Circus Krone

On May 10, 1919, the first permanent (wooden) building of the “Circus Krone” was erected on Munich’s Marsfeld, which since 1913 had borne the name of its director Carl Krone. At the time, the Krone building with at least 4,000 seats and 2,000 standing places was one of the largest assembly buildings in Munich. In 1924, it was expanded to a seating capacity of 8,000 seats. The Nazi Party was able to fill the Circus Krone building for the first time on February 3, 1921 at a protest event against the reparation payments imposed on Germany by the victorious powers of the First World War. In the years that followed, it became the Nazi Party’s main venue for promoting their political views alongside Munich’s beer halls and cellars and a grandstand for Hitler’s major appearances in Munich. This is also were the first Nuremberg Rally took place from January 27 to 29, 1923 according to the motto “Germany Awake”. And it was in the Krone building where Hitler called for a popular uprising in a speech he made on October 30, 1923, in the lead-up to his coup. In 1925, the Nazi Party continued to use the large building for its mass rallies even after it was re-established. The circus director joined the Nazi Party on January 1, 1933, i.e. before the Nazis came to power. Destroyed during the war, the rebuilt “Krone” is now used as a circus and concert hall.