1936 Summer Olympics

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Games of the XI. Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics logo
Venue: Berlin ( German Empire )
Stadion: Olympic Stadium Berlin
Opening ceremony: August 1, 1936
Closing ceremony: August 16, 1936
Opened by: Adolf Hitler (Reich Chancellor)
Olympic oath : Rudolf Ismayr (athlete)
Disciplines: 25 (19 sports)
Competitions: 129
Countries: 49
Athletes: 3961 (3633 Mars symbol (male), 328 Venus symbol (female))
← Los Angeles 1932
Helsinki 1940 →
Medal table (excluding art competitions )
city ​​square country G S. B. Ges.
1 German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) Deutsches Reich 33 26th 30th 89
2 United States 48United States United States 24 20th 12th 56
3 Hungary 1940Hungary Hungary 10 1 5 16
4th Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Kingdom of Italy 8th 9 5 22nd
5 FinlandFinland Finland 7th 6th 6th 19th
6th Third French RepublicThird French Republic France 7th 6th 6th 19th
7th SwedenSweden Sweden 6th 5 9 20th
8th Japan 1870Japan Japan 6th 4th 8th 18th
9 NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands 6th 4th 7th 17th
10 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Great Britain 4th 7th 3 14th
11 AustriaAustria Austria 4th 6th 3 13
... ... ... ... ... ...
16 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 1 9 5 15th
Complete medal table

The 1936 Summer Olympics (officially called the XI  Games ) were held in Berlin from August 1st to 16th, 1936 . Most of the competitions took place on the Reichssportfeld , with the Olympic Stadium as the central arena. With 49 participating nations and 3961 athletes, the Olympic Games in Berlin set a new record for participants and a new record for visitors. For the first time there was an Olympic torch relay and selected competitions were shown on the new medium of television (see also: History of television in Germany ).

The outstanding athlete was the American athlete Jesse Owens , who won four gold medals. The most successful German athlete was Konrad Frey . The gymnast won three gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals. In addition to their sporting importance, the two winter and summer games held in the German Reich in 1936 were particularly characterized by the fact that they were instrumentalized by Hitler and the NSDAP to present the Nazi state positively abroad, while at home the Nazi propaganda mainly focused on the achievements highlighted the German Olympic participants and winners.

Choice of venue

Already the VI. The 1916 Olympic Games were awarded to Berlin by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In the middle of the preparations, the First World War began , which ultimately led to the cancellation of the Games. After the end of the war, the IOC excluded Germany from the Olympic community as the “official perpetrator of the war”. The ban lasted until 1925. Since the re-admission to the IOC, the leadership of the German Olympic Committee has been thinking of bringing the Games back to Berlin. Theodor Lewald , President of the Committee, wrote a letter to Lord Mayor Gustav Boess on February 25, 1929 , in which he suggested that Berlin should apply again.

At the end of May 1930 in Berlin IX. The capital of the Reich presented its candidacy to the Olympic Congress . Reich Minister of the Interior Joseph Wirth presented the plan in his opening speech in the Audimax of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität , but without specifying a venue or the year of the Games. The application for 1936 was only made that evening at a banquet in the Rotes Rathaus . At that time, in addition to Berlin, Alexandria , Barcelona , Budapest , Buenos Aires , Dublin , Frankfurt am Main , Helsinki , Cologne , Lausanne , Nuremberg , Rio de Janeiro and Rome had also applied. A year later, at the 30th session of the IOC in Barcelona, ​​there were only four candidates left. When Budapest and Rome withdrew their candidacies, there was a runoff between Barcelona and Berlin.

A first vote resulted in a majority for Berlin. However, as only 20 of the 67 IOC members at the time were present at this meeting due to the unrest in Spain, IOC President Henri de Baillet-Latour proposed, with the consent of the two German delegates, that the absent members be given the option of telegraphic or postal voting . The final counting of the votes took place on May 13, 1931 at the headquarters of the IOC in Lausanne in the presence of Mayor Paul Perret and IOC Vice President Godefroy de Blonay . In the end, 43 IOC members voted for Berlin and 16 for Barcelona, ​​and 8 had abstained.

Call for a boycott

As the official result of the vote on the award of the XI. 1936 Olympic Games to Berlin was announced, the implementation of the Games according to the principles of the "Olympic Idea" for Germany of the Weimar Republic still seemed to be possible. After the seizure of power of Hitler on 30 January 1933 but called in particular in the US discrimination against Jews a wave of indignation and contempt out and led to considerations to the Olympic Games in Germany boycott . A broad public, from which the fair play movement emerged, had serious doubts about Germany's compliance with and respect for the “Olympic Charter” and demanded equal opportunities for all participants, regardless of religion or race. At the 32nd meeting of the IOC from June 5 to 7, 1933 in Vienna , IOC President Henri de Baillet-Latour was therefore moved to put a possible postponement of the 1936 Olympic Games on the agenda if the German government was not ready be to submit a written guarantee that the rules of the "Olympic Idea" will be adhered to. Ready to compromise on foreign policy, the Nazi government committed itself to consistently complying with the Olympic rules. They promised free access for all races and denominations to the Olympic teams as well as tolerance of a politically independent organizing committee (OK). However, this has not been implemented in practice. Hitler was not informed of this commitment at the administrative level, so that after his lengthy conversation with IOC member Gen. Charles H. Sherrill, a considerable dispute broke out, which was only ended by the Reich Sports Leader , in which he established that Jews lacked moral quality To represent Germany.

German left-wing intellectual émigrés played a special role in France , who protested in the “ Pariser Tageblatt ” in particular against the implementation of the Olympic Games in Germany . In order to coordinate these various activities against the hosting of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, the “Comité international pour le respect de l'esprit olympique” was founded on December 7, 1935 in Paris . It consisted of members of the Committees in Defense of the Olympic Idea of ​​Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland, and also had links to the US Fair Play Committee.

“A regime that relies on forced labor and mass slavery; a regime that prepares for war and only exists through lying propaganda, how is such a regime supposed to respect peaceful sport and free sportsmen? Believe me, those of the international athletes who go to Berlin will be nothing but gladiators, prisoners and jesters of a dictator who already feels himself to be the master of this world. "

- Heinrich Mann : Conference in defense of the Olympic idea on June 6th and 7th, 1936 in Paris

The committee also supported the preparations for the People's Olympiad, planned as a counter- Olympiad, from July 19 to 26, 1936 in Barcelona , which had to be canceled due to the onset of the Spanish Civil War , as well as the anti-fascist art exhibition "de olympiade onder dictatuur" in Amsterdam . Overall, however, this resistance had no chance against the National Socialist propaganda machine , which the IOC was happy to believe.

The boycott efforts in the USA, which had already started in 1933 and were sustainably reinforced by the passing of the “ Nuremberg Race Laws ” of September 15, 1935, were given greater weight . A broad fair play movement had formed here, supported by the major sports associations of the “ Amateur Athletic Union ” (AAU), the largest trade union organization “ American Federation of Labor ” (AFL), universities and prominent athletes. The then President of the AAU, Avery Brundage , adopted the terminology used by the Olympic opponents and called for “Fair Play for American Athletes” by letting them travel to the Olympic Games to show that the liberal American system was superior to fascism . A boycott of the Olympic Games in Germany by the USA would have meant a considerable loss of image for the National Socialist regime. The US government expressly did not want to influence the discussion and left the AAU free to decide whether to participate or to boycott. At the annual general meeting of the American “Amateur Athletic Union” in December 1935 a decision was made about whether the USA would participate in the Olympics. When Avery Brundage, in his role as chairman of the US NOK and a staunch supporter of US participation, saw that he might lose the vote, he delayed the decision for a day. Overnight he summoned other delegates with voting rights by telegram. The supporters prevailed on December 8, 1935 with 58:56 votes against the boycott supporters around AAU President Jeremiah T. Mahoney and the USA took part in the Olympic Games in Berlin. Most other nations then followed suit. Only the Soviet Union canceled its participation, as it did at all Olympic Games after the First World War.

Fending off the boycott of the US team was not enough for Avery Brundage. He made sure that a "presentable" team started, i. H. without Jewish athletes. For the final of the men's 4 x 100 meter relay, two Jewish sprinters were set up: Sam Stoller as the starting runner, Marty Glickman as second. But the day before the finale, they were removed from the season.

Torch relay

Idea and route

The bowl for the Olympic flame, above the marathon gate (August 2015)
Olympic torch-bearer on the way to Berlin
"Altar" with an Olympic flame in front of the Berlin City Palace; in the background the cathedral

An Olympic torch relay was held for the first time at these Olympic Games . According to Carl Diem's idea , an Olympic torch was lit in Greece and carried to the opening event in Berlin by 3,400 torch-bearers. The run led through seven countries over a distance of 3,075 kilometers. The route had been determined and measured by employees of the Propaganda Ministry .

The run began in Olympia (July 20) and ran through Athens , Delphi , Sofia (July 25), Belgrade (July 27), Budapest (July 28), Vienna (July 29) and Prague ( July 30) . July). On August 1st at 11:42 am the torch reached the Berlin city area.

Before the Olympic flame was brought into the Olympic Stadium, its arrival was celebrated in a "consecration hour" with 20,000 Hitler Youth and 40,000 SA men in the Lustgarten . Two "altars", one in the pleasure garden and one in front of the Berlin City Palace opposite, were lit by torch-bearer Siegfried Eifrig . They burned throughout the Olympic Games.

The last runner of the torch relay was the athlete Fritz Schilgen , he lit the Olympic flame during the opening event. Then torch-bearers brought the flame to the Olympic venues in Kiel (August 2nd) and Berlin-Grünau (August 7th).

The torch

The torch was designed by Walter E. Lemcke and Peter Wolf, and the Krupp company provided the torch holder free of charge. The route of the run was engraved on the shaft as a stylized route map. Above it is an eagle with wings attached and carrying the Olympic rings in its claws. Under the eagle is the writing (in capital letters) "Torch relay run / Olympia-Berlin / 1936". On the plate is circular “As a thank you to the sponsoring organization committee for the XI. Olympiade Berlin 1936 "engraved, on the underside of the plate" Krupp Nirosta V2A Stahl "and" Stiftung der Fried. Krupp AG, Essen ”.

The torch is 27 centimeters tall and weighs 450 grams, and the tip of the torch was made of magnesium that burned for about ten minutes. All 3400 of the torchbearers selected by the NOK of the seven countries received a certificate in addition to the torch holder.

Logo and anthem

Olympic bell

The artist Johannes Boehland designed a sign that shows the five Olympic rings , an eagle and the Brandenburg Gate . However, the President of the Organizing Committee, Theodor Lewald , was not satisfied with this design and suggested that the lower part of the sign should be opened, thus creating the shape of a bell. On the side of the bell there should be the inscription “I call the youth of the world!”. Johannes Boehland was commissioned to redesign the sign and implement the ideas. The final symbol thus showed the Olympic bell on which the Olympic rings with the German eagle were depicted.

Just like the Olympic rings , the Olympic flame and the Olympic oath , the bell became a symbol of the 1936 Olympic Games. In 1934, near the Berlin Olympic Stadium , the 77 meter high Berlin bell tower was built in 1934 according to the plans of Professor Werner March .

For an Olympic hymn, the organizing committee first turned to the poet Gerhart Hauptmann , who also promised to write a text. Since he did not deliver this, however, Börries von Münchhausen suggested a competition that had 3,000 entries. Börries von Münchhausen selected four of these texts and sent them to the composer Richard Strauss for setting , who chose that of the unsuccessful actor and reciter Robert Lubahn :

"People! Be the guests of the people, come in through the open gate!
Peace be to the festival of nations! Honor should be the battle slogan.
Young strength wants to show courage, Olympia is a hot game!
Praise your shine in deeds, pure goal: Olympia.

Many countries pride and prosperity came to the festival of battle;
all the fire that glowed there beats up and free.
Strength and spirit approach with awe. Sacrifice Olympia!
Who can wear your laurel, sound of fame: Olympia?

As now all hearts beat in
exalted association, oath-loyalty should be the highest in deeds and in legends.
Masters should win joyfully, Olympia Victory Festival!
Joy is still at a standstill, peace festival: Olympia.
Masters should win joyfully, Olympia Victory Festival!
Olympia! Olympia! Olympia! "

The anthem celebrated its world premiere on August 1, 1936 during the opening event in the Olympiastadion Berlin.

Olympic locations

Competition venues

XI. Olympic Games in the Olympiastadion Berlin
The Olympic swimming stadium
The Olympic Stadium during the 1936 competitions
Entry over the stairs at the marathon gate to the opening ceremony: from left Henri de Baillet-Latour (IOC President), Adolf Hitler , Theodor Lewald (President of the Organizing Committee)

The competition venues in Berlin and the surrounding area were spread over the former districts of Charlottenburg , Köpenick , Spandau , Wilmersdorf and the district of Osthavelland in the province of Brandenburg . The central area was called " Reichssportfeld " and united the largest sports facilities. The establishment of the Reichssportfeld cost around 77 million Reichsmarks .

The center of the sports facilities was the Olympic Stadium , which offered space for 100,000 spectators and had a 400 meter long cinder track. There the competitions in athletics , the jumping competitions in riding , field handball and the games in football from the semifinals were held. The opening and closing ceremonies also took place there. The preliminary and intermediate rounds of the Olympic football tournament were played in the Poststadion , the Mommsenstadion and the Stadion am Gesundbrunnen (the "plump"). The field handball competitions also used the police stadium and the BSV square.

The swimming stadium, located right next to the Olympic Stadium, was the venue for the swimming competitions and the water polo games . It had 18,500 seats and a swimming pool measuring 50 meters by 20 meters. A 20-meter by 20-meter diving pool was available for water jumping.

The weightlifting , wrestling and boxing competitions took place in the Deutschlandhalle , which had a capacity of 20,000 spectators . The hockey tournament was held in a hockey stadium built especially for the games , which also had 20,000 seats. The fencing competitions were held at various locations in the Sportforum : in the domed hall of the House of German Sports, in the hockey stadium and on the tennis courts. The basketball games also took place on the tennis courts of the Reichssportfeld.

The equestrian competitions were held in a wide variety of locations; the dressage on the Maifeld and on the military training area Döberitz , where there is also the Olympic Village was the country riding on the hunt racecourse Ferbitz . The shooting competitions took place in Berlin-Wannsee on the shooting range of the "German Research Institute for Small Arms". In addition, the Ruhleben shooting range was the venue for the modern pentathlon shooting competitions .

The Olympic cycling stadium had a 400 meter long wooden track and offered space for 12,000 spectators. Track cycling competitions took place here. It only existed for two months on the sports field of the Berlin Sport Club at the northern end of the AVUS and was then demolished. The start and finish for the road competitions was the AVUS Nordschleife. The route led over the south loop of the AVUS, Schildhorn , the Heerstraße , Staaken , Dallgow , Döberitz, the Olympic village, Priort , Kartzow , Fahrland , Krampnitz, Groß Glienicke , Karolinenhöhe, the Heerstraße and Schildhorn back to the south loop of the AVUS and back to the start and goal.

The gymnastics competitions took place on the Dietrich-Eckart open-air stage in front of 20,000 spectators . Polo was played on the May field. The Golf- und Land-Club Berlin-Wannsee was the venue for the cross-country run in the modern pentathlon. In Berlin-Grünau , the rowing and canoeing competitions were held on a 2000 meter long regatta course with a grandstand for 9000 spectators. The sailing competitions were held in the Olympic harbor in Kiel .

The art competition began on July 15, 1936. The exhibition could be viewed in Hall VI of the exhibition grounds until the end of the Olympic Games in Berlin . The demonstration sport baseball was presented in the Olympic Stadium, the demonstration sport gliding at the Staaken airfield .

Accommodations

The International Olympic Committee was housed in the Hotel Adlon in Berlin-Mitte . The seat of the organizing committee was in Charlottenburger Hardenbergstrasse . The athletes also found accommodation in the German Sports Forum Charlottenburg. Some male athletes were accommodated in Köpenick in the castle , in the police officers' school and in the Dorothee school.

The majority of the male Olympic participants, however, resided in the Olympic Village near Döberitz . The village should be a place of calm to which the athletes could retreat. At the same time, it enabled inexpensive accommodation and meals for the athletes and offered them training opportunities and an entertainment program. The organizing committee hired a team of architects and landscapers to plan the facility. The overall management lay with the architect Werner March , who was already responsible for the planning of the Reichssportfeld and the Olympic Stadium. He was also supported by his brother Walter March, the architect Georg Steinmetz and the garden architect and landscape planner Heinrich Wiepking-Jürgensmann . The artistic design (including murals) was carried out by Johann Vincenz Cissarz , Hugo Bäppler, Albert Windisch and Franz Karl Delavilla , who received the "Olympic medal" for this.

The Olympic village consisted of a reception building, about 140 one-story and 5 two-story residential buildings, a large dining house, a kitchen house, the Hindenburg House, the commandant's house, a sports hall, a swimming pool, a sauna, and a doctor's and hospital. The dining house had 38 dining rooms, each reserved for certain nations. The evening entertainment events, which were organized by the management of the Nazi cultural community, took place in the Hindenburghaus. This included reports on the Olympic Games, weekly film shows, feature films, sports films, cabaret, concerts, ballet and cultural films.

After the Olympic Games in 1936, the German Wehrmacht used the grounds of the Olympic village. After the Second World War it was converted into a Soviet barracks area.

participant

Opening ceremony: Entry of the athletes
Participating nations: First time participants in blue
Number of athletes

With 49 participating nations, a new record was set in Berlin. The states of Afghanistan , Bermuda , Bolivia , Costa Rica and Liechtenstein celebrated their premieres at the Summer Olympics. Weightlifter Rene Ambroise was also registered for Haiti . He also arrived in Berlin, but injured himself in training before he could compete.

Europe (2,874 athletes from 28 nations)
America (693 athletes from 12 nations)
Asia (276 athletes from 5 nations)
Africa (79 athletes from 2 nations)
Oceania (39 athletes from 2 nations)
(Number of athletes) * Participation in summer games for the first time

Medals

Olympic Games 1936 medal
Award ceremony in the modern pentathlon

A total of 960 gold, silver and bronze medals were produced for the Olympic Games in Berlin. They weighed 81 grams each and were 55 millimeters in diameter. The medal was designed by Giuseppe Cassioli from Florence and manufactured by BH Mayer from Pforzheim . The obverse depicts the goddess of victory holding a palm tree in her left hand and a crown in her right hand. The inscription “XI. OLYMPIADE BERLIN 1936 ". The reverse of the medal shows a winner carried by cheering crowds; an Olympic stadium can be seen in the background.

In addition, all medal winners received certificates, oak wreaths and each winner received an oak tree, the Olympic oak . These 70 centimeter trees were the German pedunculate oak (Quercus pedunculata) . It was in a brown ceramic pot with the inscription "Wax for the honor of victory - call for further action". In addition, the names of all winners were immortalized on boards on the marathon gate of the Olympic Stadium.

The IOC rejected the proposal of the international sports federations to hold the award ceremonies directly at the sports facilities. It insisted on central winners ceremonies in the Olympic Stadium. There these often took place three days late. For the first time, the national anthems of the winners were played during the award ceremony . Medals were awarded in a total of 129 competitions in 19 sports, and 15 art competitions were also held.

Competition program

Memorial plaque at the Olympiastadion Berlin , in Berlin-Westend

129 competitions (110 for men, 15 for women and 4 open competitions) in 19 sports / 25 disciplines were held. That was 13 competitions and 5 sports / disciplines more than in Los Angeles in 1932 . The changes are detailed below:

  • The team sports basketball and field handball became Olympic. Basketball was a demonstration sport in St. Louis in 1904.
  • Football for men became Olympic again in 1932 after a break in Los Angeles.
  • Kanu became part of the Olympic program for men with C1 1000 m, C2 1000 m, C2 10,000 m, K1 1000 m, K1 10,000 m, K2 1000 m, K2 10,000 m, folding boat K1 10,000 m and folding boat K2 10,000 m. Canoeing was a demonstration sport in Paris in 1924.
  • Polo was back in the program.
  • In shooting , the men's free pistol 50 m class was reintroduced.
  • In sailing , the open class O-dinghy replaced the open class snowboard.
  • In the apparatus gymnastics , the Indian clubs, rope swinging and tumbling were omitted for the men. For women, the team all-around competition was re-included in the program.

Olympic sports / disciplines

Number of competitions in brackets

Time schedule

Time schedule
discipline Sat.
1.		 So.
2.		 Mon.
3.		 Tuesday
4th		 Wed.
5.		 Thursday
6.		 Fri.
7.		 Sat
8.		 Sun.
9.		 Mon.
10.		 Tuesday
11		 Wed.
12.		 Thursday
13		 Fri.
14.		 Sat.
15.		 Sunday
16.		 Decision-
disk-
applications		 spectators
August
Olympic rings.svg Opening ceremony 91,359
Basketball pictogram.svg basketball 1 1 21,808
Boxing pictogram.svg Boxing 8th 8th 134,765
Fencing pictogram.svg fencing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7th 35,658
Football pictogram.svg Soccer 1 1 507.469
Weightlifting pictogram.svg Weightlifting 2 1 2 5 137,939 1
Handball Field Handball pictogram.svg Handball 1 1 208.966
Hockey pictogram.svg hockey 1 1 184.103
Canoeing pictogram.svg canoe 5 4th 9 24,603
Athletics pictogram.svg athletics 4th 2 5 4th 5 2 2 5 29 760.108
Modern pentathlon pictogram.svg Modern pentathlon 1 1 24.192
Polo pictogram.svg polo 1 1 135.284
Cycling Cycling (track) pictogram.svg rail 2 2 4th 31,478
Cycling (road) pictogram.svg road 2 2
Equestrian sport Equestrian Dressage pictogram.svg dressage 2 2 104,277
Equestrian Jumping pictogram.svg Leap 2 2
Equestrian Eventing pictogram.svg versatility 2 2
Wrestling Wrestling Freestyle pictogram.svg Freestyle 6th 1 7th 137,939 1
Wrestling pictogram.svg Greco-Roman 7th 7th
Rowing pictogram.svg rowing 7th 7th 79,300
Shooting pictogram.svg shoot 1 1 1 3 2,610
Swimming Swimming pictogram.svg swim 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 11 218,534
Water polo pictogram.svg Water polo 1 1
Diving pictogram.svg Jumping in the water 1 1 1 1 4th
Sailing pictogram.svg sail 3 1 4th 21,373
Gymnastics pictogram.svg do gymnastics 8th 1 9 64,760
Olympic rings.svg Closing ceremony 92,314
Demonstration competitions
baseball  
Gliding  
decisions 6th 3 12th 8th 8th 10 11 13 6th 12th 4th 5 11 16 4th 129
Sat.
1.		 So.
2.		 Mon.
3.		 Tuesday
4th		 Wed.
5.		 Thursday
6.		 Fri.
7.		 Sat
8.		 Sun.
9.		 Mon.
10.		 Tuesday
11		 Wed.
12.		 Thursday
13		 Fri.
14.		 Sat.
15.		 Sunday
16.
August
1 Attendance refers to weight lifting and wrestling

Color legend

  • Opening ceremony
  • Competition day (no decisions)
  • Competition day (x decisions)
  • Closing ceremony

    • Competitions

    basketball

    Basketball player Mohamed Rashad Shafshak, Egypt, in the Olympic village with German helpers

    A total of 199 exclusively male athletes from 21 countries took part in the Olympic basketball tournament. Basketball had already been proposed as an Olympic sport in 1904, but it was an official sport for the first time in Berlin. Up to seven players could be used in each team. The encounters took place outdoors on tennis courts . What was new was that the stands with the basket were outside the playing field. The playing time was two times 20 minutes, and the tournament was held in the double cup system. This meant that a defeated team was not eliminated immediately, but had another chance in a consolation round to qualify for the next round. The 22nd team was that from Spain, which could not compete due to the Spanish Civil War . A total of 40 games were played.

    The two semi-finals took place on August 13th. The teams from the United States, Mexico, Canada and Poland had qualified. In the first semi-final the United States beat Mexico 25:10, the second semi-final between Canada and Poland ended 42:15. On August 14th at 6:25 pm the USA prevailed against Canada with 19: 8 in a rain-impaired final and thus won the gold medal. Silver went to Canada, bronze to Mexico, which had defeated Poland 26:12 on the same day. The award ceremony was carried out by James Naismith , the inventor of the game from Canada.

    Boxing

    A total of 183 athletes in eight weight classes took part in boxing . Each country was allowed to start with only one athlete per weight class. In the Deutschlandhalle , two rings were boxed for the first time. The organizers also did a lot to improve the conditions for the athletes. For example, the water pipes ran right up to the rings, and the corners were also illuminated. Great care was taken in the selection of the referees, the verdict only had to be revised in one of almost 200 fights. This affected Richard Shrimpton (UK), for the sake of a precipitate of Chin Kuai-ti (China) disqualified was. After a protest, the jury lifted this disqualification. Another innovation was the daily weighing of the athletes, which meant that the competitions had ended prematurely for some. In order to avoid this, some teams traveled with two members. The most successful boxers came from Germany; they won a total of two gold, two silver and one bronze medal.

    fencing

    In fencing there were seven competitions, six for men and one for women. For the first time, an electric hit display was used at the Olympic Games. In all types of weapons, the scoring was not based on victories but on points. In the individual competitions, three fencers per country were allowed to start, a team consisted of six fencers. Four of these could be used per comparison. Foils , rapiers and sabers were used as weapons . The most successful fencers came from Italy, they won a total of four gold, three silver and two bronze medals. The fencers from Hungary were also very successful with three gold medals and one bronze medal.

    Soccer

    A total of 201 athletes from 16 countries took part in the men's soccer tournament. It was not until 1935 that football was re-included in the Olympic Games program, provided that the NOK did not nominate any professionals. No player was allowed to receive compensation for his loss of earnings. In the tournament there were two groups with eight teams each.

    • Group A: Egypt, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Peru, Poland, Sweden
    • Group B: China, Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, Austria, Turkey, Hungary, United States

    One country in group A was then drawn to an opponent from group B. The winners of the preliminary round went to the intermediate round, the winners of the intermediate round to the semi-finals. The elimination of the German soccer team in the second round with a 0-2 win against Norway in the only soccer game of the national team ever attended by Adolf Hitler clouded the mood of the Germans. After this early failure, Reich trainer Otto Nerz was given leave of absence. Also in the second round, Austria was clearly defeated by Peru 4-2 in extra time. However, as Peruvian spectators stormed onto the field during the break and kicked an Austrian player, the game was canceled and rescheduled. However, Peru did not play for this, so the team was eliminated. In Peru there were demonstrations in front of the German and Austrian embassies.

    The two semi-finals took place on August 10th and 11th. The teams from Italy, Norway, Austria and Poland had qualified by then. In the first semi-final Italy and Norway separated 2-1 after extra time, the second semi-final between Austria and Poland ended 3-1. In the game for third place on August 13, the teams from Norway and Poland faced each other, the game ended 3: 2. On August 15th at 4:00 p.m. Italy and Austria played against each other in the final. Italy won 2-1 and thus achieved the gold medal. Silver went to Austria, bronze to Norway.

    Weightlifting

    A total of 80 athletes took part in the five weightlifting competitions, divided into weight classes . In the lightweight division, one gold medal was awarded to the Egyptian Anwar Mesbah and the Austrian Robert Fein , which is why there was no silver medalist. The spokesman for the Olympic oath , the German Rudolf Ismayr , won the silver medal in the middleweight division. New world records were set in four of the five competitions:

    The most successful weightlifters came from Egypt, they won a total of two gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals. The Germans were also very successful with one gold medal, two silver and two bronze medals.

    Handball

    Men's field handball was only an Olympic discipline in Berlin in 1936. A total of 105 athletes from six countries took part in this competition. The game was played on a soccer field with a 13-meter goal area and a 14-meter penalty mark. The playing time was twice 30 minutes. In the game for 3rd place on August 14th, the teams from Switzerland and Hungary faced each other, the game ended 10: 5. On the same day at 4:50 p.m. Germany played against Austria in the final in front of 100,000 spectators. Germany won 10: 6 and thus achieved the gold medal. Silver went to Austria, bronze to Switzerland. Hungary, Romania and the United States followed.

    hockey

    Olympic champion in hockey: the team from India

    A men's hockey tournament was held in which 171 athletes from eleven countries took part. For the first time in Olympic history, a hockey stadium was built. The two semi-finals took place on August 12th. The teams from India, France, Germany and the Netherlands had qualified by then. In the first semi-final India and France separated 10-0, the second semi-final between Germany and the Netherlands ended 3-0. In the game for third place two days later, the teams from the Netherlands and France faced each other, the game ended 4-3. The final should originally have taken place on August 14th, but had to be postponed by one day due to heavy rain. On August 15th at 11:00 am India and Germany played against each other in the final. India won 8-1 and thus achieved the gold medal. Silver went to Germany, bronze to the Netherlands.

    canoe

    In canoe racing nine competitions were held. The inclusion of canoe racing in the Olympic program was rejected by the IOC in 1933 with 15: 9 votes. A year later, the IOC revised this decision and took the sport with 14: 8 votes. One canoe per country was allowed per competition. The long-distance races did not take place on a circuit, but on a straight track. The most successful canoeists came from Austria, they won a total of three gold, three silver and one bronze medal. The Germans were also very successful with two gold, three silver and two bronze medals.

    athletics

    Women's high jump: Elfriede Kaun
    Starting cannon and tower for targeting camera in the Olympic Stadium
    Józef Noji, Gunnar Hockert, Ilmari Salminen, 5000 meter run
    Jesse Owens in the long jump

    In athletics , 23 competitions were held for men and six competitions for women. At a congress of the IAAF in Stockholm in 1934, a new type of hurdle, an inverted "L", had been decided. In addition, the rule had been abolished, according to which a runner who had broken a certain number of hurdles had to be disqualified. In the decathlon , a new way of counting, the Finnish all-around table, was used. A discussion broke out about the maximum limit of the permissible wind support. While the Germans suggested the upper limit of 0.7 m / s tailwind and 1.0 m / s crosswind, the Americans insisted on the rule not to recognize records on straight stretches with more than 1.34 m / s tailwind were supported. Finally, they agreed on a limit of 2.0 m / s that has been in effect since then. The starting block that is common today was only authorized in 1938 and introduced from 1939. The hand stopwatches developed by Omega and the rattrapante counter were used as timing devices.

    In the marathon , the two Koreans Son Kitei and Nan Shōryū won gold and bronze under the flag of the Japanese Empire. On the list of winners affixed in the area of ​​the marathon gate of the Olympic Stadium, it can be seen that the word "Japan" is written on a much lighter background than the names of the other countries. The background is an action that a South Korean diplomat later confessed to, who allowed himself to be locked into the stadium overnight and replaced "Japan" with the word "Korea". The change must have been carried out professionally because it went undetected for years. Today “Japan” is written there again, as decided by the IOC.

    The German Karl Hein won gold in the hammer throw and achieved a record distance of 56.49 meters with his last throw. He started a winning streak for Sepp Christmann's students together with his team colleague Erwin Blask , who also won the silver medal for the German hammer throwers.

    The outstanding athlete was the American Jesse Owens , who won four gold medals in 100 meters, 200 meters, 4 times 100 meters and in the long jump. In the men's athletics competitions, in addition to many Olympic records , some world records were also set:

    • 1500 meters (final), Jack Lovelock (NZL): 3: 47.8 min
    • 110 meter hurdles (qualification), Forrest Towns (USA): 14.1 s
    • 3000 meter obstacle (final), Volmari Iso-Hollo (FIN): 9: 03.8 min
    • 4 x 100 meters (qualification), Team USA: 40.0 s
    • 4 x 100 meters (final), Team USA: 39.8 s
    • 50 kilometers walking (final), Harold Whitlock (GBR): 4: 30: 41.4 h
    • Triple jump (final), Naoto Tajima (JPN): 16.00 m
    • Decathlon (final), Glenn Morris (USA): 7900 points
    • Hammer throw, Karl Hein (GER): 56.49 m in the last throw

    The German women's 4 x 100 meter relay, which had set a new world record in qualifying with 46.4 seconds, was eight meters ahead of the United States in the final at the last change. However, Marie Dollinger's handover to Ilse Dörffeldt then failed . The staff fell to the ground and the Germans had to be disqualified. The Olympic victory, which is considered certain for the German team, went to the United States. With 14 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals, the US team was the most successful in the athletics competitions.

    Modern pentathlon

    A total of 42 athletes from 16 countries took part in the modern pentathlon . The 5000 meter cross-country ride was held on the first day . There were 1.10 meter high and up to 3.50 meter wide obstacles that had to be overcome at a speed of 450 m / min. The athletes were allowed to need a maximum of 11: 06.7 minutes for this distance. Half a penalty point was calculated for each additional second or part thereof. The fencing took place on the second day of the competition . Here everyone fought against everyone. There were two points for a win and one point for a double hit. The next day the pistol shooting took place from a distance of 25 meters. The athletes had to fire 20 shots in four series with five shots each. The shot was at a ring target, the maximum achievable result was 200 rings.

    On the fourth day the 300-meter freestyle swimming took place, on the last day of the competition the 4000-meter cross-country run . Here, the athletes started at intervals of one minute, the order was determined by place numbers. The German Gotthard Handrick won with just 31.5 points, the silver medal went to Charles Leonard from the United States with 39.5 points and the bronze medal went to the Italian Silvano Abbà with 45.5 points.

    polo

    Olympic champion in polo: The team from Argentina ( Manuel Andrada , Andrés Gazzotti, Roberto Cavanagh, Luis Duggan)

    A total of 21 athletes from five countries took part in the men's polo tournament . After 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924, the last time a polo tournament took place in Berlin was at the Olympic Games. Seven chukkers (game segments ) of eight minutes each were played in the knockout system , with a change of sides after each goal. The hope that the United States and the famous Indian team would attend was not fulfilled. Since the game Hungary against Germany in the preliminary round ended 8: 8 despite extra time, a repetition was scheduled, which Hungary clearly won 16: 6. In the game for third place on August 8, the teams from Mexico and Hungary faced each other, the game ended 16: 2.

    Argentina and the United Kingdom played against each other in the final on August 7th at 2pm. Argentina won 11-0 and thus achieved the gold medal. Silver went to the United Kingdom and bronze to Mexico. Hungary and Germany followed on the other places.

    Cycling

    In cycling , four men's competitions were held on the track and two on the road . In the sprint , the 1000-meter time trial , the 2000-meter tandem race and the 4000-meter team pursuit , only one starter or team per country was allowed to start. In the final of the bike sprinting, the German Toni Merkens fouled the Dutch Arie van Vliet . Instead of being disqualified, he received a fine of 100 marks and was allowed to keep his gold medal. The road race was held with a mass start for the first time since 1906. However, since the course was only 100 kilometers long and very flat, the field arrived almost closed with an interval of a few seconds, so that the jury was not able to place every driver. This also meant that sixth place in the team ranking could not be awarded. The average speed of this race was 39.2 km / h.

    The Frenchman Robert Charpentier , who won three gold medals, was particularly successful . Through him, France was also the best nation in the cycling competitions, they won a total of three gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The German and Dutch participants were equally successful.

    horse riding

    Olympic dressage competitions on the Maifeld

    Six equestrian competitions were held. Konrad Freiherr von Wangenheim fell with his horse "Kurfürst" and broke his left collarbone during the cross-country ride in the individual classification . Despite the injury, he got back on his horse and finished the ride. With an immovable arm he started again the next day, fell again and again forced himself to end the ride, so that he saved the gold medal for the German team. In the equestrian competitions, the Germans proved to be superior and won all six gold medals, as well as a silver medal. Eleven other countries each won a medal in these competitions.

    Wrestling

    In wrestling , seven competitions were held in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman style. A total of 100 athletes in the various weight classes took part in freestyle wrestling, 110 in Greco-Roman wrestling. For the first time, the regulations were available in written form. The maximum length of a fight was 15 minutes in freestyle and 20 minutes in Greco-Roman style. After the first ten minutes, the referees could order a floor round of two times three minutes and a following period of four minutes standing. The wrestlers were marked with a red or green ribbon. The wrestler who had five faults was eliminated from the tournament.

    The most successful wrestlers came from Sweden, they won a total of four gold, three silver and two bronze medals. Hungary was similarly successful. Germany did not achieve a gold medal, but did get three silver and four bronze medals. The German wrestler and communist Werner Seelenbinder planned to refuse the expected Hitler salute at the award ceremony as a sign of protest and instead to make an obscene gesture. After a first round defeat, Seelenbinder had to give up this plan. In the end, he finished fourth in the Olympic competition.

    rowing

    In rowing , there were seven contests. One boat per country could take part in each class. The German athletes were most successful in this sport and won five gold medals, one silver and one bronze medal.

    shoot

    Three competitions were held in shooting . There were two new world records:

    Germany won one gold and two silver medals in these competitions.

    swim

    1936 Summer Olympics, swimming

    In swimming , six competitions were held for men and five for women. The disciplines of water polo with one competition (men only) and water jumping with four competitions (two each for men and women) are included in the swimming sport. The 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay from Japan reached a new world record in the final with a time of 8: 51.5 minutes. Japan was the most successful nation with four gold, two silver and five bronze medals in the swimming-only competitions. The Netherlands and the United States followed. Germany won three silver medals and one bronze medal.

    140 athletes from 16 countries took part in the water polo tournament. The first two of the preliminary round groups came into the intermediate round, the two best of the intermediate rounds played for places one to four, the rest for places five to eight. There were two points for a win and one point for a draw. In the event of a tie, the goal difference decided. Hungary won the gold, Germany the silver and Belgium the bronze medal. In diving , ten of the twelve medals went to athletes from the United States and two bronze medals to German athletes.

    sail

    The four sailing competitions were held on the Kiel Fjord in front of Kiel . The scoring system was the same as that used in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics . For each properly completed race, the yacht received one point plus one point for each defeated yacht. The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom each won a gold medal.

    In the star boat , Peter Bischoff and his bow man Hans-Joachim Weise were the first German sailors to win an Olympic gold medal.

    do gymnastics

    In gymnastics , eight competitions were held for men and one for women. The most successful German athlete at the Olympic Games in Berlin emerged from this sport. Konrad Frey won three gold medals - on parallel bars, on pommel horse and with the team in the twelve fight. He also achieved a silver medal on the horizontal bar and two bronze medals on the floor and in the twelve fight. Two bronze medals were awarded on the ground, as Konrad Frey and the Swiss Eugen Mack achieved the same number of points.

    In total, Germany won six gold medals, one silver medal and six bronze medals in this sport. Switzerland won a gold medal ( Georges Miez in floor exercise), six silver and two bronze medals.

    Art competitions

    15 art competitions were held during the Summer Olympics in Berlin . The prize was awarded to cultural contributions from the fields of architecture, literature, music, painting and graphics as well as sculpture. Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels opened the art exhibition in Hall VI of the exhibition grounds on July 15, 1936. Around 70 works of art were subsequently sold. In this competition, too, Germany was the most successful nation with five gold, five silver and two bronze medals.

    In addition, the Olympic mountaineering prize Prix ​​olympique d'alpinisme was awarded at the Games in Berlin for the third and last time . The two Swiss Hettie Dyhrenfurth and Günter Dyhrenfurth received the gold medal for their Himalayan expeditions in 1930 and 1934. The Swiss Hermann Schreiber was honored with the gold medal for a glider flight over the Alps . " San Min Chu-i " ("Three Principles of the People"), the Chinese national anthem, was voted the world's best national anthem of the Olympic Games.

    Demonstration sports and demonstrations

    The demonstration sports were baseball and gliding . The baseball demonstration was a single game played on August 12 at 8:30 p.m. in the Olympic Stadium under floodlights. The two US teams "World Champions" and "Olympics" faced each other. The game ended 6: 5 for the world championship team. The gliding competitions at Staaken airfield also had no competitive character. 14 pilots (including one woman) from seven countries are known by name, but there were other participants. The pilots came from Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The Swiss Hermann Schreiber , who was also awarded a gold medal for a glider flight over the Alps , also took part in this competition. The screening took place on August 4th at 11:00 a.m. On August 3, a serious accident occurred during the exercises for the demonstrations. The Austrian Ignaz Stiefsohn fell fatally while doing aerobatics as a result of a broken wing.

    There were also performances by gymnasts from China, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Hungary, Sweden and Germany. In the interior of the cycling stadium , performances of artificial cycling , artistic dance and cycling ball took place. On August 16, a show jumping event for all medalists in water jumping was held in the swimming stadium. At the venue of the canoe competitions, 40 German canoeists took part in capsizing exercises and 116 canoeists from 10 canoe up the hill . Furthermore, there was a German demonstration with four kayaks over 1000 meters without medals:

    • 1st place: VKC Cologne 3: 41.3 min
    • 2nd place: KG Wanderfalke Essen 3: 42.1 min
    • 3rd place: VKB Berlin 4: 24.2 min

    The continental relay teams also had the character of a demonstration competition in swimming. The USA and Asia (Japan) each faced a European selection. There was also a water polo game between Europe and "Übersee", which the Europeans won 6-2.

    Outstanding athletes and achievements

    The most successful participants
    rank athlete country sport gold silver bronze total
    1 Jesse Owens United States 48United States United States athletics 4th 0 0 4th
    2 Konrad Frey German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) Deutsches Reich do gymnastics 3 1 2 6th
    3 Hendrika Mastenbroek NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands swim 3 1 0 4th
    4th Alfred Schwarzmann German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) Deutsches Reich do gymnastics 3 0 2 5
    5 Robert Charpentier Third French RepublicThird French Republic France Cycling 3 0 0 3

    The Austrian equestrian Arthur von Pongracz de Szent-Miklós and Óvár was the second oldest participant in history at 72 years and 48 days. Only the Swedish sports shooter Oscar Swahn was 72 years and 279 days older at the Olympic Games in 1920 at the time of the competition. The Danish swimmer Inge Sørensen became the youngest Olympic medalist at the age of 12 years and 24 days, winning the bronze medal over 200 meters breaststroke. The American water diver Marjorie Gestring became the youngest Olympic champion in history at the age of 13 years and 266 days and won the jumping competition.

    propaganda

    Nazi rally in the Lustgarten on the occasion of the Summer Games
    Flag decorations in front of the castle
    Medal winners / high jump in the stadium, from left to right: Ibolya Csak (gold), Elfriede Kaun (bronze), Dorothy Odam (silver). The Jewess Gretel Bergmann, who was part of the German Olympic squad, was sidelined by the Nazi apparatus as allegedly injured.
    Wilhelmstrasse (Berlin) July 1936: Airship LZ 129 “Hindenburg” during an Olympic advertising flight over the (old) Reich Chancellery with the extension built in 1928–1930 in the background on the left
    Street decorations for the Summer Olympics: Unter den Linden, corner of Neue Wilhelmstrasse
    Members of the International Olympic Committee in the Memorial to the Fallen in the World War (August 1, 1936, Neue Wache )
    Berlin by night: corner of Cafe Kranzler / Unter den Linden. An Olympic flag is attached to the cafe.

    For Germany, which was viewed as the attacker and loser of the First World War and was therefore not invited to the Olympic Games in 1920 and 1924, the award of the Olympic Games meant a vote of confidence and a new opportunity to present itself to the world as a good host , which had found its way back to normal after the First World War. After the seizure of power by the National Socialists , however, was initially completely uncertain whether the 1936 Olympics because of ideological could actually take place perspectives of the new German government.

    In view of the propaganda possibilities that a successful staging of the 1936 Olympic Games would offer, Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler emphasized that he would do everything possible to make the Games as perfect as possible. With the Olympic Games he wanted to show the whole world that Germany would be a peace-loving, socially and economically aspiring country under his leadership. In order to achieve this goal, Adolf Hitler even tolerated the fact that Theodor Lewald , the President of the Organizing Committee, was a " half-Jew " according to National Socialist ideas . In order to prevent the Games from being moved abroad, Adolf Hitler officially responded to the IOC's demands for compliance with the Olympic rules. The government pledged to allow free access "for all races and denominations" to the Olympic teams. In order to counter the boycott efforts, the organizers pledged to the IOC not to exclude German Jews from the games in principle. In the end, however, there was only one “half-Jewish” member of the German Olympic team, the fencer Helene Mayer , who won a silver medal. Shortly before starting the games, Gretel Bergmann was prevented from participating by the Nazi regime for racist reasons and on the grounds of an alleged violation. The National Socialists previously forced the athlete to return from England, where she had emigrated, and to train for the games in Berlin by threatening her family who had remained in Germany with reprisals. Werner Seelenbinder , the popular multiple German wrestling champion who, as a well-known communist , was allowed to take part in the games, had a similar alibi function . Seelenbinder was still active in sports after the games, but was arrested in 1942 and beheaded in Brandenburg prison in 1944 .

    In addition to the possibility of deceiving foreign countries about the true character of the Nazi state through the games , there was another opportunity to counter the economic misery with various construction measures, to reduce the number of unemployed and in this way to increase the popularity of the government Motive for Hitler's endeavors. Adolf Hitler justified his decision for the extensive construction project of the Reichssportfeld as follows:

    "When you have four million unemployed, you have to find work."

    The National Socialist government also hoped for propagandistic and economic benefits from increasing tourism . The Olympic Games were also a welcome opportunity to promote the physical training required by the Nazi ideology, the “cultivation of perfectly healthy bodies” for a healthy “ national body ” with regard to military training and use in war, on a broad basis and also into action to implement. By integrating all compatriots into the preparation of the 1936 Olympic Games, identification and loyalty with the regime was to be achieved. The propaganda emphasized that no German should only feel like a visitor to the Olympic Games, but that every German should be aware that they are the bearer and thus a participant in the Games. With the slogan "Olympia - a national task", declaimed by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick , the Germans were prepared for the Olympic Games in the desired direction. A successful Olympiad should not only serve as an exclamation to the competing states, but also give the German people new self-confidence.

    The entire propaganda was incumbent on an Olympic Propaganda Committee and its affiliated Office for Sports Advertising. The sometimes complicated rules of the competitions were explained to the people in a series of booklets. A special aspect of the propaganda was the mobile Olympia touring exhibition, which traveled through Germany for a year and could be seen in almost a hundred cities. In addition, posters, brochures, Olympic newspapers, films and slide presentations at home and abroad were used to advertise the 1936 Olympic Games and Germany. Abroad, the branches of the Reichsbahnzentrale for German travel attracted visitors to visit Germany on the occasion of the games with lavish shop window decorations. The reduction in fares for rail travel to Germany by 60 percent met with particular approval. A few weeks before the opening of the Summer Olympics, the German population was called upon to "dispel all prejudices against the German people" through particularly courteous and polite behavior towards the guests of the Olympic Games.

    The main propagandistic event, however, was the Summer Olympics itself. Against all warnings from the IOC not to abuse the host role for self-expression, the regime used everything to put itself in the limelight with a “propagandistic total work of art”, with enthusiastic crowds of ecstasy and unity to demonstrate by the people and leaders. With supporting events such as theater and opera performances, the “Olympic Youth” festival created by Carl Diem , various art exhibitions, the German exhibition and accompanying sporting events, the National Socialist rulers wanted to present the size and importance of Germany to the world, trump all previous Olympic Games and claim to be peace-loving and represent cosmopolitan. The ambivalence of the system was revealed in the cynical and unscrupulous way with which the National Socialists glossed over the real conditions in Germany in front of the guests. With houses and streets decorated with flags and garlands, a perfect facade was built to convey the impression of a neat, clean, civil and social Germany.

    In order to deceive the international guests about the ongoing discrimination and persecution of Jews in Germany , Karl Ritter von Halt , the organizer of the Winter Games, had all anti-Semitic signs (such as those with the words “Jews undesirable”) removed in Berlin for the time of the Games. That is why the Hitler Youth sang "After the Olympics / we beat the Jews to jam." Any anti-Jewish expression should be avoided during the Games. Before publication, every issue of the anti-Semitic weekly newspaper “ Der Stürmer ” had to be submitted to the police station of the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior for examination. Editors who violated this order and continued to publish anti-Semitic smear campaigns were taken into protective custody. The "prestigious Olympic Games" should not be jeopardized.

    While the National Socialist propaganda tried to avoid any signs of anti-Semitism at the Winter Games, the Roma and Sinti living in Berlin were taken to a forced camp set up in Marzahn on the outskirts shortly before the opening of the Summer Olympics . While the Nazi propaganda was celebrating the "World Peace Festival", the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was being built near Berlin at the same time . The National Socialists obviously used the instrument of propaganda skilfully, because many guests and officials only saw what they were supposed to see during the Olympic Games. On behalf of the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda , Sven Hedin gave the address Sport as an educator on August 4th and Leni Riefenstahl shot the two-part documentary " Olympia " about the 1936 Summer Olympics, which is one of the most famous films of National Socialism.

    At the opening ceremony of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and the 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the spectators cheered the Olympic teams as they entered the stadium when the athletes raised their right arms and stretched them out in what appeared to be a Hitler salute. What hardly anyone knew at the time, however, was that this homage with the outstretched arm was also the Olympic salute .

    The airship Hindenburg , which is overwhelming in size and with swastikas attached to its four tail fins, was also used for the opening ceremony . Shortly before Adolf Hitler appeared for the opening ceremony, the airship pulled the Olympic flag, attached to a long rope, across the stands.

    The Olympic Games were also a great success for Germany economically. During talks in Wolfsschanze on April 12, 1942, Hitler announced that the games had brought in half a billion foreign currency . At the Berlin banks, 23 million foreign currency were changed during the Olympic Games, and all foreigners had to pay for their entrance tickets in foreign currency. The proceeds from the tickets brought in 9,034,442.79 Reichsmarks , but the total income is unknown. A ticket for wrestling or polo cost one Reichsmark, for athletics events or baseball demonstration around four Reichsmarks. A total of almost 3.8 million tickets were sold.

    The organizational costs amounted to around 6.5 million Reichsmarks, the city of Berlin also invested 16.5 million Reichsmarks in the expansion of the infrastructure and almost 100 million Reichsmarks in the construction of the sports facilities. As for the “pure” Olympic costs, according to Carl Diem there was a surplus of 4.5 million Reichsmarks.

    reporting

    Walter Bruch behind the "Olympic Cannon"
    Info picture of the television channel "Paul Nipkow"

    For the first time, the Olympic Games were broadcast directly on the radio . 41 broadcasting companies were licensed, there were 68 broadcasting facilities and 3,000 broadcasts in 40 countries. A special service of the German shortwave broadcaster distributed the Olympic news on all continents with the exception of Australia . The television also premiered . A Farnsworth camera transmitted 15 programs from the Olympic Stadium with a total time of 19 hours. In the swimming stadium that was Ikonoskop the imperial post installed. For the first time in sports history, swimmers were recorded underwater. The television station Paul Nipkow broadcast daily from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. 175 competitions were broadcast in 138 hours. The number of private recipients was small, however, because hardly anyone owned a television. Instead there were 25 television rooms in Berlin , two in Leipzig and one in Potsdam . 162,228 paying visitors were counted in these.

    A total of around 1,800 journalists were accredited . However, as the press tickets were impersonal and transferable, it is not possible to state the exact number of journalists present. 700 foreign journalists from 58 countries were recorded by name. 117 photographers were present at the competitions in Berlin. The Empire Sportverlag published from July 21 to August 19, a total of 30 issues of " Olympia Zeitung ", who reported on the current Olympic events. In 1937 the organizing committee issued a two-part official report. Information on the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin was published in German and English on more than 1200 pages.

    Others

    After the Olympic Games in 1936, Hitler announced in September 1937 that Germany would no longer take part in any more games. In the future, he said, the greatest sporting events in the world and the greatest sporting competitions that have ever taken place would be held under our own direction in Nuremberg . Hitler's statement was not just a fantasy. At the end of November 1936 a decree was signed according to which so-called National Socialist fighting games were to take place in future under the auspices of the SA . These fighting games were thus a kind of national Olympiad and intended as a continuation or replacement of the Olympic Games. Albert Speer informed Hitler in the course of 1937 that the previous plans for the German Stadium did not conform to the Olympic dimensions. Thereupon he received a reply from Hitler that this was completely unimportant , since after 1940, Hitler said, the Olympic Games would take place in Germany for all time, namely in this that stadium. And how the sports field is sized, he continued, we will determine that!

    literature

    Web links

    Commons : 1936 Summer Olympics  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Arnd Krüger : The Olympic Games 1936 and the world opinion - their importance in foreign policy with particular consideration of the USA . Bartels & Wernitz, Berlin 1972, ISBN 3-87039-925-2
    2. ^ Arnd Krüger : Fair Play for American Athletes. A study in anti-semitism. In: Canadian Journal of the History of Sport and Physical Education 9 (1978), 1, pp. 42-57.
    3. ↑ Volker Ullrich : Adolf Hitler. The years of ascent 1889–1939 . S. Fischer, Frankfurt a. Main 2013, p. 622.
    4. ↑ Javier Cáceres, Holger Gertz: Glickmans Trikot. The Americans kissed the Nazis in 1936 and refused to let their Jewish athletes compete . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 1, 2015, p. 3.
    5. ↑ Carola Jüllig: The torch relay run Olympia Berlin 1936 . At 95, Siegfried Eifrig is still as fit as a gym shoe . SCC Running , February 6, 2005.
    6. ↑ Karin Stöckel: Berlin in the Olympic frenzy. The organization of the Olympic Games 1936 , Diplomica, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8366-6938-2 , p. 35.
    7. ↑ DFB changes statistics: Sepp Herberger was less often national coach than expected . April 18, 2019, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed April 18, 2019]).
    8. ^ The Joy of Six: Olympic football tournament stories . In: Guardian , July 20, 2012
    9. ↑ Konrad Freiherr Von Wangenheim: The Arm In The Sling Gold Medalist .
    10. ↑ Peter Hartmann: "Turning points in sports history": When Hitler deceived the world - Berlin 1936 was the beginning of everything . In: NZZ , April 27, 2020
    11. ↑ Jutta Braun: Gretel Bergmann. In: Berno Bahro, Jutta Braun, Hans Joachim Teichler (eds.): Forgotten Records - Jewish athletes before and after 1933. vbb, Berlin 2009, p. 96.
    12. ↑ Sportjubilarin Gretel Bergmann: The alibi Jew , taz.de
    13. ↑ Folker Siegert, Diethard Aschoff: Grenzgang: People and Fates between Jewish, Christian and German Identity: Festschrift for Diethard Aschoff (Volume 11 of Münsteraner Judaistische Studien ), LIT Verlag Münster, 2002, ISBN 3-8258-5856-1 , p. 279 ( limited preview in Google Book Search)
    14. ↑ Frederick Birchall: 100,000 Hail Hitler; US Athletes Avoid Nazi Salute to Him . In: . The New York Times , Aug. 1, 1936, p. 1.
    15. ^ The diaries of Joseph Goebbels . Volume III, 1935-1939. Piper Verlag, p. 1124, footnote 116