The Legacies of 1936: Hitler’s Olympic Grounds and Berlin’s Bid to Host the 2000 Olympic Games

Abstract

Abstract Although the 1936 ‘Nazi Olympics’ in Berlin have landmark status both in the history of Nazi Germany and in the history of the modern Olympic Games, it was not until the early 1990s that Berlin begin to reckon with their architectural and historical legacies. The impetus for these discussions was the city’s bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games, for which it planned to reuse the 1936 Olympic Stadium. This article begins by analysing the strategies used by Berlin’s bid coordinators to distance the 2000 bid from the racist aspects of the 1936 Games. Their primary strategy was to honour the victims of Nazism by incorporating the concentration camp Theresienstadt into the proposed route for the Olympic torch. The article then analyses public debates about the best ways to counterbalance the Nazi ideology embedded in the statues and architecture of the Olympic grounds. Simultaneously, it shows the efforts of some Berlin residents to argue that the architectural and cultural legacies of the 1936 Games precluded Berlin from hosting the 2000 Games altogether. The article next examines the grassroots, municipal and federal historical initiatives at the site which emerged in the years after Berlin’s failed bid. These efforts culminated in two permanent historical exhibits at the Olympic grounds, developed to coincide with the 2006 soccer World Cup. Yet, as the article concludes, the Olympic complex remains a living site today, subject to continued discussions and debates about how best to balance recreational, historical and political engagement with the infamous site.