Schwerbelastungskoerper

The Schwerbelastungskoerper (German: “heavy load-bearing body”) is a large cylinder made of concrete in Berlin, Germany. It was built in 1941 to study the feasibility of constructing large buildings on the sandy ground in the area, in preparation for the planned construction nearby of a massive Triumphal Arch. It is 18 m high and has a mass of 12,650 metric tons. Because of nearby apartment buildings, it was not possible to demolish it with explosives at the end of World War II, so it remained; since 1995 it has been protected as a historic monument. The structure is located at the intersection of Dudenstrasse, General-Pape-Strasse, and Loewenhardtdamm in the northwestern part of the borough of Tempelhof. If the structure was to sink 2.5 inches or less, the soil would be sound enough to build Hitler’s planned massive structures of Germania. It sank 7 inches in three years, but Hitler disregarded the findings.