An arch bigger than the Arc de Triomphe? Hitler wanted that too

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An arch bigger than the Arc de Triomphe? Hitler wanted that too
Tyrants and dictators often dream of building gigantic monuments to themselves. It usually doesn't work

By Andrew O'Hehir
Executive Editor
Published May 3, 2026 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) It might be a bit too convenient, at this moment in history, to observe that failing tyrants, as they feel their power slipping away, start building grandiose monuments to themselves. But at least in the modern context, it’s not wrong. Let’s put it this way: Any leader of the last century or so who wants to celebrate his glorious reign with, just for example, a grand triumphal arch and a plan to destroy and rebuild important landmarks of his capital city is only imitating the past, while ignoring its most obvious lessons. He’s likely to end up celebrating only his own decadence, poverty of spirit and enormous hubris.

As British journalist Jonn Elledge observed recently, if Donald Trump ever encountered Percy Shelley’s sonnet “Ozymandias” during his mediocre education, he clearly didn’t get the point. Here’s the tl;dr, Mr. President: That line about “Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!” sounds awesome but is meant to be ironic. (If that’s a new concept, see me after class.)

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On principle, I don’t give political advice, but principle isn’t worth much these days and this one’s a gimme: Any potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate who doesn’t promise to undo, reverse or demolish the White House ballroom, the Kennedy Center “renovation” and the so-called Arc de Trump, along with any and all other attempts to screw up the monumental landscape of Washington, D.C., should be immediately disqualified. I’d also support a public burning of all Trump-infected U.S. passports, if he actually gets around to creating them. No doubt that would violate bureaucratic rules and air-quality standards, and also might suggest some troubling historical comparisons.

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Trump’s proposed arch would be more than 50 feet taller than the North Korean arch, which is itself 33 feet taller than the Arc de Triomphe. So much winning! And yet, maybe not: I am definitely neither the first nor the last person to observe that Adolf Hitler’s plans to remake Berlin as “Germania,” grand capital of a continental or even global Aryan empire, included a triumphal arch (Triumphbogen, in German) on such an epic scale that the entire Arc de Triomphe would have literally fit inside its opening. ......................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/05/03/an-arch-bigger-than-the-arc-de-triomphe-hitler-wanted-that-too/