1936 Winter Olympics


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. Later that year, the country 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.
The 1936 Winter Games were organized on behalf of the German League of the Reich for Physical Exercise by Karl Ritter von Halt, who had been named president of the committee for the organization of the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen by Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten.
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Organization and politics

While the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin months later have attracted extensive examination for the Nazi Party's spectacles and the accompanying racial controversies, including the exclusion of most Jewish athletes and Jesse Owens's achievements, the Winter Games took place five months earlier and saw some of the same efforts by Adolf Hitler's propaganda machine.
Winter sports were only accepted by the Nazi Party because the Italian dictator Mussolini promoted skiing. The middle class was encouraged to visit ski resorts. In 1936 more than 550,000 winter sports tourists visited Italy. Stylish skiing with Aryan looks was graphic designed by the propaganda artist Ludwig Hohlwein. Globally, there had been efforts to initiate boycotts from different countries, and a number of Jewish athletes faced pressure not to participate in an event held in a nation ruled by a blatantly antisemitic regime.
The Nazis took steps to soften the appearance of their harsher policies before visitors from other nations arrived, such as removing antisemitic signage that was common in Germany, and – under pressure from a potential American boycott and Olympic officials – allowing the Jewish athlete Rudi Ball to play on Germany's ice hockey team. German troops moved back into the demilitarized Rhineland for the Winter Games. A few weeks before the Games began, William L. Shirer, the Berlin correspondent for the Universal wire service, wrote a series of articles describing preparations for the competition. He concluded, "that the Nazis at Garmisch had pulled down all the signs saying that Jews are unwanted and that the Olympic visitors would thus be spared any signs of the kind of treatment meted out to Jews in this country."
None of the member nations boycotted the Winter Games, and 49 in all participated, the greatest number at that time. The Games were completed with a minimum of political controversy, although the Canadian skiing team raised their arms in what appeared to be a Nazi salute as they entered the opening ceremonies. The German crowd erupted in applause at the salute, which was later explained as the "Olympic Salute" that was identical to the Nazi version but with the arm extended laterally instead of forward.
However, even Shirer was impressed by the effectiveness of the Nazis' efforts, writing:
Twelve days after the Games closed, Hitler sent German troops to remilitarize the Rhineland, his first territorial violation of the Treaty of Versailles and a critical test of European resolve to resist Germany's military expansion. None of the Western powers lifted a finger and Europe's first steps towards World War Two were taken.

Highlights

Sports

Medals were awarded in 17 events contested in four sports.

Demonstration sports

Venues

Participating nations

A total of 28 nations sent athletes to compete in Germany. Australia, Bulgaria, Greece, Liechtenstein, Spain and Turkey all made their Winter Olympics debut, and Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia returned after having missed the 1932 Winter Olympics.
Participating National Olympic Committees
Australia|1936 Winter|1