Geoff Walden
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Geoff Walden
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Reichsadler / Hoheitsadler Third Reich Eagles Remaining Today on Period Structures
The Third Reich government adopted the eagle as a national symbol (Hoheitszeichen), in common with previous German governments and several other European countries. Originally, the design was to show the eagle's head facing to its right when used as a national symbol, and to its left when used as a Nazi Party symbol, but this convention was not always followed. The eagle's claws were to grasp a wreath of oak leaves surrounding a swastika. Most government and Party buildings, and some other architectural projects such as Autobahn bridges built during the Nazi period featured the Reichs Eagle Hoheitszeichen as a prominent decoration. In spite of a series of proclamations and orders from the Allied Occupation Forces in 1945-46, forbidding the wearing or display of Nazi uniforms or insignia, and ordering the removal of Nazi monuments, statues, and street signs, a number of these Reichs Eagles remain today (most are missing their swastikas, but not all).
This page lists some of these remaining Reichs Eagles - a notation of "unconfirmed" means I have not seen the eagle myself, or a recent photo of it. This list shows only those architectural eagles made of stone or metal - not painted examples (there are many of these remaining, especially inside bunkers of the Westwall and air raid bunkers). This listing is far from complete - anyone with info or photos of additional Nazi Eagles that can still be seen today, or who can confirm those in the list below, is invited to contact the author at gwalden (at) windstream.net. This page also contains a section featuring Gerald Stephenson's photos from the mid-1970s. Many of the Reichs Eagles photographed by Gerald no longer exist today, making this section an important historical document. Click here to visit this section. This section of the page shows swastikas and other Nazi symbols that still exist on buildings.
GERMANY Augsburg
-- Landratsamt,
Prinzregentenstraße - Eagle over the front entrance of the building. Bad
Hersfeld --
Former motorcycle troops Kaserne - Eagle on a building beside the main
headquarters building. Bad
Reichenhall --
Ritter-von-Tutschek Kaserne (or Gen. Konrad Kaserne) - Eagle at corner of main gate building (the swastika has been converted to an
Edelweiss - see close-up from a period postcard below showing the original
swastika). Berchtesgaden-Stanggass
-- Kanzlei - Eagle over main
entry doorway (swastika was removed). Berchtesgaden-Strub
-- Gebirgsjäger
Kaserne - Eagle over
pedestrian entryway (swastika was changed to an Edelweiss). Bergen-Hohne --
Kaserne Offiziers Heim - Eagle and soldiers over entry doorway. Berlin
-- Tempelhof Airport - Six Eagles appear at the corners
of buildings in the Tempelhof complex (Police and government offices). (see
also below) Berlin --
Administration building for Fritz Todt's Armaments Ministry (now the
Gauarbeitsamt) - Friedrichsstraße 34-37 - Eagle on top of the building. Berlin --
Finanzamt, Bismarckstraße 48, Charlottenburg - Eagle above the entrance doorway. The swastika is
said to remain beneath the number sign. (info courtesy
Mark Grootendorst, Chris Hockley, and Thomas Krueger) Note: in late 2006
the number sign was removed, and some sort of material filling the area where
the swastika was carved could be seen. Berlin -- Reichssportsfeld - At the entrance to the Haus des Deutschen Sports complex
adjacent to the Olympic grounds is an "Adlerhof" with two pylons with
golden Eagles on them, in front of the entry building. These were Third Reich
period Eagles, but not really Reichsadlers - not the government style, and
without swastikas. However, a nearby stone pylon does have a Nazi Eagle. Bochum-Werne -- Boltestraße 38
- Eagle above the door of an air raid bunker - see http://www.dienstagstreff.de/de/ditreff/hq/index.php3. Böblingen --
Panzer Kaserne - Housing Office, Bldg. 3162 - Eagle above entry doorway. Böblingen --
Panzer Kaserne - Bldg. 2948 - Eagle above entry doorway. Bremerhaven --
Zollamt Rotersand - Eagle at the corner of the building with date 1936. The
outline of the swastika can be clearly seen within the wreath. Burg Pyrmont
-- Near Burg Eltz, in the Mosel
River region - Eagle on a column of local basalt near a small chapel in
the valley below Burg Pyrmont (does anyone know the history of this Eagle - why
was it placed there?). Butzbach
-- Schloss Kaserne - Eagle above
side doorway of the Schloss, which was formerly used as a Kaserne. Darmstadt
-- Technical University on
Lilienthalstraße in Griesheim - Eagle on the side of a wind tunnel building. Dortmund
-- Finanzamt, Märkische
Straße 124 - Eagle above the main entrance doorway. Düsseldorf
-- Polizeipräsidium - Eagle on a corner of the
building, covered with a modern plaque stating "All People Are Equal Before
the Law." Erlangen
-- Amtsgericht, Sieboltstraße
2 - Eagle over main doorway (sculptor Walter Bischoff). Erlangen -- Friedrich-Rückert-Schule,
Memelstraße/Ohmplatz - Eagle above side doorway - in this example, the
sculptor Walter Bischoff showed the Hoheitszeichen being held up by two school
children. Erwitte
-- DAF Schule, Horst Wessel Halle
(near the Schloss) -
Eagle on front of building (sculptor Willy Meller). Esslingen -- Reichsbank - a large Eagle on the front, smaller Eagles on the ends of the building (swastikas removed) (unconfirmed). Feldberg (Schwarzwald)
-- Parkplatz on highway B317
on the Feldberg Mountain - Eagle on a wall
commemorating the completion of a Third Reich construction project with dates
1938-1939. Frankfurt
am Main --
Gibbs Barracks, Marbach Weg - Eagle over building doorway. Frankfurt am Main - Praunheim
-- Luftschutz Bunker (air raid shelter) near Heerstraße - Eagle on corner
of bunker. Garmisch-Partenkirchen --
Krafft von Dellmensingen Kaserne, Marshall Center - This Eagle with its swastika
modified to an Iron Cross is at the corner of a gate building. Hamburg
-- Hafenbunker - between the U-Bahn Station St.Pauli-Landungsbrücken and
the U-Bahn Station Baumwall Hamburg -- Arningstraße
Bunker Hamburg -- Billhornerbrückenstraße
Bunker - Röhrendamm Hamburg -- Hasselbrook
Bunker, at the S-Bahnhof Hamburg -- Wiesendamm
Bunker, at the Barmbek Bahnhof Hamburg -- University
Clinic - Eagle above entry doorway. Hamburg -- Postamt, Schlüterstraße
(Univiertel) - Eagle covered with ivy (unconfirmed). Hamburg -- Glinde - About 15km east of Hamburg - a monument with a Reichs Eagle (unconfirmed). Heidelberg -- Campbell
Barracks (former Großdeutschland Kaserne) - two Eagles at the main entry gate,
one of which reportedly still has its swastika
(covered over with the insignia shield). Heilbronn --
Rosenberg Bridge - Third Reich Eagle on a bridge pylon (another pylon has an
Imperial Eagle). The Eagle originally held a wreath in its talons, but most has
been chipped away. Herrsching
-- Finance School building -
large Eagle over main entryway. Kaiserslautern -- Panzer Barracks - Eagle with head and swastika removed, over Command building. Kiel -- This Eagle
is on a house owned by the German Navy, near the harbor. Koblenz --
Reichsbankfiliale, Neustadt 6 - Eagle above the entry doorway. Lauffen am Neckar --
Neckar River locks - Eagle above a doorway of the lock building. Lohr am Main --
Forsthaus (Am Forsthof Straße) - sandstone Eagle taking flight in front of the
main entryway. Mainz-Kastel --
Corner of Dyckerhoffstraße and Wiesbadener Straße - Eagle on a pylon. Munich
-- Oberfinanzpräsidium
(Landesfinanzamt),
Sophienstraße 6 - Eagle over main entry archways. Munich -- Bavarian
Nationalmuseum,
Prinzregentenstraße - Eagle above side doorway. Munich -- former
Nazi Party offices, Schellingstraße 50 - Eagle above the doorway (now
missing its head). Munich
-- Luftgaukommando,
Prinzregentenstraße - This eagle with the swastika partly removed is located above an
inner doorway (info and photos courtesy Mario Blersch and 3rmedals@free.fr). (see
also below) Munich
-- former Funk-Kaserne -
Eagle at entry gateway. Nürnberg
-- Hotel Carlton - when the
Fränkischer Hof hotel was rebuilt in the 1990s, original coats-of-arms shields
were placed back on the façade of the new building - one of these shows an
Eagle with the swastika only partly removed. Nürnberg
-- former
Reichsbahndirektion, Am Sand 34 - Eagle with the date 1938 above the doorway. Pelzerhaken
-- Lighthouse - metal
Eagle with date 1936. Rothenburg o.d.Tauber
-- Finanzamt,
Ludwig-Siebert-Straße 31 - Eagle above main doorway. Schweigen-Rechtenbach
-- Deutsches Weintor - Reichs Eagle with swastika partially effaced, by a
sculptor named Imanuel. Schweinfurt
-- Panzer Kaserne (now U.S.
Army Ledward Barracks) - large Eagle on main gate building; Eagle on a plaque
above the headquarters building doorway (with a Pzkw. I tank and a partial
swastika). Schweinfurt
-- Flugplatz (now U.S. Army
Conn Barracks) - Luftwaffe Eagle on main gate building, another Luftwaffe Eagle
on a bunker near the airfield. (A barracks building also has a painting of the
Nazi coat of arms for Munich, complete with Reichsadler (swastika painted over.) Schweinfurt
-- Side building of a former
Hitler Youth school on Wilhelm-Leuschner-Str. - Eagle dated 1937 above the side
doorway (the head is painted green and may have been replaced). Stuttgart
-- Grenadier Kaserne - Eagle
at the main entry (this is now a housing area). Ulm
-- Eagle above a doorway at
the former Eich-Amt on G-Hauptmann-Weg. Villingen-Schwenningen -- Hallenbad - Eagle (unconfirmed). Vogelsang
-- Former Order Castle (Ordensburg)
in the Eifel region - Eagle on a wall above the Assembly Square; Eagle by
Willy Meller as
part of a sculpture on the Sports Field; one of the Eagles that were once on
either side of the entrance building is now in the Adlerhof. Webenheim
-- Kriegerdenkmal. Wolfenbüttel
-- Northampton Barracks - Eagle dated
1936 on a monument at an entrance to the post. Würzburg
-- Nordkaserne - Eagle at
corner of main gate building.
AUSTRIA Hallwang -- Autobahn underpasses - two
Eagles with 1939 date (swastikas removed). Innsbruck -- Landhaus -
Wilhelm-Greil-Straße
- Eagle
on front of building. Vienna -- A1 Autobahn bridges - Eagles
with 1939 and 1941 dates. Villach -- A10 Autobahn bridge - Eagle
with 1938 date. HONORABLE MENTIONS Eagles that no longer appear in their original locations, or that no longer exist but still have visible remains, or that did not originally have swastikas (and thus not Hoheitsadlers), or not actual architectural eagles. Ainring (Bad Reichenhall)
-- Former Nazi airfield
administration building (now a Polizei training school) - This iron Eagle
grasping a snake in its claws appears above the entry doorway. Berlin -- The new Reichs Chancellery
(Reichskanzlei) featured several stone and metal Eagles as Hoheitszeichen, by
sculptor Kurt Schmid-Ehmen. Some of these were taken by the victorious Allies in
1945 and can still be seen today in museums. Berlin
-- Tempelhof Airport - A large metal Eagle was displayed on the top of the
terminal building. This Eagle was removed in the 1960s and the head was sent to
the USA, but was returned in the 1980s and now sits on a stone plinth in front of
the terminal in "Eagle Square." Euskirchen
-- Kaserne - This Eagle may
now be on display in the Haus der Geschichte museum in Bonn (unconfirmed). See http://www.dhm.de/lemo/objekte/pict/Nachkriegsjahre_reichsadlerEntnazifiziert/
. Grafenwöhr
-- Kaserne - an Eagle above
a doorway on a barracks building (apparently never had a swastika). Munich -- Kongreßsaal of the
Deutsches Museum (Haus der Deutschen Technik) - This building was erected, with
Eagles at each roof corner, in 1935-36, but these Eagles did not have swastikas. Munich
-- Oberfinanzpräsidium,
Sophienstraße 6 (see above) - This Reich-style Eagle perches on the Bavarian
coat of arms - it never had a swastika. Neustadt an der Weinstraße
-- This Eagle on a pillar
near the stadium was emplaced in 1941, but did not have a swastika. Nürnberg
--
Umspannwerk - Regensburger Straße - the outlines where the Eagles were
applied to each end of the building can still be plainly seen. Salzburg (Austria) -- Schloss Klessheim - two
Eagles at entrance gateway (these Eagles were installed during the period
1940-42, but they never had swastikas associated with them). Schweinfurt -- Willy Sachs Stadion -
This Eagle on top of a stone pylon at the entrance to the
stadium complex was part of the 1935-36 construction, but it never had a
swastika. It was by Ludwig Gies, who later designed the "Fat Chicken"
Eagle that can be seen today in the Bundestag chamber of the Reichstag building
in Berlin.
Deutsches Reich Höhenmärke --
These iron survey markers can be found on churches and public buildings in the following
cities (if any reader knows of any similar markers, please send
an e-mail to the page author). Öhringen (Swabia) - main church with clock tower.
GERMANY (no longer remaining?) Frankfurt am Main -- Drake-Edwards
Kaserne - The front gate of Drake Kaserne used to have Eagles at each side and swastikas in the
decorative ironwork of the gate itself; and two Eagles with the date 1937 on a building
of Edwards Kaserne, but I believe all of this has been
removed - can anyone confirm this? Nov. 2006 note - I have visited these
sites myself, and indeed, these relics are now gone (Edwards Kaserne has been
torn down). Karlsruhe
-- Rheinkaserne - An Eagle
with swastika appeared on a building by a former gate - the swastika was still
present into the 1960s, when the Kaserne was U.S. Army Gerszewski Barracks. The
swastika was later removed, and the entire Kaserne was torn down a
few years ago (thanks to Marco Spadafora for confirmation). Nürnberg -- I have been told that a hotel building near the center of the Altstadt - perhaps just south of the Marktplatz - has a Reichs Eagle with the swastika covered over, but still visible. I couldn't find it - can anyone confirm this? Rothenburg o.d.Tauber -- I have read that there is a Reichs Eagle on the Sparkasse building on Kapellenplatz - I couldn't find it - can anyone confirm this?
A few stylized swastikas and other Nazi symbols surprisingly remain today on buildings in Germany. Baumholder -- This
stone swastika remains in the wall of a building on U.S. Army H.D. Smith
Barracks. Bavaria -- Somewhere along a road in Bavaria
is this period swastika carved into the stones of the retaining wall (I can't
say where it is, because the authorities might do away with it if it were
publicized). Berlin -- The bronze bell for the 1936
Olympics had swastikas cast into either side, and these were not entirely
removed (or covered over) after the war. The original bell is now on display
outside the Olympic Stadium. Koblenz --
Reichsbankfiliale, Neustadt 6 - Panels above the windows contain stylized
swastikas. Köln (Cologne) -- The famous Dom (Cathedral) reportedly has a swastika and the date 1935 on one of the spires (not visible from the ground?). Munich -- Haus der
Deutschen Kunst - These interlocked swastikas appear in mosaics on the ceiling
spaces between the pillars on the outside of the building. Munich -- Luftgaukommando,
Prinzregentenstraße - These ironwork swastikas appear on windows on the Oettinger Straße side. Munich -- "Hakenkreuzhaus" - in
1934 an existing building at Hanfstaenglstraße 16-20 was converted to a swastika shape, which is still
plainly visible from the air. (The original Munich "Hakenkreuzhaus" at
Donaustraße 25-31 was
rebuilt to a different configuration after the war.) (image from Google Earth) Veltheim -- The World War I memorial was
erected in 1936, and had a swastika that has been only partially removed. Vogelsang -- There is a swastika inlaid into the floor of the Ehrenhalle ("Cult Room") of the castle tower at the Ordensburg Vogelsang - Does anyone have a photo of this to donate to this webpage? Wewelsburg -- SS
"Honor Castle" - A swastika appears in the Crypt dome of the North
Tower of the castle, and partially-effaced SS runes appear on a small guardhouse
outside the castle.
Poland -- This water sluice near the
Oder-Warthe-Bogen has a swastika and the date 1934 on the front face.
My thanks to the following individuals who have generously provided information and/or photos for this page - Karl Asmus, Frank Backes, Keith Ball, Jörn Baier, Monika Beutling, Mario Blersch, Rainer Bürcky, Dan Courtney, Mike Davis, Klaus Finnemann, T.G. Fisher, Hugh Foster, Detlev Frye, Mike Furlong, Mark Glebke, Mark Grootendorst, Nico H., Don Hardman, Uwe Hartung, Steven Hicks, Chris Hockley, Fred Holst, Ralf Hornberger, Jerry Irick, Thomas Krueger, Florian Lütscher, Paul Madden, Arne Marenda, Stewart McCartney, Paul McRee, Bill Pohle, David Quayle, Kyle Ray, Randall Rose, Tom & Kristin Sansone, Greg Schelesky, Thomas Schell, Marko Sijan, Marco Spadafora, Doug Stanley, Alexandros Stavridis, Gerald Stephenson, Dominik Stockmann, Greg Walden, Thomas Weisengrund, Nic Wurz.
Gerald Stephenson's Reich Eagles Gerald Stephenson photographed these Eagles when he was a U.S. Army soldier stationed in Germany in the mid-1970s. Many of these Eagles are gone today, having fallen victim to destruction of the buildings that once held them. If any reader knows the current status of any of these, please send me an e-mail. Many thanks to Gerald for sending these photos!
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Third Reich in Ruins, http://www.thirdreichruins.com/ All contents copyright © 2000-2008, Geoffrey R. Walden; all rights reserved. All photos taken by or from the collection of Geoffrey R. Walden, except where specifically noted. Please respect my property rights, and the rights of others who have graciously allowed me to use their photos on this page, and do not copy these photos or reproduce them in any other way. This page is intended for historical
research only, and no political or philosophical aims should be assumed. This page initially uploaded on 20 July 2000. |
(photo
courtesy Stewart McCartney)
(photo from 
(photos courtesy Marko Sijan, Croatia)
(photos courtesy Ralf Hornberger)
(photo courtesy Hugh F. Foster, LTC, USA (Ret.)
(photo courtesy Mike Furlong)
(photo from
(photo
courtesy Rainer Bürcky)
(thanks to the friend
who donated this photo!)
(photo courtesy Ralf
Hornberger)
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