Bryan Pinkall's World of Opera, Olympics, and More: 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Opening Ceremony

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Opening Ceremony

www.olympicceremony.org
1932 Los Angeles - Tokyo/Helsinki 1940

The Games of the XI Olympiad

Berlin, Germany
1936

View of the 1936 Olympic Stadium from the Airship Hindenburg

Olympic Ceremony Records
italics indicate records at the time

First Olympic Torch Relay
First Cauldron Lighting by an Individual
First Olympic Bell (ironically London 2012 will be the second Opening Ceremony to feature an Olympic Bell, slightly larger than the 1936 model; it is curious and so far mostly unreported that the London 2012 games are reincarnating a Nazi creation in their Opening Ceremony)
First Use of an Audio Recording (voice of Baron Pierre de Coubertain - deceased founder of the modern Olympics)
First Official Olympic Film/Broadcast
First Mass Artistic Display in an Opening Ceremony
Largest Cast (10,000)
Most Nations Participating (49) - previous Amsterdam 1928 (46)
Most Athletes Participating (3,963) - previous Paris 1924 (3,089)

Olympic Torch Relay Records
italics indicate records at the time

First Olympic Torch Relay
First Torch Carried by a Runner
First Torch Carried by an Automobile
First Torch Carried by Canoe
First Torch Carried by Bicycle
Longest Olympic Torch Relay - 3,075km / 1,911 miles
Most Nations Traveled - 7
Most Torchbearers - 3,308

Opening Ceremony

Olympiastadion (100,000)
August 1, 1936

Video
It may take a while for the video to load depending on your internet connection.

Official Report
(Contains handwritten score fragments of the Olympic Hymn by Richard Strauss and score fragments by Carl Orff, not to mention many amazing pictures - click the black arrow for larger view)

Opening Ceremony Highlights

Artistically, one of the most elaborate and massive Opening Ceremonies in Olympic history occurred in 1936. Hitler spared no expense in the grandeur of the event. These ceremonies marked the first Olympic Torch relay, first Olympic Bell, the first official filming of the event, and the first mass artistic display as part of the Opening Ceremony. The scale of this spectacle cannot be overstated as it would be decades until the Olympics would see a ceremony of similar artistic achievement. The 1936 Olympics held the first ceremonies constructed as an art form, something modeled in the ceremonies of today. Among the most notable artists collaborating in the ceremony were Richard Strauss, who composed the Olympic Anthem, and Carl Orff, who composed most of the music for the mass play Olympic Youth. These are two of the most influential composers in music history. Here are the brief details of this massive ceremony:

Parade of dignitaries to either Mass (St. Hedwig's) or a Protestant service (Evangelical Cathedral)
Olympic Flame Welcoming Ceremony at the Lustgarten with Hitler Youth
Parade of dignitaries to the Olympic Stadium
Hindenburg Airship flies over the stadium with "XI. Olympiade Berlin 1936" painted on its side
Hitler arrives at the May Field (staging area next to the Olympic Stadium) - Olympic Fanfare by Paul Winter performed from Marathon Towers of the stadium by military band
Hitler enters the stadium to "March of Homage" by Wagner - Hitler is greeted by small girl who salutes him with "Heil, mein Führer” and presents him with flowers as an Introductory Theme by Herbert Windt is performed
German National Anthem performed while every participating country's flag is raised on poles surrounding the top of the stadium
Olympic Bell rung - inscribed across it "I summon the youth of the world"
Parade of Nations
Recording of Baron Pierre de Coubertain's voice played - the same quote used in the 1932 Olympics
Hitler declares the games open
Olympic Flag raised - simultaneously: artillery guns fire, 20,000 carrier pigeons released, fanfare played from the Marathon Towers, mass orchestra and choir perform the Olympic Hymn conducted and written by Richard Strauss CLICK TO LISTEN
Olympic Cauldron lit by Fritz Schilgen - German 1500 meter athlete who failed to make the German team, selected for his beautiful and graceful running style
Athlete's Oath
Handel's Hallelujah Chorus performed by 3,000 singers and orchestra CLICK TO LISTEN
Athletes parade out of the stadium followed by Concluding Fanfare by Paul Winter
OLYMPIC YOUTH - mass play by Carl Diem - music by Carl Orff (performed under the floodlight at night) http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/ger/dip/mod/ndm-oly01.html

Part 1: Children at Play - 2,500 girls 11-12 and 900 boys run into the stadium for the grand stairs and tunnel; dance; form the Olympic Rings; leave CLICK TO LISTEN
Part 2: Maidenly Grace - 2,300 girls 14-18 flood into the stadium; one begins a waltz; games follow with balls, hoops, and clubs; large group dance; form circle at one end of the stadium
Part 3: Youth at Play in a Serious Mood - thousands of boys flood field; sing and divide up into different national "campfires"; fight each other; thousands of flags of all the nations enter and march around the track while boys salute; forest of flags surround the cauldron while child recites poem "Hymn of Fire"
Part 4: Heroic Struggle and Death Lament - along the track advance dancing warriors each with a leader; leaders duel in a dance, one falls, the other wounded also falls; leaders led off the field in death procession; mass dance "lamentation" performed by all; Beethoven's Ninth, Fourth Mvt. begins; floodlights form dome of light over stadium; thousands of torches and flags wave on the track during the Ode to Joy; CLICK TO LISTEN "LAMENTATION" or CLICK TO LISTEN "BEETHOVEN 9 MVT. 4" (fast-forward to 11:00 for awesomeness!)

Photos

Gold Medal from the 1936 Olympic Games

First Olympic Torch - 1936 Olympics

Official Poster of the 1936 Olympics

Airship Hindenburg over the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony

Images from "Olympic Youth" - the first mass artistic display in Opening Ceremony history - over 10,000 children participated - Music by Karl Orff, directed by Richard Strauss

OLYMPIC CEREMONY DATABASE

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