Berlin wants to host the Olympics again as 100th anniversary of 1936 Games looms

By Canadian Press on May 23, 2025.

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin is making a bid to host the Olympic Games again, possibly 100 years after the city hosted the 1936 edition under the Nazis.

Berlin mayor Kai Wegner is to present plans to bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with help from four other German states, on Tuesday at Berlin’s Olympic stadium.

The invitation to the presentation sent Friday does not mention which Games the city is bidding for, but the next available edition will be in 1936 — the 100th anniversary of the Berlin Games. The German Olympic Sports Confederation has said a German bid for the 2040 Games is also possible.

Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympics and Brisbane was awarded the 2032 edition.

The states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Schleswig-Holstein would also host competitions as part of Berlin’s bid.

Berlin’s Olympic stadium, known as Olympiastadion in German, was built for the 1936 Games. Adolf Hitler was personally involved in the design and construction of the 100,000-seat track-and-field stadium after the Nazis assumed power in 1933 – two years after the Games were awarded to the city.

Hitler was initially unenthused by the idea of hosting the Games, but he changed his mind after being convinced of their potential for propaganda. He invited Leni Riefenstahl to film the event and she used the material for her film Olympia.

Olympiastadion is still in use and hosted soccer’s European Championship final between Spain and England last year. Hertha Berlin plays its home games there, and on Saturday it will host the German Cup final between Stuttgart and Arminia Bielefeld.

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The Associated Press