Speer applied for Nazi Party membership in 1931 and rose very quickly in the Nazi Party and government

One of the interesting facts about Albert Speer is that Speer applied for Nazi Party membership in 1931 and rose very quickly in the Nazi Party and government. Speer, a trained architect, joined the Nazi Party in 1931. His architectural abilities propelled him to the forefront of the Party, and he eventually became a member of Hitler's inner circle. Hitler tasked him with designing and building structures such as the Reich Chancellery and the Nazi party gathering grounds in Nuremberg.

Speer sought Nazi Party membership in January 1931, and on March 1, 1931, he became member number 474,481. The following year, with stipends dwindling due to the Depression, Speer resigned as Tessenow's assistant and relocated to Mannheim, trying to make a livelihood as an architect. After he failed to do so, his father hired him as a part-time property manager. The Speers came to Berlin in July 1932 to assist the Party ahead of the Reichstag elections. During their visit, his acquaintance, Nazi Party official Karl Hanke, recommended the young architect to Joseph Goebbels for assistance in renovating the Party's Berlin headquarters. Speer went to Mannheim when the inquiry was completed and remained there until Hitler gained government in January 1933.

Speer met Hitler for the first time when the organizers of the 1933 Nuremberg Rally invited him to submit drawings for the rally. Neither the organizers nor Rudolf Hess was willing to make a decision on whether to endorse the plans, so Hess dispatched Speer to Hitler's Munich apartment to seek his approval. Speer's first national position was as the Nazi Party's "Commissioner for the Artistic and Technical Presentation of Party Rallies and Demonstrations."

Hitler began making preparations to renovate the chancellery soon after assuming office. He hired Paul Troost to refurbish the entire structure by the end of 1933. Hitler appointed Speer, whose work for Goebbels had impressed him, to manage the building site for Troost. As Chancellor, Hitler lived in the building and came by every day to be briefed on the status of the repairs by Speer and the building superintendent. Hitler asked Speer to lunch after one of these briefings, much to the architect's delight. Speer rapidly became a member of Hitler's inner circle, expected to call on him in the morning for a stroll or a chat, to provide architectural advice, and to debate Hitler's ideas. He was invited to supper almost every day.