Berlin awarded Olympic Games
Australia and the Olympic Games The Berlin Olympics 1936 Historical Context
Berlin awarded Olympic Games On May 13, 1931 Berlin was awarded the host city status for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. It beat Barcelona by a convincing 43 votes to 16. At that time Paul Von Hindenburg was the German president and Germany had moved on from a Kaiser and military government. Now it was the Weimar Republic, with a democratic constitution. Germany should have hosted the 1916 Olympic Games but these were cancelled because of the World War I and then was banned from the Antwerp Olympics in 1920 and Paris in 1924. The new acceptance of Germany started by its inclusion in the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics. The real acknowledgement of a new democratic Germany came with host status for both the winter and summer Olympic Games in 1936. However, the political and social character of Germany changed dramatically from January 30, 1933. After this date, when Adolph Hitler became German Chancellor and the National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI) became part of a coalition government, the question which faced the IOC and each member of the Olympic family was whether it was the same country and host city which was awarded-the Olympic Games back in 1931. There were IOC and individual country Olympic Committee meetings scheduled before the deadline but the issue of keeping sport separate from politics divided athletes, country Olympic Committees and the IOC.
© Australian Olympic Committee
Berlin awarded Olympic Games On May 13, 1931 Berlin was awarded the host city status for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. It beat Barcelona by a convincing 43 votes to 16. At that time Paul Von Hindenburg was the German president and Germany had moved on from a Kaiser and military government. Now it was the Weimar Republic, with a democratic constitution. Germany should have hosted the 1916 Olympic Games but these were cancelled because of the World War I and then was banned from the Antwerp Olympics in 1920 and Paris in 1924. The new acceptance of Germany started by its inclusion in the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics. The real acknowledgement of a new democratic Germany came with host status for both the winter and summer Olympic Games in 1936. However, the political and social character of Germany changed dramatically from January 30, 1933. After this date, when Adolph Hitler became German Chancellor and the National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI) became part of a coalition government, the question which faced the IOC and each member of the Olympic family was whether it was the same country and host city which was awarded-the Olympic Games back in 1931. There were IOC and individual country Olympic Committee meetings scheduled before the deadline but the issue of keeping sport separate from politics divided athletes, country Olympic Committees and the IOC.
© Australian Olympic Committee
