1936: Adolf Hitler’s Olympic Games

The 1936 Olympics were held in Berlin and have gone down in the history books as the Adolf Hitler Olympics. Cinematographer Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned by the Nazi regime to make a film of the international sporting event. This film, Olympia, appeared in 1938 in two parts: Fest der Völker and Fest der Schönheit.

The 1936 Olympics are controversial. The German government made full use of the event to propagate the National Socialist ideology . When the event was assigned to Berlin by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1931, Adolf Hitler was not yet a Reich Chancellor. When he did in 1933, there were calls to move the Games. Ultimately, however, this did not happen. Adolf Hitler had to promise not to make any speeches. In addition, it was made clear to the Germans that absolutely no distinction should be made between athletes of different races. Germanyhimself did not care about that and only allowed so-called Aryans to join their own team. Under pressure from the IOC, the half-Jewish fencer Helene Mayer was admitted to the German team at the last minute.

In the Netherlands, there was some discussion about whether the country should delegate athletes. The athletes Wim Peters, Tollien Schuurman, Ben Bril and Leo Halle eventually withdrew from participating, but the national Olympic Committee took a non- political stance and decided not to boycott the Games. In America there were also fierce protests against participation in the ‘Nazi Games’, but the country eventually decided to travel to Berlin. In the end, 49 countries took part in Berlin. A record.

Berlin Olympic Stadium

In Germany a brand new stadium was built for the Olympic Games: the Olympiastadion. The German Stadium originally stood on the site where this stadium, designed by Werner March, was built. This stadium was built for the 1916 Olympic Games, which were canceled because of the First World War . For the new 1936 edition, the Germans wanted a new stadium. The Olympiastadion was opened on August 1, 1936, during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

National Socialism

During the 1936 Games, sports images were broadcast live for the first time. For this purpose, large video screens were placed at various locations in Berlin. The opening ceremony in the brand new stadium was attended by as many as 100,000 spectators, the majority of whom gave the Hitler salute. During the opening, the zeppelin Hindenburg flew low over the stadium.

For the Germans, the 1936 Olympics were an excellent opportunity to impress the world, but especially their own population, with their ‘own greatness’. Of course the Olympic rings could be seen on all kinds of flags in the city, but the flags with swastika were a lot more dominant. However, the Nazis had temporarily removed signs with anti-Semitic texts from the capital, so as not to disturb the foreign visitors. Hitler had also decided to postpone the introduction of various anti-Jewish laws until after the Olympics. Hitler also used the Games for a major renovation of his city.

Poster

Graphic artist Franz Würbel designed the famous poster of the 1936 Olympic Games. It shows, in addition to the Olympic rings, the Brandenburg Gate and a statue of an athlete. For the athlete, the painter Richard Simon posed.

Torchlight

The Olympic fire was lit for the first time during the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam . This fire was then simply lit by an employee of the local gas company.

In 1936 this was different. Then the Olympic flame was lit for the first time in Olympia, the site of the ancient Games in Greece. The fire was then brought to the stadium in Berlin via a relay race, in which more than 3400 runners took part. There it was received by 20,000 members of the Hitlerjugend and 40,000 members of the SA (Sturmabteilung).

Sporty

From the perspective of the Nazis, it was a big blemish that black athlete Jesse Owens became the star of the Olympics. The American won four golds in the 100m, 200m, 4×100m relay and long jump. The American’s last victory was especially painful for the Nazis. In the long jump, Owens defeated top German favorite Luz Long, a white and blond athlete considered by the Nazis to be the personification of the ‘superior Aryan race’.

While several National Socialists sat in the stands gritting their teeth after the defeat, Long showed himself sporty by simply congratulating Jesse Owens on his Olympic victory. The two eventually became friends and would correspond regularly. This came to an end during the Second World War . Luz Long had to enlist in the army and was killed on July 14, 1943 during the Nazi landings in Sicily. Jesse Owens stated after the Games how much he appreciated the German athlete’s congratulation:

“It took a lot of courage to befriend me in front of Hitler. (…) All my medals and cups are nothing compared to the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long at the time. Hitler must have gone mad seeing our embrace.”

Not a warm welcome for the star

In his own country, champion Jesse Owens was not received with all due respect after the Games. The US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt refused even to receive him at the White House , for fear that it would cost him votes in the next election. Owens was also not named Sportsman of the Year in America. The Americans preferred to give that title to a white person.

The Germans did win the medal classification. With force majeure. The country took 33 gold, 26 silver and 30 bronze. The Netherlands finished ninth, with 6 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze medals.

Leni Riefenstahl

German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned to make a film about the Olympic Games in Berlin. This film, Olympia, appeared in 1938 in two parts: Fest der Völker and Fest der Schönheit.

Opening Ceremony of the 1936 Olympics: