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Olympic Parc (Olympiapark)
Further Information
Olympic Parc (Olympiapark)
In 1972 the Olympiapark was constructed for the Summer Olympics. The park of about 850,000 square metres continues today to serve as venue for many events.
The grounds can be divided in four areas: Olympic Area with the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Hall and the Olympic Tower; the Olympic Village, the Olympic Media City “Pressestadt” and the Olympic Park.
The Olympic Village and the Olympic Media City are today residential areas and parts of the Olympic Media City belongs to the Olympic Shopping Centre.
Olympic stadium
During the Summer Olympics in 1972 the Olympic Stadium was the main location. Until 2005 it was also the home stadium of Munich’s two football clubs FC Bayern München and TSV 1860 München. The freely suspended roof construction with steel tubes and transparent Plexiglas is very impressive. The construction covers also the Olympic Hall and the Olympic Swim Hall. The architect was Frei Otto.
During the Summer Olympics in 1972 the stadium offered up to 100,000 seats. Today there are still between 63,000 and 69,000 seats available. 2010 and 2011 the Olympic Stadium was renovated.
Olympic tower
Next to Olympic Swim Hall and the Olympic Stadium stands the Olympic Tower. It is the television tower of the city of Munich which was opened in 1968. When it became clear that the Summer Olympics of 1972 would be held in Munich the Olympic grounds were planned and designed around the Olympic Tower. Up to the observation platform the Olympic Tower has an overall height of 192 m.
Inside the Olympic Tower are several lifts with a speed of 30 seconds up to the observation platform which has two levels on 185 m and 192 m. Further on there is a bar with a kiosk and the Rock Museum. At the height of 182 m there also is a revolving restaurant. Very slowly and nearly not noticeable this part of the Olympic Tower is rotating around its own axis. Besides modern cuisine visitors get a 360° view of Munich and its surroundings. On a clear day the view from all observation platforms can be spectacular when the whole mountain range is at the visitor’s feet.
The history of Olympiapark
Up until 1938 there was an airport on the grounds of the Olympiapark, München Oberwiesenfeld, and up until the end of the Second World War, 1945 the grounds had been used as an airfield. After the Second World War the area remained fallow, and was known as a "Trümmerberg," which in German refers to a hill erected from the ruins caused by the destruction caused by bombings during the war.
In 1968 the architectural firm Behnisch & Partner started the construction of the Olympiapark. Great amounts of soil had to be moved to create the artificial hilly grounds. 3000 trees and nearly 70,000 square meters of lawn were planted during the construction of Olympiapark as the slogan of the Summer Olympics of 1972 was “Green Summer Olympics”. In addition the city’s infrastructure (roads and public transport) was extended up to the grounds of Olympiapark.
The assassination during the Summer Olympics on 5 September 1972 was casting a shadow on the green oasis. Eleven members of the Israeli team were taken hostage. During a rescue operation, close by at the airport Fürstenfeldbruck, 17 people were killed.
