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Albert Speer Jr. to Build "Detroit of the East" in China
Der Spiegel ^ | 1/27/06

Posted on 01/29/2006 10:37:44 AM PST by Lessismore

With its plans to build a city neighborhood dedicated to the car industry Changchun, China is taking another ambitious step toward becoming a key player in the global automotive industry. And the son of Hitler's architect is lending his services. It's no secret that China is diving headfirst into the automobile industry.

This week though, Chinese officials decided on an architectural firm to build their very own Motor City. And they have selected the son of Hitler's architect -- and his firm called Albert Speer & Partners -- to do it.

Albert Speer Jr. confirmed this week that his firm won the $140,000 design competition staged by the city of Changchun to plan an entire city district dedicated to automobile manufacturing and housing for the people who will work there.

Changchun is a central focus in China's ambitions to become a global player in the automobile market. The city is already the country's second-largest automobile-manufacturing center and home to a Volkswagen joint-venture that produces the Golf model for the Chinese domestic market. Audi and Mazda are likewise already present in the industrial city, and Changchun officials say they are planning to build up to five more automobile assembly plants in coming years. The so-called "Detroit of the East" will include housing for 300,000 residents and is expected to be completed within 10 to 15 years. The city said the plan will in part be inspired by Volkswagen's "Autostadt," or Car Town, at its Wolfsburg, Germany headquarters.

...

The architect, the son of Nazi war criminal Albert Speer, who was Hitler's architect and muse, has long been successful in China. In 2002, his firm won a design competition to build a similar car city in Shanghai. ...

(Excerpt) Read more at service.spiegel.de ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Germany
KEYWORDS: automakers; china

1 posted on 01/29/2006 10:37:45 AM PST by Lessismore
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To: Lessismore

A "Detroit in the East."

Yes. The Commies deserve to have exactly that.


2 posted on 01/29/2006 10:38:44 AM PST by Appalled but Not Surprised
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To: Lessismore
The ubiquitous use of "the motherland" to refer to China has always been too creepy for me.

The commies have their own uber alles thing going.

3 posted on 01/29/2006 10:41:21 AM PST by tallhappy (Juntos Podemos!)
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To: tallhappy

China is often refered to in it's native language as "Central Kingdom".


4 posted on 01/29/2006 10:47:34 AM PST by Bogey78O (<thinking of new tagline>)
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To: Lessismore

Why all this negative harping on Albert Speer? He was perhaps the most capable and sane man in the Third Reich. He was also the only one not to make the "I was only following orders" or the "Me not knowing about the extermination excuses my involvement" excuses, and that saved his life.


5 posted on 01/29/2006 11:00:16 AM PST by antiRepublicrat
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To: Lessismore
Check out the firms website... Albert Speer & Partners. Pretty cold looking. Sort of a cement box, Bauhaus, Soviet Worker Housing thing going on. Probably just the thing to appeal to central planner types.
6 posted on 01/29/2006 11:05:47 AM PST by 6SJ7
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To: Lessismore

Complete and with the UAW!!! Ought to be fun.


7 posted on 01/29/2006 11:08:42 AM PST by stboz
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To: antiRepublicrat

"Inside the Third Reich" was a terrific book.


8 posted on 01/29/2006 11:11:56 AM PST by BunnySlippers (Boorrrringg ...)
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To: Lessismore

Did you notice that he's the son of Hitler's architecht. They mentioned that several times. I do wonder what difference that makes.


9 posted on 01/29/2006 11:38:35 AM PST by MineralMan (godless atheist)
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To: Lessismore

Let me get this right? You mean my shoes, clothes, alarm clock, toothbrush and now my CAR will be made in China?
Scary stuff.....good thing I like Chinese food (less the snakes, mice and dog entres). At least my internet surfs will be free of pop-ups and porn. eh eh eheeeeeeee.


10 posted on 01/29/2006 12:21:28 PM PST by tflabo (Take authority that's ours)
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To: BunnySlippers

So was him memoirs from his secret diary he kept while in Spandau prison.


11 posted on 01/29/2006 12:31:26 PM PST by ops33 (Retired USAF Senior Master Sergeant)
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To: Bogey78O
I'm refering to the term zuguo ( ‘c‘ )which is usually translated as Motherland. It could be Fatherland as well.

The communists use it a lot to talk about protecting the Fatherland all the time.

For example they have to attack Taiwan to protect the Fatherland.

12 posted on 01/29/2006 2:45:41 PM PST by tallhappy (Juntos Podemos!)
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To: Lessismore

I'd think that if I were Albert Junior, I would have wanted to pass on this project, just because of the parallels it might (actually, does) raise.


13 posted on 01/29/2006 2:49:02 PM PST by RichInOC (HU AND WEN: WAT YOU SAY!!)
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To: Lessismore
I'm not sure what the article is trying to imply here by pointing out his family background. The sins of the father do not necessary pass onto to son. Albert Speer Jr. is merely designing a manufacturing area to build automobiles. Nothing more, nothing less.

His father, built stadiums specifically for the purpose of gathering 120,000-150,000 people together so that they can chant "!!! Seig Heil !!!" to Der Fuehrer.

14 posted on 01/29/2006 5:11:36 PM PST by ponder life
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