstly, and has been there the longest, is The Beatles Experience out on Albert Dock. Don’t get me wrong, The Beatles Experience is a wonderful museum in it’s own right but does value selfies in recreations of famous Beatles scenes over the few actual objects that they have.

    The Liverpool Beatles museum has over 300 original items on display, with an addition of 1,200 in storage and that is a big collection.

    Unlike the Beatles Story the focus of the Liverpool Beatles Museum is the objects on display that did actually once belong, or were used by, John Paul, George, Ringo or (original drummer) Pete.

    Located on Matthew street not far from the famous Cavern Club, (I could write a whole blog post about Matthew Street itself but, for now, I want to focus on this one museum) The Liverpool Beatles Museum is easily one of my favorite museums in the world.

    So far at least.

    The Liverpool Beatles museum is still quite new being as it’s only five years old.

    Opened in 2018 by Roag Best who is the son of Beatles road manager Neil Aspinall and Mona Best, he is also the half brother of the aforementioned original Beatles drummer Pete Best.

    A lot of the items on display are from the personal collection of Neil Aspinall, Mona Best and Pete Best.

    John’s Harmonica, Paul’s Kimono from that time the Beatles played Japan, Georges Matador hat, Ringo’s drumsticks and Pete Best’s leather trousers that he wore in Hamburg are all things that can be found here.

    Also on display are items that featured in Beatle films and promotion material some of which I will go into a bit more detail later in this blog post. There are also some real oddments like John’s garden furniture and lavatory and the cell door from the Hamburg police station were Paul and Pete spent the night after being arrested for arson.

    The Liverpool Beatles Museum is located in a five-floor building which was once a warehouse and is now a Grade 2 listed building by English Heritage.

    There are three floors, each dedicated to a different period in the Beatles history. The first floor covers 1959–1962, while the second and third cover 1963–1966 and 1967–1970, respectively.

    The pictures on the front of the building are great, there’s just something a little off with the picture of Paul.
    Some screens made to look like Lennonesque spectacles at the entrance to the museum. Note the original museum name ”The Magical Beatles Museum’ is still showing on the screen.
    Paul McCartney owned and used this microphone during 1961. When the Beatles changed to Resio microphones Paul sold this Selmar one to Mona Best for use at the Casbah Coffee Club.
    A speaker casing from the Casbah Club.
    Pete Best’s drum kit.
    Some original Beatles toys from the 60’s. I would love a packet of these.
    Beatles merchandise from the 1960’s.
    A couple of years ago the Liverpool Beatles Museum was visited by Patrick Cassidy a NYPD officer visiting the city for the first time. He mentioned to the staff at the museum that he owned the original NYPD log book which covered the Beatles first visit to New York to perform on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. Patrick’s father was as serving officer at the time. The log records the officers that were sent to control the crowds outside the Ed Sullivan theatre and the show at the Carnegie Hall during which an officer was “knocked off balance” and sustained several injuries.
    1960’s Beatles shift dress. These dresses were mass produced and came in several different colors. There’s a beige version on display in Boston, Massachusetts at the Museum of Fine Arts.
    The Beatles met Elvis that one time. There were no posed photos taken of the event but there was one photo taken by a photographer at the gates of Graceland which showed some Beatles walking towards a waiting car while Elvis waved them off from the door. Colonel Tom Parker presented each Beatle with gifts and Paul, John, George and Ringo were each presented with one of these wagons. This one is from the collection of Neil Aspinall who kept this one,it’s not known which Beatle was gifted it.
    The letter which accompanied the above wagon from Colonel Tom Parker.
    Seats 15 and 16 from the front row of Shea Stadium where the Beatles played in 1965.
    That’s George’s Matador hat in the glass case from the photo to the right.
    This harmonica was owned and played by John Lennon in 1966.
    Some costume pieces and promotional material from the movie How I Won The War which starred John Lennon.
    Some replica costumes of the Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band costumes. They are incredibly well made and the fabric seems very high quality. Probably even better made than the original costumes made by the collective The Fool.
    This garden furniture was once owned by John Lennon and used at his Kenwood estate in Surrey. You can’t quite see it but there are some photos on the wall behind showing John sitting on it. When I first visited the museum this was just tucked in a corner where visitors could sit on it.
    A white grand piano. While it very similar to one that John Lennon once owned and can be seen playing in the video to Imagine there is nothing at the museum to say what it actually is.
    A replica of George Harrison’s Rocky guitar. This was a standard Stratocaster that George gave a psychedelic paint job to. Some of the paint George used was gloss paint and some of it was nail varnish he borrowed from then wife Pattie. This is a great guitar but I wish they would put it in a case or something. At the moment it’s just hanging from a guitar hook.

    A white Cello used by all four Beatles in the video for Blue Jay Way. It’s taken some damage over the years.

    Here’s George playing the Cello seen above.

    This wonderful puppet was featured on the worldwide TV broadcast Our World in 1967 where the Beatles first played their (then) new song All You Need Is Love.

    I’ve added a picture of the puppet below.

    This necklace was once owned by George Harrison. When George attended a business meeting with Neil Aspinal, Neil had his young son Roag with him. Roag was fascinated with the necklace and George let him play with it. When George was about to leave Neil asked Roag to give back the necklace. George could see how taken with the necklace the young boy was and let him keep it.
    An example of the type of clothes that could be bought from the Apple Boutique in the late 60’s I would totally wear this!

    The following few photos are of the amazing artwork that fills the entrance to The

    My photos here in no way represent everything that can be seen at the Liverpool Beatles museum, not even a fraction of it.

    The museum changes and evolves regularly, it’s a work in progress if you will. To use a Beatles lyric to describe it, “It’s getting better all the time”.

    I’ve visited about five times now and no two visits are ever totally the same, there’s always something new to see.

    New display pieces are regularly added, people are donating things all the time, plus there are still over a thousand objects that are kept in storage.

    When I first visited the museum all the only displays were the ones on the walls.

    There are now more cases and displays throughout the building and every time I go back something new has appeared.

    If you’re ever in Liverpool, you have an interest in the Beatles and you only have time to visit just one Beatles museum, then I would highly recommend The Liverpool Beatles Museum.

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  • Wordless Wednesday (on time for a change)

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