In the urban reform plans of the city of Berlin, the construction of very large buildings had been planned, which if they existed today would continue to be the largest in the world. One of them would be the triumphal arch of Berlin, a huge triumphal arch that would be built at the southern end of the city's north-south avenue. This arch would be so large that the triumphal arch of Paris would fit under its main arch.
The main problem for the construction of these great buildings was the subsoil of the German capital. Berlin is in the center of a gigantic swamp that occupies the northern half of Germany and Poland. The subsoil is highly unstable since it is sand deposits and where the water table is just 2-3 meters from the surface. To check whether the subsoil would support the weight of the building, Albert Speer, Chief Architect of the Reich built a large load test to see if the soil would hold. According to the data provided by this load test, the Berlin subsoil would not have supported the weight of the Nazi buildings.
How to get there
The big load test is located in the south of the city, near Tempelhof airport. To get there we must go to the stop Kolonnenbrücke with bus line 104. To find out the best combination to get there, you can consult the following LINK.
Great Cargo Corps opening hours
The great load test is open only from April to October at the following times:
- Tuesday to Thursday, Saturday and Sunday – 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Visit the Great Cargo Body
The visit to the great load test allows you to visit the ins and outs of this piece of Nazi engineering. Equipped with a protective helmet, you can access the monument that today is protected under the German architectural heritage law.
