Host city | Berlin, Germany |
---|---|
Countries visited | Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia (Serbia), Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia (Czechia), Germany |
Distance | 3,187 km |
Torch bearers | 3,331 |
Start date | 20 July 1936 |
End date | 1 August 1936 |
Torch designer | Walter Lemcke |
No. of torches | 3,840 |
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The 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay was the first of its kind, following on from the reintroduction of the Olympic Flame at the 1928 Games. It pioneered the modern convention of moving the flame via a relay system from Greece to the Olympic venue. Leni Riefenstahl filmed the relay for the award-winning but controversial 1938 film Olympia .
The Olympic flame was introduced to the modern Games in 1928 when it burnt atop a pillar above the stadium in Amsterdam. Four years later the same was repeated in Los Angeles. At both of these events the flame was lit on site at the stadium. [1]
Carl Diem used the idea of the torch relay devised for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin by a Jewish archaeologist and sports official, Alfred Schiff. According to the official report for the Games, the torch relay was conceived as a publicity stunt to increase awareness for the Games.[ citation needed ] The process was ratified by the International Olympic Committee [1] and has been repeated at all the Games that have followed. [2]
Diem and the organizing team realized that there would need to be very detailed plans in order to successfully complete the relay to a standard that would satisfy both themselves and the ruling Third Reich. At the time they were unsure about exactly how they could use the sun's rays to start the fire as well as how to create a torch that would remain alight whatever the conditions. Research was therefore required into the specialist technologies that would be needed. The route itself would need development and the path down from Olympia was deemed too difficult to access. The organising committees therefore agreed that new roads would be built to ensure that the relay got off to the best possible start. [3]
Adolf Hitler saw the link with the ancient Games as the perfect way to illustrate his belief that classical Greece was an Aryan forerunner of the modern German Reich. [4] [5]
"The sportive, knightly battle awakens the best human characteristics. It doesn't separate, but unites the combatants in understanding and respect. It also helps to connect the countries in the spirit of peace. That's why the Olympic Flame should never die."
— Adolf Hitler, commenting on the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games [6]
The event was designed to demonstrate the growing influence and power of the Third Reich. It was internationally viewed as a great success, [4] sufficient for it to be replicated in all Games thereafter. [2] [7]
Leni Riefenstahl, a film-maker admired by Hitler, [2] filmed the relay for the 1938 release Olympia . While the film is often seen as a prime example of Nazi propaganda, [6] it has also been hailed as one of the greatest films of all time [8] and won many awards upon its release. [9]
Sculptor Walter Lemcke designed the 27 cm wood and metal torches. German manufacturer Krupp produced 3,840 copies for the runners, over 500 more than would be needed. [10] It was designed with two fuses to help it cope with different weather conditions and could stay alight for ten minutes, longer than each section of the route. [1]
On 20 July 1936 [1] the Olympic flame was lit in Greece by a concave mirror made by German company Zeiss. [4] The Nazi Party wanted to demonstrate their organisational prowess and enhance their influence on various countries along the route of the relay. The torch travelled through south-eastern and central European countries to demonstrate and enhance their influence. [4] The National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the countries along the route all agreed to support the relay which would pass through Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, and Czechoslovakia and then Germany. [1] These countries would fall under Nazi domination as the second World War began just over three years later. [2] In Austria, a country that would be annexed into the Third Reich less than two years after the relay, the torch was met by major pro-Nazi public demonstrations. [4]
In all the torch was transported over 3,187 kilometres by 3,331 runners in twelve days and eleven nights from Greece to Berlin. Much of the route was split into kilometre-long sections and it was anticipated that each runner would traverse that distance in five minutes, though some leeway was given to allow for difficult terrain and sparsely populated areas. [1] The names of most of the torch bearers, all of whom were male, [2] were not recorded. [11]
Source: [12]
July 20:
July 21:
July 22:
July 23:
July 24:
July 25:
July 25 (Bulgaria):
July 26 (Yugoslavia):
July 27 (Yugoslavia):
July 28 (Yugoslavia):
July 28 (Hungary):
July 29 (Hungary):
July 29 (Austria):
July 30 (Austria):
July 30 (Czechoslovakia):
July 31 (Czechoslovakia):
Date | Map |
---|---|
July 31 (day 1): Pirna | |
July 31 (day 1): Elsterwerda | |
August 1 (day 2): Berlin |
# | Country | Runners |
---|---|---|
1 | Greece | 1,108 |
2 | Bulgaria | 238 |
3 | Yugoslavia | 575 |
4 | Hungary | 386 |
5 | Austria | 219 |
6 | Czechoslovakia | 282 |
7 | Germany | 267 |
Two urns in the centre of Berlin, within two long rows of large swastika flags, were lit by 400m-runner Siegfried Eifrig on 1 August 1936. [4] [11] The urns burnt for the duration of the Games and served as the starting point for the final relay runner. Fritz Schilgen, a three time 1500m champion, was suggested by former German athletics president Karl Ritter von Halt as the final runner. Schilgen, viewed as a "symbol of German sporting youth", [3] was accepted by the three advisory boards. One of these, the aesthetics commission, included film-maker Riefenstahl on the panel. [13]
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, photographer and actress known for producing Nazi propaganda.
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XI Olympiad and officially branded as Berlin 1936, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona at the 29th IOC Session on 26 April 1931. The 1936 Games marked the second and most recent time the International Olympic Committee gathered to vote in a city that was bidding to host those Games. Later rule modifications forbade cities hosting the bid vote from being awarded the games.
The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony starts the Olympic torch relay, which formally ends with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Through 2022, the flame would continue to burn in the cauldron for the duration of the Games, until it was extinguished during the Olympic closing ceremony. In 2024, electric lighting and mist were used to create a simulated flame for the Olympic cauldron, with the actual flame kept in a lantern exhibited at an adjacent location. That lantern was then taken by French swimmer Léon Marchand from Jardins des Tuileries and ceremonially "transferred" to the Stade de France at the start of the Closing Ceremony: there it was finally extinguished just after the IOC president declared officially closed the Games.
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Germany also hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics, which were held in Berlin. It was the last year in which the Summer and Winter Games both took place in the same country.
Carl Diem was a German sports administrator, and as Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games, the chief organizer of the 1936 Olympic Summer Games.
Olympia is a 1938 German documentary film written, directed and produced by Leni Riefenstahl, which documented the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin during the Nazi period. The film was released in two parts: Olympia 1. Teil — Fest der Völker and Olympia 2. Teil — Fest der Schönheit. The 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay, as devised for the Games by the secretary general of the Organizing Committee, Dr. Carl Diem, is shown in the film.
The Olympiastadion, also known in English as the Berlin Olympic Stadium or simply the Olympic Stadium, is a sports stadium at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was originally designed by Werner March for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 100,000.
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl is a 1993 German documentary film about the life of German film director Leni Riefenstahl, directed by Ray Müller.
Herbert Windt was a German composer who became one of the most significant film score composers of the Third Reich. He was best known for his collaborations with the director Leni Riefenstahl on films Triumph of the Will and Olympia.
Fritz Schilgen was a German athlete and the final torchbearer of the first Olympic torch relay at the 1936 Summer Games.
Siegfried Eifrig was a German track and field athlete who ran the last leg of the inaugural Olympic Torch rally in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
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The 1948 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 17 July until 29 July 1948, prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics, held in London, United Kingdom. The relay was nicknamed the "relay of peace". It was only the second occasion that a torch relay was held for the Olympics; the first was at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Though the whole event was eventually cancelled due to the outbreak of war, the 1940 Summer Olympics torch relay was planned for both of the proposed host cities. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 1940 Summer Olympics to Tokyo, Japan in July 1936. Tokyo's ability to host the event was questioned after war broke out with China with some countries calling for the Games to be boycotted. The Japanese decided to cancel the event and Helsinki, Finland, the runner-up city in the bidding process, was selected as the replacement. That too was cancelled after the outbreak of World War II.
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Walter E. Lemcke was a German sculptor who mainly worked in bronze. He produced numerous sculptures for Nazi Germany, including the eagles holding swastikas that flanked the entrance of the Ministry of Aviation in Berlin. He is also remembered as being the designer of the first Olympic Torch, which carried the flame during the 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay.
The 2000 Summer Olympics torch relay was the transferral of the Olympic Flame to Sydney, Australia, that built up to the 2000 Summer Olympics. The torch tavelled to various island nations as part of a tour of Oceania before beginning an extensive journey around Australia. For the first time the Flame was taken underwater, with a special flare-like torch taken on a dive down to the Great Barrier Reef. At the opening ceremony the cauldron was lit by Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman.
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