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This is a very nice example of the large format very, very heavily illustrated photographic overview of the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin as assembled by Dr. Gerhard Krause who was in charge of the Press Department of the organizational committee of the XI. Olympiade in Berlin. The 11 x 12-1/4 inch, 114 page hardcover book has a cream colored linen-type hard cover with the title and Olympic rings embossed on the front cover.

There are many photos of male and female Olympic athletes - Wehrmacht equestrians, fencers, divers and swimmers, gymnasts, as well as photos taken at sailing, shooting, golf, field hockey, rowing, polo and soccer events. Other photos show the Zeppelin Hindenburg above the Olympic Stadium, cars of the NSKK Mercedes Staffel transporting Chancellor Adolf Hitler through the Brandenburg Gate on his way to the opening ceremonies, the Greeting of the Wehrmacht, the March of Nations, Lighting the Olympic Flame, Hitler greeting the Greeks, Hitler greeting the Officials of the Olympic Committee, the Facilities for the Olympics, the Hitler’s Box at the Olympics,, Nazi dignitaries at the Games (Rudolf Hess, Alfred Rosenberg, Hermann & Emmy Goering, SS-Brigadeführer Wolf and many more), Officials and the Press, Olympic Art, the Olympic Village, Olympic Fans, etc., etc.

Virtually everyone who knows there was an Olympics in 1936 has had it explained to them how badly American track and field star Jesse Owens and other black athletes were treated by Hitler and others in Nazi Germany. This German book shows an entirely different view of that subject. It treats Jesse Owens, Cornelius Johnson and other Americans black and white, as the heroic young amateur athletes that they were. A picture in this book shows a German stone carver adding Jesse Owens’ name to a wall of Olympic victors. The real shame of the 1936 Olympics was the abandonment of Jesse Owens by the International Olympic Committee!

This 88 year old example of OLYMPISCHE SPIELE BERLIN 1936 published by Wilhelm Limpert Verlag in Berlin in 1936 is in very nice used condition with a slight crease through the front fly leaf and title page. The covers and spine are somewhat discolored but the glossy photo pages are in very nice condition. The spine is tight and the book has no unpleasant odor.

This book OLYMPISCHE SPIELE BERLIN 1936 is NOT to be confused with the very common two-volume blue covered Olympia cigarette card books about the 1936 Olympics which contain tiny photographs.

Most of the photographs in this book occupy something between one half and a full-page in the large 11 x 12-1/4 inch format. They are crystal clear black & white photos beginning with the lighting of the flame at Olympia, Greece and ending with the closing ceremonies in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Each photo is an uncommon masterpiece of the photographer’s art.

There is a wonderful list not found elsewhere of the art, artists and musical composers who worked on Olympic projects. In the back of the book there is a complete Siegertafel or List of Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal Winners in each sport.

The photo right shows Charles Lindberg and has a caption that says, “Colonel Lindbergh visited the Olympic Village with several officers of the Luftwaffe”.

In truth, Lindbergh and the American air attaché in Berlin visited the Olympic Village along with three German Luftwaffe officers. The popular characterization of Lindbergh as a Nazi dupe is completely unfounded. He was in fact an American spy recruited by American military attaché to Germany, Major Truman Smith, to collect information on the Luftwaffe and German aircraft. See the book Lindbergh: Flight’s Enigmatic Hero for additional information.