Thingspiele

Thingplatz in der Ordensburg Vogelsang

Die „Feierstätte der Schlesier“ in St. Annaberg

Heidelberger Thingstätte

A Thingspiel (plural Thingspiele) was a kind of outdoor theatre which enjoyed brief popularity in pre-war Nazi Germany during the 1930s.

A Thingplatz also known as Thingstätte was a specially-constructed outdoor amphitheater built for such Thingspiele. They were constructed in considerable numbers during the early 1930s. An estimated 200 to 400 were at least in the planning stage in the period of 1933 to 1939.

Here, the Volk would gather for Völkisch meetings and to view theater and propaganda presentations by Joseph Goebbels. A Thing was an ancient Nordic/Germanic gathering of the people, in an outdoor setting. The Thing sites were to be built as much as possible in a natural setting, incorporating rocks, trees, water bodies, ruins, and hills of some historical or mythical significance.

The first Thingplatz was built in 1934 near Halle. Some 1200 Thing sites were planned, but only about 40 were built, as the movement was never particularly popular with the people . Hitler himself was not a big believer in the "Blut und Boden" aspect of Goebbels' propaganda, and outdoor propaganda performances were not popular in the commonly cold and damp German weather. After 1936, most Thing sites were used as Feierstätten (festival sites) or Freilichtbühnen (open-air theaters), for outdoor plays and normal folk festivals such as those celebrating the summer solstice.

Following the end of World War II many of these sites have come to be used as venues for outdoor rock concerts and other musical presentations.

See also

• Nazi architecture