Fritz Todt - German Book 1943 /w150 photos Reichsautobahn Architecture

This listing features a hard-to-find book published in 1943, created as a tribute to Fritz Todt, depicted as one of the most ingenious figures within the Third Reich.

Todt was appointed to oversee all highway construction in Germany, a role that included the development of the Reichsautobahn system, which is considered the world's first true freeway system.

The position was an ideal match for Todt's skills. A masterful organizer, he swiftly began planning and executing a system of super-highways stretching for thousands of miles. Notably, many miles of this network are still in use today in their original form and have served as the template for modern freeway systems worldwide.

Hitler also tasked Todt with constructing the Westwall, a concrete defensive line featuring "dragon's teeth" fortifications along Germany's western border. In 1940, after France surrendered following a "desperate" battle lasting several days, Todt began erecting enormous concrete bunkers and gun emplacements along the English Channel.

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union, Todt was assigned a new task: replacing the thousands of inadequate, destroyed, or damaged bridges across the Ukraine and Russia. During this same timeframe, he also directed the building of huge concrete "pens" to shelter German U-boats (submarines) near Lorient on the west coast of France.

This figure, described as a "human dynamo" and holding a general's rank in both the SA and SS, was killed at age 52. He died in an airplane crash on the Eastern Front on February 8, 1942, while on a return trip to his office in Berlin.

Hitler honored Todt with one of the largest and most impressive funeral services ever conducted in the New Reichschancellery in Berlin. He was buried with full NS honors.

Hardcover

• 117 pages
• ~150 full page and half-page b/w photos on art paper

In good exterior and very good interior condition
Spine and rear board lightly stained, otherwise ok with minor signs of use and age.

All pages are complete and tight in the binding.

Approx/Measurements: 10-1/4" x 8" ~1.3 lbs.