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3.1 Major National Event: From Party Rally to National Celebration

As of 1934, access to financial and human resources enabled a significant professionalisation. New groups of participants extended the temporal and spatial scope of the event. Marches and parades of the Nazi organisations on the rally grounds and in the old town were an established element of the staged spectacle. In 1933, the spectacle lasted five days, in 1934 seven, and from 1937 onwards, eight full days.

During the rally week, exceptional circumstances prevailed in Nuremberg. Up to one million participants and spectators, mainly from Germany, but also from abroad, demanded an increasing amount of organisation.

Hermann Kettler from Bremen recorded his personal impressions of the rally in a private photo album. As a political leader, he had the opportunity to spend the entire rally week in Nuremberg. In the photo album, you can see what events Hermann attended and what moments were so important to him that he captured them on photos.