The possibility of Berlin hosting the 2036 Olympic Games has reignited a political, historical, and social debate in Germany. This week, the Berlin regional parliament approved moving forward with the German capital’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, 2040, or 2044, which raises a particularly sensitive point of contention: the centenary of the 1936 Games held under Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.
The project, championed by conservative mayor Kai Wegner, was approved after a lengthy 90-minute parliamentary debate and received support from sectors of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the far-right AfD, despite resistance from opposition parties and citizens’ movements that question both the economic cost and the symbolic weight of a potential Olympic Games exactly one century after the games used as a propaganda tool by the Third Reich.
“We want positive development for Berlin” and to offer a “real promise for future generations,” Wegner said in defending the initiative, originally presented in May 2025 in the same Olympic stadium where African American athlete Jesse Owens challenged the Nazi racial narrative by winning four gold medals in 1936.
According to the local government, the bid would rely primarily on existing infrastructure and take advantage of iconic spaces in the city, such as the urban park at the former Tempelhof airport, with the aim of reducing costs and minimizing the urban impact.
A multi-million dollar project that divides Berlin
The Berlin government estimates that hosting the Games would cost around €4.820 billion (approximately $5.600 billion), while projected revenues would reach €5.240 billion, leaving an estimated net profit of €420 million. A quarter of those revenues would go to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Local authorities assert that the project could become an opportunity for economic, tourism, and sporting revitalization for the German capital. Wegner described the event as a potential “summer fairytale” for the world, alluding to the enthusiasm generated by the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
However, the official optimism is far from generating consensus. Lawmakers from the Left Party and the Greens denounced the economic forecasts as overly optimistic and pointed out that the last Olympic Games far exceeded their initial budgets.
Tobias Schulze, leader of The Left, warned that many of the proposed venues would need costly renovations and pointed out that the last three Olympic Games ended up costing more than double what was originally projected.
Reuters Recent coverage of international mega-sporting events has documented that the Olympic Games often face increasing questions about cost overruns, pressure on urban infrastructure, and more limited economic benefits than initially promised, which has led numerous European cities to withdraw their bids in recent years.
Unlike other German candidate cities, Berlin decided not to put the project to a public referendum. In contrast, Munich and North Rhine-Westphalia did obtain public support through voting, while Hamburg will hold a referendum on May 31.
The weight of 1936 and a historically awkward anniversary
Beyond the budget discussion, the biggest focus of controversy revolves around historical symbolism.
The 1936 Berlin Olympics were used by Adolf Hitler and Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels as an international showcase intended to project a modern and powerful image of Germany, while institutional anti-Semitism and political persecution advanced within the country.
The bid inevitably reopens questions about whether Germany should —or should not— host a mega sporting event exactly one hundred years after those games.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has already described this temporal coincidence as “historically problematic,” a warning that reflects tensions over collective memory and how Germany manages the legacy of Nazism.
The story of Jesse Owens, who defied Nazi racial theories by becoming one of the most important figures of the 1936 Games, also returned to the center of public debate as a symbol of resistance against the political instrumentalization of sport.
Meanwhile, critical citizens are promoting the “NOlympia Berlin” initiative, which seeks to gather signatures to force a referendum and allow residents to decide directly whether or not they want to host the event.
The bid is still far from being finalized. The German Olympic Sports Committee must choose on September 26 which of the national proposals will be officially submitted to the International Olympic Committee, in a competition that includes Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and North Rhine-Westphalia.
But the debate is already underway: for some, an Olympic Games in Berlin could represent an opportunity to redefine history; for others, the symbolic weight of 1936 makes it impossible to separate sport from a memory that is still deeply sensitive.
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