In 1936 the Olympic games in Berlin were held in the shadow of the looming second world war. For the Nazis it was a perfect propaganda follow up for Lenie Riefenstahl’s Triumph des Willens, but they had not counted on Jesse Owens winning four gold medals.

The athletes stayed in the olympic village built in Wustermark, some twenty kilometers from Berlin. Owens had the time of his life in Germany where he could move around freely, while in his own country segregation laws would even force him to ride the freight elevator up to the reception in his honour.

After the war the village grounds served as a Russian garrison up until 1992. We were hoping to get a tour around the premises, but found a closed gate and decided to walk around. We soon found out that there were holes in the surrounding fences, but it took an hour’s walk before we found one that was so large that we couldn’t resist taking a brief look on the premises.

where | Elstal | Berlin
what | Olympic Village