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Volksgemeinschaft Engineers: The Nazi “Voyages of Technology”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2011

John C. Guse
John C. Guse
Affiliation:
American School of Paris, Emeritus
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Extract

Punctually at 4:05 on the morning of March 31, 1938, a new diesel locomotive left the Holzkirchen Bahnhof in Munich, pulling the first traveling “achievement exhibition” (Leistungsshau) of German technology. It had been nineteen days since the Anschluss, and on April 10 all Greater Germany would vote its approval of incorporating Austria into the Reich. Despite their use of terror to influence the Austrian vote and virtual assurance of electoral success, the National Socialists embarked on an extensive propaganda effort in Austria to ensure a wide margin of victory there. Hitler campaigned throughout Austria during the last ten days before the vote, making six major speeches, and other top Nazi officials made electioneering tours. Famous for constructing the Autobahn network, Fritz Todt, Inspector General for German Highways, and the engineers of the NSDAP Central Office for Technology, organized a traveling propaganda exhibit to display German technology under the motto “Austria's chimneys will smoke again.” It was the first of three “Voyages of Technology” undertaken by Todt and his Nazi engineers.

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Articles
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Central European History , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 447 - 477
Copyright
Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 2011

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References

1 The locomotive had completed its maiden voyage in the Black Forest only three days earlier. “Auch Österreichs Schlote sollen wieder rauchen. Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik,” Salzburger Zeitung, April 5, 1938, Bundersarchiv (Berlin, formerly Koblenz), NS 14/5, folio 1. Hereafter, unless otherwise indicated, all primary source files, particularly NS 14 (Hauptamt für Technik/Nationalsozialistischer Bund Deutscher Technik, 1934–45), are found in the Bundesarchiv-Lichterfelde. On the significance of Leistung (“achievement” or “performance”) for Nazi economics, see Wiesen, S. Jonathan, Creating the Nazi Marketplace: Commerce and Consumption in the Third Reich (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 28–34Google Scholar.

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3 The only full biography of Todt is Seidler, Franz W., Fritz Todt. Baumeister des Dritten Reiches (Munich and Berlin: Herbig, 1986)Google Scholar. Seidler mentions these voyages of technology on page 52. A hagiographic essay by one of Todt's collaborators is Schoenleben, Edward, Fritz Todt: Der Mensch, der Ingenieur, der Nationalsozialist. Ein Bericht über Leben und Werk (Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling, 1943)Google Scholar.

4 Ludwig, Karl-Heinz, Technik und Ingenieure im Dritten Reich (Düsseldorf: Droste, 1974)Google Scholar. For the engineering professions in the Third Reich, in addition to Ludwig's study, see especially Jarausch, Konrad, The Unfree Professions: German Lawyers, Teachers, and Engineers, 1900–1950 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990)Google Scholar; and John Guse, “The Spirit of the Plassenburg: Technology and Ideology in the Third Reich,” (Ph.D. diss., University of Nebraska, 1981). Ludwig, Karl-Heinz and König, Wolfgang, eds., Technik, Ingenieure und Gesellschaft. Geschichte des Vereins Deutscher Ingenieure 1856–1981 (Düsseldorf: VDI-Verlag, 1981)Google Scholar; and Hortleder, Gerd, Das Gesellschaftsbild des Ingenieurs. Zum politischen Verhalten der Technischen Intelligenz in Deutschland (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1970)Google Scholar, are also still valuable. For a local example, see Thomas, Donald, “Nazi ‘Coordination’ of Technology: The Case of the Bavarian Polytechnical Society,” Technology and Culture 31 (1990): 251–264CrossRefGoogle Scholar. A historiographical overview written in the context of the “historization” debate is Harwood, Jonathan, “German Science and Technology under National Socialism,” Perspectives on Science 5 (1997): 128–151Google Scholar. For the Reichsautobahn, see footnote 111 below. Important contributions on Nazi ideology and technology are found in Walker, Mark and Renneberg, Monika, eds., Science, Technology, and National Socialism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)Google Scholar; Dietz, Burkhard, Fessner, Michael, and Maier, Helmut, eds., Technische Intelligenz und “Kulturfaktor Technik.” Kulturvorstellungen von Technikern und Ingenieuren zwischen Kaiserreich und früher Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Münster: Waxmann, 1996)Google Scholar; Emmerich, Wolfgang and Wege, Carl, eds., Der Technikdiskurs in der Hitler-Stalin-Ära (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1995)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Mehrtens, Herbert and Richter, Steffen, eds., Naturwissenschaft, Technik und NS-Ideologie. Beiträge zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte des Dritten Reiches (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1980)Google Scholar.

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8 The party engineering association, the NSBDT, incorporated the German engineering associations, most notably the Society of German Engineers (VDI), during the “reordering of German technology” undertaken by Todt in April 1937. Deutsche Technik (April 1937): 203; and “Zur Neuordnung der deutschen Technik,” Deutsche Technik (May 1937): 209–214. For analysis of the process, see Ludwig, Technik und Ingenieure, 170–175; Jarausch, The Unfree Professions, 165–166; and Guse, “Plassenburg,” 166–172.

9 The most influential interpretation of the engineers’ ideology has been Jeffrey Herf's “reactionary modernism” thesis. Herf, Jeffrey, Reactionary Modernism: Technology, Culture, and Politics in Weimar and the Third Reich (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984)Google Scholar. Among those who reject Herf's thesis is Rohkrämer, Thomas, “Antimodernism, Reactionary Modernism, and National Socialism,” Contemporary European History 8 (1999): 29–50CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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13 Fritzsche, Peter, Life and Death in the Third Reich (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2008)Google Scholar.

14 See Barkai, Avraham, “The German Volksgemeinschaft from the Persecution of the Jews to the ‘Final Solution,’” in Confronting the Nazi Past: New Debates on Modern German History, ed. Burleigh, Michael (London: Collins and Brown, 1996), 84–97Google Scholar; and Wachsmann, Nikolaus, “The Policy of Exclusion: Repression in the Nazi State, 1933-1939,” in Nazi Germany, ed. Caplan, Jane (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 122–145Google Scholar.

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17 König, Wolfgang, Volkswagen, Volksempfänger, Volksgemeinschaft: “Volksprodukte” im Dritten Reich. Vom Scheitern eine nationalsozialistische Konsumgesellschaft (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2004)Google Scholar.

18 Zeller, Driving Germany, 241; Baranowski, Shelly, Strength through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004)Google Scholar.

19 Wiesen, Creating the Nazi Marketplace, 10.

20 Betts, Paul, “The New Fascination with Fascism,” Journal of Contemporary History 37 (2002): 554CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 Fritzsche, Life and Death, 59.

22 Zeller, Driving Germany, 68–70.

23 Hughes, Thomas Parke, “Technology,” in The Holocaust: Ideology, Bureaucracy, and Genocide. The San Jose Papers, ed. Friedlander, Henry and Milton, Sybil (Milwood, NY: Kraus International Publications, 1980)Google Scholar, 173, 177.

24 A full overview of the historiography and an extensive bibliography are contained in Bavaj, Ricardo, ed., Die Ambivalenz der Moderne im Nationalsozialismus. Eine Bilanz der Forschung (Munich: R. Oldenbourg, 2003)Google Scholar. A brief synthesis is in Allen, Michael Thad, “Modernity, the Holocaust, and Machines without History,” in Technologies of Power: Essays in Honor of Thomas Park Hughes, ed. Allen, Michael Thad and Hecht, Gabrielle (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001), 181–184Google Scholar. See also the special edition of Central European History 30 (1997)Google Scholar; and the review by Roseman, Mark, “National Socialism and Modernization” in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: Comparisons and Contrasts, ed. Bessel, Richard (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996)Google Scholar.

25 Kees Gispen combines these themes when he argues that Nazi inventor policy aimed for “a more modern, technologically dynamic, equitable, and efficient Volksgemeinschaft . . . of consumers.” Gispen, Kees, Poems in Steel: National Socialism and the Politics of Inventing from Weimar to Bonn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)Google Scholar, 8.

26 Ian Kershaw's Jewish colleague could not imagine having suffered the wrath of the Nazis for the goal of modernizing Germany; the deportment of these engineers illustrates the paradox. Kershaw, Ian, Hitler, the Germans, and the Final Solution (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008)Google Scholar, 16.

27 Tooze, Wages, 156; Walker, Mark, Nazi Science: Myth, Truth, and the German Atomic Bomb (Cambridge, MA: Perseus, 1995), 196–197CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 Richard Overy stresses the economic significance of the Autobahnen, but Adam Tooze argues that “they did not contribute materially to the relief of unemployment,” a position supported by Thomas Zeller. Overy, Richard, War and Economy in the Third Reich (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 68–89CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Tooze, Wages, 45–47; Zeller, Driving Germany, 59. See also Silverman, Dan P., Hitler's Economy: Nazi Work Creation Programs, 1933–1936 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998)Google Scholar, chapter seven.

29 Herf, Reactionary Modernism, 202, 215, 222–224; Ludwig, Technik und Ingenieure, 254–255.

30 Erhard Schütz, “Faszination der blassgrauen Bänder. Zur ‘organischen’ Technik der Reichsautobahn,” in Der Technikdiskurs, ed. Emmerich and Wege, 124–125.

31 Lüdtke, Alf, Eigen-Sinn. Fabrik-Alltag, Arbeitererfahrungen und Politik vom Kaiserreich bis in den Faschismus (Hamburg: Ergebnisse Verlag, 1993)Google Scholar; Westermann, Edward, Hitler's Police Battalions: Enforcing Racial War in the East (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2005)Google Scholar; Wildt, Michael, Generation des Unbedingten. Das Führungskorps des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes (Hamburg: Hamburger Edition, 2003)Google Scholar; Ingrao, Christian, Croire et Détruire: Les Intellectuels dans la Machine de Guerre SS (Paris: Fayard, 2010)Google Scholar; Ulrich Herbert, “Ideological Legitimization and Political Practice of the Leadership of the National Socialist Secret Police,” in The Third Reich between Vision and Reality, ed. Mommsen, 95–108; Allen, Michael Thad, The Business of Genocide: The SS, Slave Labor, and the Concentration Camp (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2002)Google Scholar.

32 Petersen, Michael, Missiles for the Fatherland (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)Google Scholar.

33 Wiesen, Creating the Nazi Marketplace, 21.

34 Adam Tooze, “The Economic History of the Third Reich,” in Nazi Germany, ed. Caplan, 195.

35 Link, “Merkblatt für die Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik anlässlich der Volksabstimmung in Österreich,” NS 14/5, folio 1.

36 “Auch Österreichs Schlote sollten wieder rauchen! Österreich-Fahrt der deutschen Technik,” draft press release, NS 14/5, folio 1.

37 Only on the sixth night in Salzburg and the last two nights in Vienna did the group stay in hotels, leading participants on the train to complain of the snoring and their inability to wash clothing. Brume, , “Horchideen im Zug der Technik,” Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 4 (April 8, 1938)Google Scholar: 7, NS 14/5, folio 1.

38 Albert Speer, interview with John Guse, October 23, 1974; and Hitler's testament in Maser, Werner, Hitler's Letters and Notes, trans. Pomerans, Arnold (New York: Harper & Row, 1974)Google Scholar, 358.

39 The phrase is Georg Seebauer's (prior to Saur, Todt's primary deputy), quoted in Ludwig, Technik und Ingenieure, 411.

40 Tooze, “Economic History,” 194.

41 Tooze, Wages, 434, 560. As Adam Tooze says, it is astounding that Saur escaped prosecution at Nuremberg.

42 Ludwig, Technik und Ingenieure, 171 ff. On Saur's wartime activities, see Allen, Business, 233–239; and Tooze, Wages, 628–634.

43 Ludwig, Technik und Ingenieure, 65.

44 Evidence suggests, but is insufficient to conclude, that this is the same engineer Josef Greiner who published the now-discredited Das Ende der Hitler-Mythos (Zurich, Leipzig, and Vienna: Amalthea-Verlag, 1947)Google Scholar.

45 Link, “Merkblatt für die Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik anlässlich der Volksabstimmung in Österreich,” NS 14/5, folio 1.

46 “Deutsche Werkstoffe im Sonderzug ‘Deutsche Technik,’” Grazer Volksblatt, April 9, 1938; and “Alle Schlote sollen wieder rauchen. Deutschland baut mit deutschen Werkstoffen,” Arbeitersturm, Linz, April 5, 1938, both in NS 14/5, folio 1.

47 “Siegeszug der deutschen Technik,” Steyrer Zeitung, April 7, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 1.

48 “Jules Verne übertroffen,” Arbeitersturm, Linz, April 4, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 1.

49 Report from Dornbirn, April 1, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 1.

50 Greiner, J., “Männer der Technik als Propagandisten der Tat,” Sparwirtschaft. Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftlichen Betrieb (April 1938): 109–110Google Scholar, NS 14/5, folio 1.

51 Ibid.; “Das Erlebnis. Gemeinschaft des Schicksals, des Blutes und des Lebens,” Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 4 (April 8, 1938)Google Scholar: 2; and Link, “Merkblatt für die Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik anlässlich der Volksabstimmung in Österreich,” all in NS 14/5, folio 1.

52 J. Greiner, draft press release,“Erfolg der Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Die rollende Leistungschau in Zahlenbild,” NS 14/5, folio 1. For the ideological implications of the “Beauty of Work” program, see Rabinach, Anson, “The Aesthetics of Production in the Third Reich,” in International Fascism: New Thoughts and New Approaches, ed. Mosse, George (London: Sage, 1979), 189–222Google Scholar.

53 “Potemkin'sche Dörfer—Schuschnigg'sche Fabriken,” Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 1 (April 3, 1938)Google Scholar: 2, NS 14/5, folio 1.

54 Unsigned draft, “Kundgebung der deutschen Technik,” part of a draft version of Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 2 (April 4, 1938): 3–4, NS 14/5, folio 1. In same draft, Todt is quoted as saying he had “known” since 1934 that Autobahnen would be built in Austria, suggesting more foreknowledge of territorial ambitions than he usually cared to admit. The draft is edited, however: the word “known” (gewusst) is struck out and replaced by “in the belief” (in der Überzeugung).

55 Unsigned draft press release, “Die Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik in Styr und Linz,” NS 14/5, folio 1.

56 On the Todt-Goering relationship, see Seidler, Fritz Todt, 339–340; Overy, Richard, Goering (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1984), 206–207Google Scholar; and Mörtzschky, Norman, “Wer profitierte vom plötzlichen Tod des Reichministers für Bewaffnung und Munition, Dr. Fritz Todt?,” Historische Mitteillungen 11 (1998): 99Google Scholar.

57 Unsigned draft press release, “Die Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik in Styr und Linz,” NS 14/5, folio 1.

58 “Mein Sohn liegt wieder im Reich,” Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 4 (April 8, 1938)Google Scholar: 4, NS 14/5, folio 1.

59 Unsigned draft press release, “Die Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik in Styr und Linz,” NS 14/5, folio 1.

60 See Evans, Richard J., The Third Reich in Power (New York: Penguin Press, 2005), 656–661Google Scholar.

61 Unsigned draft press release, “Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Propagandafahrt zum Bekenntnis des Herzens,” April 1, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 1.

62 J. Greiner, draft press release, “Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Ein beispielloser Erfolg,” April 6, 1938; and “Sonderzug Deutsche Technik,” Grazer Volksblatt, April 8, 1938, both in NS 14/5, folio 1.

63 Unsigned draft press release, “Die Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik in Steyr und Linz,” NS 14/5, folio 1.

64 Unsigned draft press release, “Die Technik fand das Volk,” NS 14/5, folio 1. There is a faint echo here of the consumer-oriented “technological corporatism” of Weimar reformers such as Oskar von Miller, but without its overt reliance on market forces. See Duffey, Eve, “Oskar von Miller and the Art of the Electrical Exhibition: Staging Modernity in Weimar Germany,” German History 25 (2007): 517–538CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the political struggle surrounding the Deutsches Museum, see Eve Duffey, “Representing Science and Technology: Politics and Display in the Deutsches Museum, 1903–1945” (Ph.D. diss., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2002).

65 “Siegeszug der deutschen Technik,” Steyrer Zeitung, April 7, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 1.

66 Unlike Todt, Feder had advocated a form of “völkisch technocracy” that implied a radical socio-economic transformation of Germany. Guse, “Nazi Technical Thought,” 5–18. On the “technocracy” movement among German engineers, see especially Willeke, Stefan, Die Technokratiebewegung in Nordamerika und in Deutschland zwischen den Weltkriegen. Eine vergleichende Analyse (Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang, 1995)Google Scholar; and Adolf, “Technikdiskurs,” 436–440.

67 Unsigned draft press release, “Die Technik fand das Volk,” NS14/5, folio 1.

68 On the Plassenburg courses, see Guse, “Nazi Technical Thought,” 12–15; and Guse, “Plassenburg,” 172–180. See also Seidler, Fritz Todt, 57–61.

69 Unsigned draft press release, “Die Technik fand das Volk,” NS 14/5, folio 1.

70 On the “coordinating” of the engineering professions, see Ludwig, Technik und Ingenieure, 105–175; and Jarausch, The Unfree Professions, chapter five.

71 Dr. W. Foerst to Dr. Flemming, March 25, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 1.

72 J. Greiner, draft press release, “Sudetenfahrt mit 100 kleinen Wundern,” November 21, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

73 Link, “Merkblatt für die Kreis- und Ortsgruppenleute der NSDAP im Sudetengau,” November 1938; and Efde, “Hausmitteilungen (anonym),” both in NS 14/5, folio 2.

74 “Hausmitteilungen (anonym),” NS 14/5, folio 2.

75 J. Greiner, “Unsere kleinen Erlebnisse,” Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, nos. 3–4 (November 26–27, 1938): 5; and Efde, “Hausmitteilungen (anonym),” both in NS 14/5, folio 2. Gebhard Himmler was made responsible for professional education within the Ministry of Education in 1944. Longerich, Peter, Himmler [French ed.] (Paris: Héloise d'Ormesson, 2010), 372Google Scholar.

76 “Rollende Leistungschau der deutschen Technik,” Münchener Zeitung, November 24, 1938. A list of Central Office of Technology participants is contained in [Karl-Otto] Saur, “An die Mannschaft der Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik,” November 19, 1938, 1. Both sources in NS 14/5, folio 2.

77 Efde, satirical poem, “Die Sudentenfahrt,” in Efde, “Hausmitteilungen (anonym),” NS 14/5, folio 2.

78 “Dr. Ley bei den Sudetenfahren,” Völkischer Beobachter, November 30, 1938; and Gringmuth, “Teure hinterbliebene Frauen!,” December 1, 1938, both in NS 14/5, folio 2.

79 J. Greiner, “Die Egerländer begeistern sich für die deutsche Technik,” Völkischer Beobachter, November 25, 1938; and Fritz Todt, quoted by Greiner, J., “Begeisterung für Dr. Todt,” Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 2 (November 25, 1938)Google Scholar: 5, both in NS 15/5, folio 2.

80 “Dr. Todt in Eger. Leistungschau der deutschen Technik in der Obhut des Sudetengaues,” Die Zeit, Reichenberg, November 26, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

81 J. Greiner, draft press release, “Sudetenfahrt mit hundert Wundern der Technik. Rollende Leisungsschau im politischen Einsatz,” reproduced in slightly altered form as “Begeisterung über den Zug der deutschen Technik,” Völkischer Beobachter, November 24, 1938. This edition of the Völkischer Beobachter published the front page of the train's first newspaper, dated November 24, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

82 Link, ‘‘Merkblatt für die Kreis- und Ortsgruppenleiter der NSDAP im Sudetengau,” November 1938; and W. Kosubek, “Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik,” Rundschau Deutscher Technik, December 1, 1938, both in NS 14/5, folio 2.

83 Dr. Flg. [Flemming]/Schr., “Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Übersicht über die Bilderschau und die erforderlichen Arbeiten bezw. Anschaffungen,” November 3, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

84 J. Greiner, “Grossfahrt der deutschen Technik ins Sudetenland,” Völkischer Beobachter, November 11, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

85 Statistics in ibid.; and article by Dr. Flg. [Flemming] in Deutsche Licht- und Wasserfach-Zeitung, no. 9 (1939): 149–151Google Scholar; and, with citation, unsigned draft, “Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik,” February 28, 1939. Itinerary in J. Greiner, “Grossfahrt der deutschen Technik ins Sudetenland,” Völkischer Beobachter, November 11, 1938; and [Karl-Otto] Saur, “An die Mannschaft der Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik,” November 19, 1938, 3–4. Economic activities of the cities visited in Greiner, J., “Sudetendeutsches ABC der Technik,” Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 2 (November 25, 1938)Google Scholar: 1–4. All of the above in NS 14/5, folio 2.

86 J. Greiner, draft press release, “Sudetenfahrt mit hundert Wundern der Technik. Rollende Leisungsschau im politischen Einsatz,” reproduced in slightly altered form as “Begeisterung über den Zug der deutschen Technik,” Völkischer Beobachter, November 24, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

87 J. Greiner, “Die Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik,” National Zeitung, Essen, November 30, 1938; and “Abschluss der Sudetenfahrt. Der Zug der deutschen Technik in Reichenberg,” Die Zeitung Reichenberg, December 5, 1938, both in NS 14/5, folio 2.

88 “Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik,” Brürer Zeitung, November 26, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

89 “Sudetenfahrt mit 100 kleinen Wundern,” November 21, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

90 J. Greiner, “Startbereit zur ‘Sudetenfahrt Deutscher Technik,’” Völkischer Beobachter, November 21, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

91 Dr. Flg. [Flemming]/Schr., “Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Übersicht über die Bilderschau und die erforderlichen Arbeiten bezw. Anschaffungen,” November 3, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2; and Greiner, “Männer der Technik als Propagandisten der Tat.”

92 Photograph by Josef Greiner accompanying article by J. Greiner, “Die Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Ein grosser Erfolg. Fast 175 000 Besucher nach vier Tagen,” National Zeitung, Essen, November 30, 1938; and photograph by Wagner or Greiner accompanying article by W. Kosubek, “Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik,” Rundschau Deutscher Technik, December 1, 1938, both in NS 14/5, folio 2.

93 Link, “Merkblatt für die Kreis- und Ortsgruppenleiter der NSDAP im Sudetengau,” November 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

94 J. Greiner, “Dr. Ley bei den Männern der Technik. Freudige Anerkennung f. ihren Einsatz,” Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 6–7 (November 29–30, 1938): 1, NS 14/5, folio 2.

95 “Abschluss der Sudetenfahrt. Der Zug der deutschen Technik in Reichenberg,” Die Zeit (Reichenberg), December 5, 1938; and “Die ‘rollende Leistungsschau’ der deutschen Technik. 185 Tonfilm-Vorführungen im Ausstellungszug—Abschluss der Fahrt in Reichenberg,” Berliner Montagspost, December 5, 1938; both in NS 14/5, folio 2. Greiner claimed that 115,000 portions of bread and sausages, as well as biscuits, had been distributed—a probable exaggeration. J. Greiner, “Der Abschluss der Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Leisungsbericht,” Völkischer Beobachter, December 5, 1938. At the outset the train carried 16,000 sausages, 16,000 packs of biscuits, and 25 barrels of dry milk. “Rollende Leistungsschau der deutschen Technik. Von München aus fuhren die ‘Wunderzüge’ in das Sudetenland,” Münchener Zeitung, November 24, 1938. All above in NS 14/5, folio 2.

96 Greiner, J. quoting Link, “Unsere kleinen Erlebnisse,” Sudentenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 3–4 (November 26–27, 1938)Google Scholar: 5, NS 14/5, folio 2.

97 See Thomas Parke Hughes, “National Socialist Ideology and German Engineers 1933–1939,” unpublished manuscript presented at the American Historical Association convention, San Francisco, 1973; and Hughes, “Technology,” 165–181, also reprinted as Hughes, , “Ideologie für Ingenieure,” Technikgeschichte 48 (1981): 308–323Google Scholar.

98 Gringmuth, “Teure hinterbliebene Frauen!,” December 1, 1938, 3, NS 14/5, folio 2.

99 “Dr. Ley bei den Sudetenfahren,” Völkischer Beobachter, November 30, 1938, NS 14/5, folio 2.

100 Greiner, J., “Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik in Falkenau-Karlsbad,” Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 3–4 (November 26–27, 1938)Google Scholar: 1, NS 14/5, folio 2.

101 On the use of propaganda during the Sudeten crisis, see Michels, Helmut, Ideologie und Propaganda. Die Rolle von Joseph Goebbels in der nationalsozialistische Aussenpolitik bis 1939 (Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang, 1992), 382Google Scholar. For the vastly exaggerated “persecution” of Sudeten Germans, see Kershaw, Nemesis, 870–871 note 167; and Smelser, Ronald, The Sudetenland Problem 1933–38: Volkstumspolitik and the Formulation of Nazi Foreign Policy (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1975)Google Scholar, 214 ff.

102 J. Greiner, , “Wunderzug der Technik. Tagesgesprach im Sudetenland,” Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 3–4 (November 25–26, 1938)Google Scholar: 3, NS 14/5, folio 2.

103 J. Greiner, “Grossfahrt der deutschen Technik ins Sudetenland,” n.d., NS 14/5, folio 2.

104 “Hausmitteilungen (anonym);” and unsigned article (probably Greiner), “Männer der Technik gaben ein Beispiel,” Sudetenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 6–7 (November 29–30, 1938)Google Scholar: 7, both in NS 14/5, folio 2.

105 Seidler, Fritz Todt, 334–335. Helmut Maier also makes this point. Helmut Maier, “Nationalsozialistische Technikideologie und die Politisierung des ‘Technikerstandes.’ Fritz Todt und die Zeitschrift ‘Deutsche Technik,’” in Technische Intelligenz und “Kulturfaktor Technik,” ed. Dietz, Fessner, and Maier, 253, note 2.

106 Zeller, Driving Germany, 68–70.

107 Jeffrey Herf, “Der nationalsozialistische Technikdiskurs. Die deutschen Eigenheiten des reaktionären Modernismus,” in Der Technikdiskurs, ed. Emmerich and Wege, 82.

108 J. Greiner, draft press release, “Aufgaben der Technik in Sudetenland. Unterredung mit dem Leiter des Amtes für Technik in Reichenberg,” NS 14/5, folio 2.

109 Sudetenland unemployment was indeed lowered dramatically, but at the cost of a constant drain of workers to the Old Reich, which led paradoxically to an influx of detested Czech workers to the Sudetenland. Gebel, Ralf, “Heim ins Reich!” Konrad Henlein und der Reichsgau Sudetenland (1938–1945) (Munich: R. Oldenbourg, 2000), 243–250Google Scholar.

110 On the integration of Austrian engineers, see Jarausch, The Unfree Professions, 168–169.

111 Among the many works on Autobahn aesthetics, see especially Zeller, Driving Germany; and Schütz, Erhard and Gruber, Ekhard, Mythos Reichsautobahn. Bau und Inszenierung der “Strassen des Führers,” 1933–1941 (Berlin: Ch. Links, 1996)Google Scholar. Also useful are Steininger, Benjamin, Raum-Machine Reichsautobahn. Zur Dynamik eines bekannt/unbekannten Bauwerks (Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos, 2005)Google Scholar; and Strommer, Rainer, ed., Reichsautobahn. Pryamiden des Dritten Reiches (Marburg: Jonas, 1982)Google Scholar.

112 A good summary of Todt's ideas are his “Plassenburg Quotations” (“Plassenburg Worte”), which are excerpts from his speeches to engineers at the Plassenburg school; they are contained in NS 14/78. Some examples are found in Seidler, Fritz Todt, 58.

113 Todt, “Plassenburg Worte,” NS 14/78.

114 Fritz Todt speech at the 73rd VDI convention, Breslau, 1935, VDI-Archiv, Düsseldorf.

115 Todt, Fritz, “The Motor Highways Built by Herr Hitler,” reprinted in Germany Speaks (London: T. Butterworth, 1938)Google Scholar, copy in the Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Munich.

116 Todt, Fritz, “Introduction,” in Die Strassen Adolf Hitlers in der Kunst, ed. Heim, Dietrich Eckart et al. (Berlin: Volk und Reich Verlag, 1936)Google Scholar.

117 Brume, “Schönheit der Arbeit—einmal anders gesehen,” Österreichfahrt der deutschen Technik. Eigene Zugzeitung, no. 4 (April 8, 1938): 5, NS 14/5, folio 1. The insistence on flowers for aestheticization of the workplace was typical of Beauty of Labor propaganda. Baranowski, Strength through Joy, 83–84.

118 Link, “Akten-Notiz Betr: Südostfahrt der deutschen Technik. Besprechung in München in Hauptamt für Technik am 26. Januar 1939,” Munich, February 2, 1939, NS 14/5, folio 1.The document is marked “Top secret! For official use only!”

119 Baranowski, Strength through Joy, 63; and e-mail correspondence with the author, August 27, 2010. My thanks to Professor Baranowski for information about the time period of the Strength through Joy voyage.

120 Spettnagel, “Sitzenbericht: betr. Südostfahrt der deutschen Technik. Besprechung am 16.2.1939 in Berlin der Räumen der Generalinspecktion für das deutsche Strassenwesen,” Munich, February 22, 1939, NS 14/5, folio 1.

121 Jeffrey Herf considers Goebbels's speech, in which he evokes the “steely romanticism” of the times, the classic expression of reactionary modernism. Herf, “Die nationalsozialistische Technikdiskurs,” 87; and Herf, Reactionary Modernism, 196. It is interesting to note that trips planned by professional engineering societies to attend the New York World's Fair were canceled in January due to “the political situation.” Link, “Akten-Notiz Betr.: Frühjahrsreise des Amtes für Technik mit dem KdF-Schiff Robert Ley,” January 21, 1939, 4, NS 14/5, folio 1.

122 See Kershaw, Nemesis, 163–168.

123 Even Todt had begun to sacrifice his commitment to preserving the German landscape with his construction of the Westwall fortifications in 1938. Maier, “Nationalsozialistische Technikideologie,” 262–263.

124 See Guse, “Nazi Technical Thought,” 18–21.

125 On the regime's shift to pragmatism in physics, see Szöllösi-Janze, Margit, “National Socialism and the Sciences: Reflections, Conclusions, and Historical Perspectives,” in Science in the Third Reich, ed. Szöllösi-Janze, Margit (Oxford: Berg, 2001)Google Scholar, 12; and Szöllösi-Janze, Margit, “‘Wir Wissenschaftler bauen mit.’ Universitäten und Wissenschaften im Dritten Reich,” in Der Nationalsozialismus und die deutsche Gesellschaft. Einführung und Überblick, ed. Sösemann, Bernd (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 2002)Google Scholar, 165; Macrakis, Kristie, Surviving the Swastika: Scientific Research in Nazi Germany (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993)Google Scholar, 153, 204; Walker, Mark, German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power, 1939–1949 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 66, 229; Beyerchen, Alan, Scientists under Hitler: Politics and the Physics Community in the Third Reich (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977)Google Scholar, 188.

126 Hans Mommsen, “The Indian Summer and the Collapse of the Third Reich: The Last Act,” in The Third Reich Between Vision and Reality, ed. Mommsen, 116–117.

127 Link, “Akten-Notiz Betr.: Frühjahrsreise des Amtes für Technik mit dem KdF-Schiff Robert Ley,” January 21, 1939, NS 14/5, folio 1. The number of participants was variously placed at from 1,500 to more than 1,600, with at least 1,200 paying 75 RM for the cruise. Overall cost of the voyage was estimated at 100,000 RM.

128 “Norwegenfahrt der deutschen Technik. Erlebnisbericht eines Essner Fahrtteilnehmers von Bord des Robert Ley, National Zeitung, Essen, June 8, 1939, NS 14/5, folio 1.

129 Baranowski, Strength through Joy, 61.

130 “Der Weg zur Kamaradschaft. Bilder von der Nordlandfahrt der deutschen Technik,” Cottbuser Anzeiger, May 16, 1939, NS 14/5, folio 1. Singers, dancers, musicians, a magician, and a comic were among those hired to provide evening entertainment.

131 “Technikern mitten im Volk. NSK-Unterredung mit Hauptdienstleiter Dr. Todt,” Nationalsozialistische Partei-Korrespondenz, May 17, 1939, NS 14/5, folio 1. See also Seidler, Fritz Todt, 306.

132 “Mit den Technikern nach Norwegen,” N.S.Z. Rheinfront, Saarbrücken, June 3, 1939, NS 15/5, folio 1.

133 “Technikern mitten im Volk. NSK-Unterredung mit Hauptdienstleiter Dr. Todt,” Nationalsozialistische Partei-Korrespondenz, May 17, 1939, NS 14/5, folio 1.

134 “Artikel ‘Norwegenfahrt der deutschen Technik,’” NS 14/5, folio 1.

135 H. Staak, “Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg. Die politische Kraft der Technik,” Nationalsozialistische Partei-Korrespondenz, May 18, 1939, NS 14/5, folio 1.

136 On this issue, see Herf, Reactionary Modernism, 224–227; and Herf, , “The Engineer as Ideologue: Reactionary Modernists in Weimar and Nazi Germany,” Journal of Contemporary History 19 (1984): 631–648CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

137 For Feder's settlement projects, see Guse, “Plassenburg,” 127–136; and Schenk, Tilman A. and Bromley, Ray, “Mass Producing Traditional Small Cities: Gottfried Feder's Vision for a Greater Nazi Germany,” Journal of Planning History 2 (2003): 107–139CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For SS settlement planning, see among many others Aly, Götz and Heim, Susanne, Architects of Annihilation (London: Phoenix, 2003)Google Scholar, chapter four; and Tooze, Wages, 463–476. On SS settlement links to modernization, see Allen, Business, 98–112.

138 Todt began this process himself by turning the Plassenburg into a medical recuperation home for construction workers and decentralizing techno-political education. Seidler, Fritz Todt, 59. For the subsequent “speaker program” put in place by Todt, see Guse, “Nazi Technical Thought,” 16–17; and Guse, “Plassenburg,” 239–257.

139 On engineer-NSDAP membership, see Jarausch, The Unfree Professions, 166.

140 Fritzsche, Life and Death, 64. The phrase is from Mallmann, Klaus-Michael and Paul, Gerhard, Herrschaft und Alltag. Ein Industrierevier im Dritten Reich (Bonn: J. H. W. Dietz, 1991)Google Scholar, 162.