To conclude my trilogy of Albert Speer posts, i have decided to write this blog posting on what may be the only piece of Germania that remains to this day, which, ironically, was only meant to be temporary.  This structure is called the Schwerbelastungskörper.  This basically means heavy load-bearing body. It also came to be knicknamed “the mushroom.”  What this structure is, essentially, is just a heavy piece of concrete, designed to test the stability of the soil of Berlin.  The fact that this lone structure is composed of concrete is another irony, as it is all the exists of Germania.  Considering that the main buildings of Germania were going to be constructed from heavy granite blocks, and looking at how much this Schwerbelastungskörper sunk, it seems that without a great deal of foundation planning, compacting, and further testing, Germania, as it was imagined and designed would not have been feasible, largely due to this single factor.  The plan, at the time, was just to bury the structure.  Currently, this block is a historical monument, largely due to the fact that it could not be safely blown up.  Not exactly what Hitler had envisioned.