BERLIN, Germany (AP) — Berlin’s state parliament has given the go-ahead for the city’s bid to re-host the Olympic Games on or after the 100th anniversary of the 1936 Games staged by the Nazis.
“Our bid is a genuine promise for future generations,” Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said during the 90-minute debate that preceded the vote Thursday. “We want positive development for Berlin.”
Wegner’s CDU political party received support from rival SPD members and the far-right AfD for the Berlin Olympic and Paralympic plans that he first presented in May last year in the same stadium where Jesse Owens defied Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Games.
Berlin’s state government approved the concept this month for a bid that relies mostly on existing sports facilities and envisages using city landmarks such as the city park at the former airport Tempelhof.
It estimated the cost at 4.82 billion euros ($5.6 billion), with revenue of 5.24 billion euros projected, giving a net profit of around 420 million euros, with a quarter of that going to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
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“If we put on a summer fairy tale for the world, then it’s a chance for the world,” Wegner said.
The United States’ Jesse Owens, center, salutes during the presentation of his gold medal for the long jump, alongside German silver medalist Luz Long, who performs a Nazi salute, right, and bronze medalist Naoto Tajima, of Japan, during the eleventh Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, August 11, 1936. (AP Photo)
The plans were opposed by politicians from the Left party and Greens, who referred to the financial risks of hosting the Olympics and criticized what they called “empty promises” and “castles in the air,” news agency DPA reported.
Tobias Schulze of the Left party said the last three Olympic Games were more than twice as expensive as initially planned, and he pointed out that many of the proposed venues need renovation.
The bid organizers decided not to hold a referendum, in contrast to organizers of three other bids from Germany.
Bids from Munich and North Rhine-Westphalia were approved in referendums, while vote-eligible people in Hamburg will have their say on that city’s proposed bid on May 31.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner stands in front of the German capital’s Brandenburg Gate on September 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
If Hamburg’s bid survives, one of the four will be selected by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on September 26 for submission to the IOC.
“On behalf of the entire German sporting community, I congratulate Berlin on this decision, which was supported by a large majority,” DOSB president Thomas Weikert said. “The bid has already garnered significant attention and sparked new enthusiasm for sport in the capital.”
Germany wants to host the Games in 2036, 2040, or 2044. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called it “historically problematic” for the country to host the Olympics on the centennial of the Nazi-era Games.
Many Berliners also oppose the idea of staging the Olympics at all, regardless of them potentially taking place on the 100th anniversary of the Games already hosted by the Nazis. An initiative called “NOlympia Berlin” is collecting signatures in an effort to force a referendum.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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