1936

The XI. OIympic Summer Games officially began on August 1st 1936 at the Olympiastadion Berlin and closed on August 16th 1936 with a grand closing ceremony. A total of 3,956 athletes, among them 328 women, from 49 nations took part in the competitions. The most successful athlete was James Cleveland “Jesse“ Owens, who won four gold medals – 100m and 200m sprints, long jump and with the American 4x100m relay. The (unofficial) nations’ ranking was led by Germany with 33 gold, 26 silver and 30 bronze medals, followed by the USA (24/29/21) and Hungary (10/1/5).

During the Olympic Games, the German Imperial capital presented itself in its most beautiful appearance. Adolf Hitler had informed the German IOC member Karl Ritter von Halt as early as 1932 that the NSDAP would not present “any difficulties” during the Olympic Games of 1936 and that “he would also not oppose the participation of coloured people at the competitions”. The SA was ordered to stop any anti-semitic attacks between June 30th and September 1st 1936. But despite the positive reviews of the sports competitions, some foreign observers, who realized the real terror regime behind the feigned façade, voiced their criticism.

After the Olympic Games, the “Reichssportfeld” annually saw 20 to 25 large-scale events. The Hochschule für Leibesübungen (Academy for Athletics), however, was ordered to cease operations, and instead a new school, the Reichsakademie für Leibesübungen (State Academy for Athletics), was opened on April 15th 1936 by Hitler’s orders. Here, aspiring teachers were destined to receive a „uniform education as leaders in the field of physical education“ – but in reality, the school served the purposes of the paramilitary SA sports training.

1937-1945

The first final match of the German National Soccer Cup was played at the stadium on June 20th 1937, Schalke 04 beat the 1.FC Nuremberg by a score of 2:0. On September 28th 1937, thousands of torch-carrying Nazis marched on the Maifield to welcome Italian “Duce” Mussolini. During the first years of the war there was a continuous series of „War Championships“, Hitlerjugend- and Army Sports Festivals. The Olympiastadion played a crucial part in the entertainment programs for German troops.

The Reichssportfeld had been prepared for war quite early – in the area around the Marathon tunnel, a concrete ceiling and separating walls had been added to expand these underground rooms into a real bunker. At the dawn of the war, the German company Blaupunkt produced primers for anti-aircraft weapons here. In late 1944, the Allied bombardments became increasingly more intense, and the underground facilities of the stadium were prepared as makeshift headquarters for the “Großdeutscher Rundfunk”, Nazi Germany’s national radio network.

The administration building north of the Olympischer Platz served as an ammunition depot, other buildings were used for large-scale food and wine storages. The Olympischer Platz was one of ten locations in Berlin, where, on November 12th 1944, Hitler’s last contingents were being sworn in.

1945

Only days after Germany’s unconditional surrender in May 1945, the Reichssportfeld was cleaned up. The area was dotted with bomb craters, empty ammunitions boxes, burned equipment, barricades and dead bodies. The Sportforum building was heavily damaged, the „Stadion-Terrassen“ were reduced to ruins. The stands on the Maifeld were smouldering for days after the national German film archive, whose material was stored there, had caught fire. The fire expanded onto the Bell Tower, which completely burnt out.

The administration building at the Olympischer Platz was completely destroyed after the war, when stored ammunition exploded. Carl Diem, the Secretary General of the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games 1936, made himself the director of the “Reichssportfeld” administration and, together with other former employees, began the clean-up process. The Red Army had occupied the “Haus des Deutschen Sports” temporarily, establishing a garrison there.

On June 20th 1945, Diem had the largely untouched swimming pool stadium opened to the public - and masses of Berliners made good use of it. After the Soviets had drawn back their forces from this part of the city, British troops occupied the premises on July 1st 1945. The Olympiastadion was closed immediately to the public because the British Army wanted to use all the facilities – except for the “Stadion-Terrassen” – for itself.

1946-1956

The British reopened the stadium for the first time on September 7th and 8th 1946 when the “Eight-Nations-Games”, a track-and-field competition of Allied soldiers, was staged here. On February 15th 1947, the Olympiastadion lost one of its landmarks: The British Military Government ordered to demolish the dilapidated Bell Tower. The bell’s fall to the ground created a long crack in the bell material. In order to save the bell from metal hunters, British pioneers buried it on the square in front of the former tower location. Former Heavyweight World Champion Max Schmeling staged his last fight at the open-air arena, now called “Waldbühne” on October 31st 1948 in front of an audience of 24,000.

Step by step, more parts of the “Reichssportfeld” were turned back to German authorities. The Olympiastadion was handed over on June 12th 1949. Exactly one year later, the Berlin Senate decided to rename the “Reichssportfeld” into “Olympiastadion”. The new mounting of the bell was finally realized on December 18th 1956, thanks to efforts made by Werner March. He succeeded in the reconstruction of the bell tower, which was completed after two years in 1962. This new tower has a height of 77,17m, almost one metre more than its predecessor. During the course in the reconstruction, the “Langemarckhalle” at the middle level was also rebuilt – without any consideration of its negative historic context: The hall had been envisioned by the Nazis who wanted to honour the dead of the battle at Langemarck. The hall – along with the tower – had been completely destroyed by the detonation in 1947.

1957-1988

Inside the arena, a discreet denazification had started as well: The “Führerloge” on the Honorary Stand was reduced in by one metre in length to take away its historic effect. In 1966, the former “Reichssportfeld” was put under Monument Conservation of West Berlin. And in November 1966, a new floodlight system was completed.

The four poles, each 88 metres high, had a power of 4,000 Lux for soccer matches and 300 Lux for track-and-field events – but they fell short of the standard power for stadia of the time (1,500 Lux). In 1969, the old ash-covered running track was replaced by a more modern synthetic running track made of Rekortan. This material was new then and was tested for its usage during the Olympic Summer Games of 1972.

For the 1974 World Cup the stadium received a partial roof over the Northern and Southern stands, designed by architects Dübbers and Krahe. A total of 26,000 seats were now protected from bad weather. In addition, the press stands, and the public bathrooms for the audience were modernized. The stands and the reporter’s trench were now separated by a plexiglass wall.