1936 Olympic Village
In May 1931 it was decided that Berlin would host the 1936 Olympic games, Germany had a double win later on when the committee also concluded that the Winter Sports Games should also be held in Germany a definite win for Germany when it democracy gave way to National Socialism in 1933 .
It was determined that a village big enough to hold up to 4000 people would have to be just outside Berlin Havelland region, in the town of Elstal near Wustermark was chosen as the perfect location and construction soon began. Sadly money was still short in Germany after the crushing economic downfall post WWI,
unemployment was reaching 5 million and there were doubts about whether the building could even be funded. The funding was solved by the German Reichspost who put up 1 million Riechmarks, a national lottery was established and each sporting event would donate 1 Pfennig from each ticket sold for a sporting event. This was also to fund the German inclusion in the 1932 Los Angles games so that Germany could study how they hosted their Olympics and the layout and amenities of their Olympic Village.
The finished Olympic Village would contain a movie theatre, a small shopping area, a hospital specializing in sports medicine, postal facilities, recreational swimming and exercise areas, walking t
rails and plenty of dining facilities. Animals, such as squirrels and swans were imported into the village to enhance the ambiance. Mosquito breeding grounds were destroyed. 200 Storks were brought in after a British official joked that Storks seemed to be the only thing missing! The main section of the Olympic village was in the shape of a downward pointing horseshoe or large semi-circle. Close to the apex of the horseshoe design was a main hall, the general services building.
To house the athletes, the Wehrmacht constructed 140 houses. Each house was named after a German city and the interior decorations were representative of the namesake city. The double-bed rooms were spacious, elegantly designed and lavishly decorated and furnished. Each team was also assigned its own office, where the team could take care of all their needs.
All this was designed by one man Fuerstner who was unfortunately to find out just before the games began that his military rank was being downgraded as somewhere in his heritage he had Jewish roots, he spent the
length of the games being second in command of the very thing he had devoted himself to for years. 2 days after the games ended he shot himself.
3 months after the games the Olympic Village was turned into a Military Academy , in 1949 after WWII it continued to be in Military hands although this time the CCCP. The village was slowly emptied after the fall of the wall and perestroika, now parts have been renovated as housing and parts still lay abandoned.