A majority of Germans are keen to see their country host the Olympic Games again, according to a poll published on Tuesday.
The poll was held as the German Olympic Sports Confederation seeks to narrow down four candidates for the venue of Germany’s first Summer Olympics in more than five decades.
How much does Germany want the Olympics?
in a forsa Survey for the news magazine “Stern” 72% said they would welcome the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Germany in 2036, 2040 or 2044.
Only 22% opposed the idea, while 6% had no opinion. Support was strong across all age groups and political parties.
Even the usually very skeptical supporters of the socialist Left Party and the far-right Alternative for Germany party were 71% in favor of the German bid.
Where could Germany hold the Olympic Games?
The German Olympic Sports Confederation plans to decide which city to nominate with four candidates by autumn 2026. They are Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr region.
Among supporters across Germany, 39% preferred Munich, 24% chose Rhine-Ruhr, 15% Berlin and 11% Hamburg. Forsa surveyed 1,008 adults on October 30 and 31.
Geographically, the dialects of Berlin and Hamburg were much less welcomed in their home regions than those of Munich or the Rhine-Ruhr regions.
A decision on the candidate and year is expected to be made in autumn 2026.
Hamburg had already tried to host the 2024 Olympics, but a 2015 referendum rejected the plan.
Meanwhile, Munich residents have already voted in favor of holding the Olympic Games from 2037 to 2044, with a clear majority of more than 60% in the Bavarian capital voting in favor in a citizens’ referendum in October.
A separate YouGov poll for the DPA news agency last year showed low support for any German Olympic bid, with 48% in favor and 32% against.
When has Germany hosted the Olympics before?
Germany has hosted the Olympics on two previous occasions, both of which proved to be newsworthy events.
The 2036 Games will mark the centenary of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which were used for propaganda purposes by the Nazi regime – a factor that will make any German bid somewhat sensitive. Those Games were also defined by Black US sprinter Jesse Owens winning four gold medals to challenge Adolf Hitler’s racist ideology.
During the Munich 1972 Olympics, which was the first major international sporting event on German soil since the 1936 Berlin Olympics, eight Palestinian gunmen stormed the Israeli team’s apartments in the Olympic Village.
Black September terrorists shot and killed two Israeli team members, and took nine other Israelis hostage.
In a failed response by West German police, all nine hostages were killed, as well as five hostage-takers and a police officer. This incident created a deep rift between Germany and Israel.
Edited by: Rana Taha