Four German regions want to host Olympic and Paralympic summer games. Together they have that they want to be sustainable with the largest possible proportion of existing or temporary sports facilities. A look at special features, strengths and weaknesses.
Berlin’s mayor Kai Wegner (3rd VR) at the presentation of the Olympic concept of the federal capital
Berlin+
Special features: The plus stands for other regions beyond the capital-and some: handball and canoe in Leipzig and Markkleeberg, sailing in Kiel and Rostock-Warnemünde, riding and football even far in the west in North Rhine-Westphalia. Iconal pictures are supposed to deliver beach volleyball competitions at the Brandenburg Gate.
Olympic Stadium: The Olympic Stadium in the capital, built for the 1936 games, is a spectacular arena with a reputation – here Berlin is well positioned.
Swimming competitions: 10 lanes and at least 15,000 spectator places – none of the four applicants have a facility ready for these Olympic requirements. Berlin’s solution: A temporary swimming arena on the site of the Hohenschönhausen sports forum.
Olympic village: Accommodations for more than 16,000 athletes are to be created on the exhibition center. According to the promise, this will become 2,500 units for affordable living after the games.
Referendum: It is still unclear whether the citizens can have a say – this is not a must. Mayor Kai Wegner only said “That people in the cities must also be involved in one form”.
Strengthen: Berlin is the most prominent name among all German applications and provides history. In 2036, the Nazi games from 1936 would be 100 years ago that Berlin could demonstrate the change from the rule of terror to a cosmopolitan democracy. In 2040, German unity marks the 50th anniversary of Berlin as a central setting. The world combines – this is also a mantra of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). There you love such stories.
Weaken: Berlin is highly indebted, has many open construction sites and the skepticism among the population is therefore great. The Nolympia Berlin initiative has announced a referendum against the issue.
Group photo at the presentation of the Hamburg concept
Hamburg+
Special features: Hamburg is the only applicant to build a new stadium for the athletics competitions, but emphasizes that this arena is planned anyway. The Hanseatic city advertises with short paths, 82 percent of the sports facilities can be found within a radius of seven kilometers. But there are also disciplines in Kiel and football games in Leipzig, Magdeburg, Freiburg, Hanover, Nuremberg and Münster.
Olympic Stadium: A multifunctional arena for up to 60,000 spectators is to be created in the Altona Olympic Park. It is to temporarily home to the athletics competitions and then to be converted into a football arena. Concerts, conferences and other events should ensure intensive use.
Nevertheless, Hamburg does not count the arena as a new building only for the Olympics that it is planned anyway. The narrative goes like this: The neighboring folk park stadium of the Hamburger SV would have to be renovated so expensive beyond the 2040s that this would be a new building. So the HSV footballers could play in the new arena in the future. The financial details become exciting, because the Volksparkstadion belongs to HSV Football AG.
Swimming competitions: In the Volksparkstadion there are a temporary swimming pool and grandstands for 17,500 spectators planned. It is open how the traditional stadium will continue afterwards when the new arena is next door.
Olympic village: The city district of the “Science City Bahrenfeld” is being built on the trotting racing track in the Volkspark anyway. It should now serve as an Olympic village before subsequent in laboratories, lecture halls, companies, scientists and students. The athletes could walk through the Volkspark to achieve the Volksparkstadion, the athletics stadium and the Barclay Card Arena (basketball, art gymnastics, trampoline) in the “Olympic Park Altona”.
Referendum: Is planned for the end of May 2026. In November 2015, the residents decided against the games for the games 2024 or 2028 with 51.6 percent of the votes.
Weaken: The referendum is delicate. The city has adapted the 2015 concept, but the population approval is anything but safe. The planned multifunctional arena requires an agreement with the Hamburger SV, in which not only supporters of FC St. Pauli could fear that the HSV benefits above average.
Markus Söder (center) in the Olympic application of the city of Munich
Strengthen: As a second largest German city, Hamburg has the necessary international fame and is financially better positioned than other municipalities. The short distances could be a plus.
MUNICH:
Special features: Bavaria’s state capital relies on the iconic Olympic Park of the 1972 games, wants to expand it for modern sports such as skateboard, 3×3 basketball or BMX. This should underline the sustainability of the games. Munich also relies on historical backdrops such as Nymphenburg Castle and Schleißheim Castle and at the Oktoberfest: Beach volleyball is supposed to be on the Theresienwiese alongside an “Olympic Olympic Oktoberfest”.
Olympic Stadium: Munich has its 1972 stadium, but has to renovate it.
Swimming competitions: A temporary swimming arena is to be created in the multifunctional arena Freising, it is said to be completed by 2029.
Olympic village: In the northeast of Munich, a village for 18,900 Olympic guests is to be created, which is then to be used as a “climate -neutral, barrier -free multi -generation quarters for more than 10,000 people”.
Referendum: A citizens’ decision is already planned for October 26, 2025.
Strengthen: Munich appears well prepared, is confident with Prime Minister Markus Söder, and was already a reliable partner in 1972. The so -called “Olympic legacy” is very important to the IOC and Munich is fully on this card by using many sports facilities from 1972 again. In terms of awareness, Munich can record it with Berlin.
Weaken: The referendum is a high hurdle, for the application for the Winter Games 2022 the population said no. The 1972 attack is also associated with the Olympics in Munich, in which Palestinian terrorists murdered 14 Israeli Olympic participants.
NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (3rd VL) at the concept performance in Cologne
North Rhine-Westphalia:
Special features: For the first time, an entire region is applying for the games without a clear urban center. The populated metropolitan area on the Rhine and Ruhr thinks great, promotes a record record – among others with swimming in the arena on Schalke. Many details are based on the concept of “Rhein-Ruhr City”, a private initiative founded by sports manager Michael Mronz, which has been unsuccessful for the 2032 games. Mronz is now a IOC member and therefore also a member of the Presidium in the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).
Olympic Stadium: The Achilles heel in the concept, a large athletics stadium is missing. The innovative approach: a modular, temporary stadium for 50,000 spectators in Cologne or Essen that is integrated into a residential area after the games.
Swimming competitions: 60,000 spectators at the Olympic swimming competitions – that would be a novelty. This is to be achieved by a temporary pool in the Gelsenkirchen multi -purpose arena.
Olympic village: Is to be created next to the temporary Olympic Stadium and become a city district after the games. As the Olympic Stadium, Cologne and Essen, the location are possible.
Referendum: Here the details are still open. NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst said that the cities in the spring of next year were considered.
Strengthen: A possible audience record should attract attention from many IOC members. The many large arenas, the central location in Europe and the innovative, albeit daring idea for a temporary Olympic stadium, could be plus points.
Weaken: So far, the Olympic Games have always been linked to more or less prominent city names. “North Rhine-Westphalia” or “Rhein-Ruhr region”-some IOC members are likely to strangers. The idea of a temporary Olympic stadium with an adjacent Olympic village seems unfinished because the location is not even certain.
So it goes on
The DOSB will check the concepts for plausibility by September. The concepts that pass this exam will be presented at the DOSB general meeting on December 6th. Until June 2026, applicants then have time to hold referenders – which is not a duty.
The DOSB and the federal government then evaluate the concepts in a commemorative body and choose the best in its eyes. An extraordinary DOSB general meeting should then formally confirm this concept.
It is open for which year Germany is applying. The next possible date, 2036, appears unlikely due to clear tendencies towards Asia. 2040 or 2044 seem more realistic data.