Berlin Underground: Traces of Hitler’s Abandoned Megacity

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Throughout his entire life, Adolf Hitler’s attitude towards the German capital, Berlin, was reserved, even distant. He prefered to stay in his beloved Munich. Only when he took power in 1933 did he set up permanent residence in the capital.
According to the will of the “Führer”, the “old” Berlin was to cease to exist, and to be replaced by the global capital, “Germania” – in line with plans drawn up by his architect, Albert Speer. Only few buildings were erected; most were destroyed by allied bombs or the victorious armies.
With experts of the organization “Berliner Unterwelten” in this documentary SPIEGEL TV conducts research on the less well-known buildings of the Third Reich, abandoned subterranean street tunnels that were part of the “Germania” plans, former Wehrmacht barracks and the ruins of gigantic Flak (anti-aircraft) towers. They explore former torture chambers and settlements of the SS, former Hitler youth homes and extensive bunker facilities, the original purpose of which is known only by few people today.
Rare archive photographs created on instructions from film producer Leni Riefenstahl bear testimony to models of the gigantomaniac buildings Hitler wanted to erect in Berlin.