From the Olympiapark to a new housing area in Daglfing via various events across Bavaria, we look at how Munich and the surrounding area would be transformed for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Munich has just been selected as Germany’s candidate to host the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Should the Bavarian capital’s bid succeed against international competition, urban planners, citizens and politicians are hoping it will provide a major boost for the city.
Other regions – such as Augsburg, Bad Wiessee, the district of Erding and Lake Starnberg – are also hoping to benefit from the event.
READ ALSO: Germany selects Munich for Olympics host bid
Olympiapark to take centre stage
The Munich bid centres on the Olympiapark, or Olympic Park, in the north of the city. Built for the 1972 Games, it has undergone extensive renovations in recent years.
The site is used for both elite and grassroots sport, as well as for concerts. For several years, it has also been home to the SAP Garden, a 12,500-seat indoor arena which also serves as the home of Munich’s professional basketball and ice hockey teams.
If Munich gets the green light, almost half of the sports venues would be located in the Olympic Park. These include traditional sports such as athletics, alongside newer sports like 3×3 basketball.
According to planners, 90 percent of the sports venues would be situated within a 30-kilometre radius of the Olympic Village.
Competitions for the Paralympic Games would use the same venues as the Olympics. The bid says this is intended to ensure barrier-free routes for athletes and spectators, and give Paralympic sports the same visibility.
Munich Mayor Dominik Krause, of the Greens, called the bid a “highly sustainable Olympic concept”. He added: “No other Olympic host city could offer this kind of post-Games use.”
Where else would events take place?
As was the case at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, other sports would be spread across the city and held at existing venues, similar to the 2024 Games in Paris.
The plan is for dressage to take place in front of Nymphenburg Palace, as it did in 1972, and archery in front of Schleißheim Palace, while open-water swimming would be held in Lake Starnberg.
The bid foresees boxing at the exhibition centre, rugby at the Grünwalder Stadium and badminton at the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle.
Under the proposals, swimming events would be held at a temporary pool installed inside a planned event area near Munich airport.
Outside Munich, the canoe slalom would be held at the Augsburg Eiskanal.
Football would be played in Nuremberg, Regensburg, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, while the sailing competitions would take place in Kiel, as they did in 1972, and all the mountain bike cross-country events would be held in Bad Wiessee on Lake Tegernsee.
The new Olympic and Paralympic Village is planned for the Daglfing area. After the Games, it is set to be repurposed as climate-neutral and accessible housing for more than 10,000 people. Here, too, Paris serves as a model, having created an entirely new urban district in Saint-Denis for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Of course, there is still plenty of renovation work on the cards if Munich wins the bid – for example at the grandstands for the rowing and canoeing regatta course in Oberschleißheim.
What is Munich’s track record for hosting?
The Bavarian capital has become accustomed to hosting major sporting events in recent years.
In the 10 days leading up to the DOSB’s decision on September 26th, Munich was chosen as the host of the 2028 Champions League final – having done so in 2012 and 2025 – along with the 2031 World Athletics Championships.
Munich’s Allianz Arena was selected to host the first regular-season NFL match on German soil in 2022 and will do so for a third time in November.
Since the last time the Summer Games were on German soil in 1972, Germany has launched seven unsuccessful bids to play host.
If Munich is chosen by the IOC, it will be the third time Germany has hosted the Olympics. Berlin held the Games in 1936 with Germany then under Nazi leadership, while Munich welcomed the 1972 Games, then as part of West Germany.
The 1972 edition in Munich was marred by the attack on the Israeli delegation in the Olympic Village, which resulted in the deaths of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team.
The only other Games held on German soil were the 1936 Winter Olympics, held in the southern town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
With reporting by AFP
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