On Sunday night (July 14), the almost 75,000 fans who were lucky enough to get tickets will be excitedly filing into Berlin’s Olympiastadion to watch England take on Spain in the final of the Euros.
The stadium today hosts everything from football tournaments to the Olympic Games, but this gargantuan venue has a long and complicated history.
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When was the Olympic Stadium in Berlin built?
After the demolition of the previous stadium on the same site in 1934, Olympiastadion was built over the following two years. The architect of the building, Werner March, borrowed from the design of classical sports arenas, and originally the place could hold 100,000 – which it did, for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The competition came to be known as the ‘Nazi Olympic Games’, and many from the US and Europe petitioned to boycott them. However, they were widely considered a ‘success’ due to the number of people who attended. And they were historic – without a doubt the most iconic moment was Black American athlete Jesse Owens’ legendary wins of four gold medals, and there are photos of him on the podium next to athletes raising their arms in a Nazi salute.
What has the Olympic Stadium in Berlin been used for?
Following the games, the stadium went on to host more defining events of the fascist era in Germany. Many Nazi propaganda events were held here, as was the state reception for Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
Once the Second World War had started, the stadium, plus the rest of Reichssportfeld (the Imperial Sports Arena, which also included the gymnastics venue, Waldbühne) was converted into a bunker, a production site for detonators and storage for food and wine. It even operated as a back-up radio station.
What happened to the Olympic Stadium in Berlin?
After the war, the stadium reopened in 1946 when British troops who were stationed in Berlin held an eight-nation athletics competition for Allied soldiers.
In 1998 – after a long deliberation process on the stadium’s fate – the Olympiastadion had a major overhaul. This mega renovation began in 2000 and was completed in 2004. Capacity has since been around 74,000, thanks to the creation of more spacious luxury boxes, but much of the outside has retained its 1930s design. Since, it’s hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2006, the Women’s World Cup in 2011, and the Champion’s League final in 2015 – next up, the Euros!
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