The National Olympic Committee of Germany – DOSB – has approved exploration of future Olympic bids, beginning with a bid for the 2034 Winter Olympics or 2036 Summer Olympics.
This begins the process of the country pursuing future Olympic bids, including a much-discussed 2036 bid that would be the 100-year anniversary of the infamous 1936 Nazi Olympics.
The country last hosted at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. They also previously hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, and were selected to host the 1916 Summer Olympics and the 1940 Winter Olympics, both of which were ultimately canceled by World Wars.
DOSB President Thomas Weiker, who was re-elected at the same meeting by a 434-4 margin, says that this is just the first stage of deciding whether to formally bid for the Olympic Games. The DOSB is planning a public referendum in 2024 as part of its consultation process. That referendum is especially important in gauging public sentiment over hosting a Games in 2036, which is 100 years after the Nazi-hosted 1936 Games.
In 2021, the idea was floated of hosting a Berlin-Tel Aviv joint Olympic Games as a sign of reconciliation, but those conversations have become quieter in recent months.
The prior three Olympic Games hosted by Germany were all held under a cloud. The two 1936 Games were both hosted by the Nazi government that would kill about 6 million European Jews and millions of others in the Holocaust. The 1972 Olympics were marred by a terrorist attack where Palestinian gunmen took 11 members of the Israeli delegation hostage and ultimately killed them along with a German police officer.
The plan for 2034 or 2036 would include competitions in multiple cities around the country, which has become the new model for Olympic hosting (even when there is a single named host city).
Germany has previously made formal bids for the 2000 (Berlin) and 2012 (Leipzig) Summer Olympics, plus the 1992 (Berchtesgaden) and 2018 (Munich) Winter Olympics.
When the 2032 Olympics were awarded to Brisbane, Australia last summer, a number of countries turned their eyes toward the 2036 Games. Among the countries that have expressed interest in hosting are Egypt, South Korea, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Qatar, Italy, the UK, Turkey, Denmark, Canada, and Mexico.
IOC President Thomas Bach is German.
Eek, going back to Germany on that 100 year anniversary seems like an awful idea.
Also from rumblings that “no countries want to host the Olympics anymore” I wonder how many of those would actually make it as far as putting in a bid.
I really like the idea of having a multiple-city or even multiple-country event. The Euro has been held in multiple countries before (Belgium/Netherlands, Austria/Switzerland, Poland/Ukraine, all over in 2020) – why not do something like that? An OlympicGames in “Scandinavia” instead of just tiny Denmark. Or the BeNeLux. Or the Mediterranean countries (multiple continents even).