As attention turns to the legacy of the London Games, there is one surviving Olympic site that forms a remarkable canvas of 20th Century history. Adolf Hitler attempted to turn the 1936 Berlin Games into a piece of Nazi propaganda. Seventy-six years after athletes first set foot on its soil, the Olympic Village still survives.
The 1936 Berlin Olympics gave Adolf Hitler an ideal showcase for Nazi propaganda.
Director Leni Riefenstahl’s famous film of the Games, Olympia, illustrated the sporting prowess and political context of the tournament. On the outskirts of Berlin, conservationists are attempting to restore a remarkable physical remnant of the Games.
The Village where 3,878 athletes lived and trained still survives, but only just. Jens Becker is from the Deutsche Kredit Bank Foundation which is funding much of the work. He took VOA on a behind-the-scenes tour, including the swimming pool, where the external renovations alone cost $2.7 million.
“I think the Village is not very well-known in Germany," said Becker. "We’re quite secret. This is a nice situation because when the people get in here, they are sometimes very surprised about all the things which are here standing over 75 years now.”
One building has been fully restored: the accommodation block that was home to American sprinter Jesse Owens. Displays tell how the man from Alabama won four gold medals, destroying Adolf Hitler’s hopes that the Games would demonstrate the supposed superiority of the Aryan race.
A letter from a fan urges Owens to refuse to accept a medal from ‘bloodstained hands’. He never saw it; it was intercepted by the Gestapo, the German secret police.
In the gymnasium stands a pommel horse used by the athletes.
A few dozen German tourists join the guided tours each day. Local school groups are taken here to learn their nation’s history.
“We always try to put the subject inside these exhibitions because this was called the village of peace but indeed Nazi propaganda didn’t stop at the doors of the village," said Becker.
There were early signs of militarism. A carved mural in the on-site theater shows marching German soldiers.
“It was the first time that they really said we’ll have an Olympic village, later on it will be used as a garrison. But indeed when the athletes arrived they had the best facilities they’d ever had in any Olympic village before," explained Becker.
Days after the athletes left, hundreds of soldiers moved in. The former ‘Dining Hall of the Nations’ served as a hospital for wounded German troops during World War II.
After 1945 the Soviet army came - painting communist propaganda on the walls including a mural showing Soviet troops planting the hammer and sickle flag on the German parliament.
With the fall of communism the former village was abandoned in 1992 and neglected for more than a decade.
Next month a tournament will be held here featuring German Olympians who have just returned from London; part of a determined effort to preserve this living museum of 20th century history.
behind-the-scenes: 幕后的
Gestapo: 盖世太保,德国纳粹秘密警察
美国式友谊:只是表示友善的方法
美国知识科普:国徽上的秃头鹰有何来历
美国名人:山姆大叔到底是何方神圣
感受美国文化:美国人的用餐习惯
中外文化大不同,盘点十个极容易发生的误会(上)
为什么英国人打喷嚏时要说“Bless you”
《唐顿庄园》教你10条英国餐桌礼仪
英美文化节日:愚人节的来历故事
美国知识科普:美国的州名从何而来
英美文化节日:情人节的来历故事
美国英雄文化:狗狗也要扮超人
英国俚语背后的故事:什么是Corner office
令人哭笑不得的英国文化冲击
英语俚语背后的故事:“驴”年马月
英国俚语背后的故事:宁死不降
十件你不知道的感恩节的事(上)
你知道美国人最讨厌聊什么吗?
英美文化节日:汤姆索亚日的来历故事
英语俚语背后的故事:DJ(disc jockey)
美国人的英语爱好,以本地制造为荣
英美文化史:圣诞节的故事
英国俚语背后的故事:幸福青鸟
美国文化介绍:美国家庭
世界各地的5个古怪节日,你听说过吗?
令人震惊的英国冷知识,你被震撼到了吗?
在国外旅行,这十个手势千万不要用
英国俚语背后的故事:四面楚歌
英语俚语背后的故事:draw the longbow
英国俚语背后的故事:节日盛装
英国文化介绍:英式下午茶的前世今生
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |