By Florent Comtesse
Olympia soon back in Germany?
The future possible Berlin Senate is planning an application for the Olympic Games in Berlin! This emerges from the coalition agreement between the Berlin SPD and CDU.
Accordingly, the capital is ready for a possible staging of the largest sporting event in the world.
“The coalition reaffirms its readiness for Berlin to be available as a venue as part of a possible national application with a sustainable concept for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games in Germany,” says the coalition paper “The Best for Berlin.”
That means: Berlin wants the Olympics – but the earliest application would only be possible for the 2036 Games. 100 years after the 1936 Nazi Games in the capital.
Adolf Hitler opened the 1936 Summer Olympics in the Berlin Olympic Stadium
Photo: dpa – KEYSTONE/AP Photo/Str
Because: The next summer games will take place in France’s capital Paris (2024), Los Angeles (2028) and the Australian metropolis Brisbane (2032).
The coalition paper goes on to say: “We see this as a great opportunity for Berlin, which we want to use. After the games are over, the renovated and modernized sports facilities will be available for a variety of uses for sports in Berlin.”
Stefan Evers (from left to right), General Secretary of the CDU Berlin, Franziska Giffey (SPD), Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner (CDU), Chairman of the CDU Berlin, and Raed Saleh, Chairman of the SPD Berlin Photo: Monika Skolimowska/dpa
But first the Berlin SPD members and the Berlin CDU party congress have to vote on the coalition paper.
So the Olympics will soon be back in Germany?
The Olympic Games in Germany were first held in Berlin in 1936. These went down in history as Nazi games. Hitler misused the games for his propaganda show.
After the Second World War, the second Summer Games took place on German soil, 36 years after the Nazi Games in Munich in 1972.
How realistic is the Olympics for Germany?
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has been affirming a German bid for the Olympics for years – with the consent of the citizens.
The sports umbrella organization only started the strategy process for a new German application for summer and winter games in mid-February, and there have been ideas for the 2036 Olympics in Germany since November 2022.
Even then, Berlin, as the capital, announced support for the plans, as did Munich and Hamburg.
“Berlin sees an application as a national task and will contribute to the discussions,” said the Senate of the Interior in Berlin.
Verena Dietl, the Mayor of Munich who is responsible for sports: “I could well imagine Munich participating as a possible venue as part of the DOSB concept for a German Olympic bid.”
“We welcome the fact that the DOSB wants to initiate an open-ended dialogue process,” wrote the Hamburg Interior Senate. A possible application from the Rhine-Ruhr region is also still on the table.
Most recently, efforts were made to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Munich as well as possible summer games in Hamburg in 2024. In both cases, the citizens of the two largest German cities after Berlin rejected an Olympic candidacy.