A Working Plan
Upon the return of the German representatives the knowledge gained was immediately utilized and a plan for the entire work of preparing for the Games was drawn up. In this manner the various projects could be arranged in their logical order, and in reviewing the accomplished task at the present time one must admit that this original plan provided for every contingency. In preparing for Olympic Festivals one cannot begin too early, and although in many cases a shorter period of time would have been adequate, the coordination of all the individual tasks in the general scheme demands a certain amount of margin. When the beginning of new projects had to be postponed because of unavoidable circumstances, this was noticeable in the final effect. An Olympic Festival must reveal absolute harmony in every aspect, and for this reason it is essential that the supervisors and directors exhibit complete unity of purpose in dealing with the principal as well as minor problems. This is possible only when the main part of the preparatory work is accomplished at an early date so that during the final months all hands will be free for mastering the problems and tasks pertaining more particularly to the competitive and sporting side.
The Organizing Plan
As a beginning, the entire project had to be considered in a general manner and an organizing plan formulated. It would perhaps be of interest to recount shortly our expectations at the commencement of our work in order that the reader may judge to what extent they were fulfilled. The first memorandum of the Secretary-General dealing with the preparatory work for the Eleventh Olympic Games was submitted to the German Olympic Committee in October, 1932 and bore the title, "Our Expectations."
" Our Expectations"
"In order that the success of the Olympic Games may be assured, they must not be regarded as the exclusive affair of the German sporting and gymnastic circles nor of the City of Berlin, but must command the interest and support of the entire German nation. If they can be organized on this basis, the Games of 1936 will be the most outstanding Festival of modern times, for German interest in sport is not less than that of the United States and is probably greater than that of any country in Europe.
The immediate radius of attraction of such an event is not confined to the 4% million inhabitants of Berlin and Potsdam but also includes all those who can travel to the Capital City for the different competitions on the programme without having to spend a night there. We may thus consider Hamburg, Hannover, Halle, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Dresden, Frankfort-on-Oder, Stettin and the intervening smaller towns as within this radius. Regarded from the point of view of numbers, 5% million persons can reach Berlin in one hour by express train, 7 million in two hours and 17 million in four hours. The Festival can also be expected to attract a great number
of visitors from the more distant sections of Germany since it will probably be held between Saturday, August 1st and Sunday, August 16th, falling thus within the last days of the summer vacation of the lower schools and the first weeks of the university vacation. An estimate of the number of visitors from abroad cannot be formed at the present time, but we can safely predict that Europe will send more participants to Berlin than to the Amsterdam Games and a large number will also come from overseas. The athletes will probably total 3,500 as compared with 1,500 in Los Angeles, this not including the team leaders and accompanying officials. At Los Angeles we were constantly astounded at the eagerness on the part of sporting friends from throughout the world to use an Olympic Festival as a means of visiting and becoming acquainted with Germany, which because of her difficult economic situation and her outstanding accomplishments in the face of these conditions, is a centre of world interest, and nothing more than a motive is required to bring this interest to open manifestation. The response will naturally be great among the Germans in foreign countries, and we do not hesitate in asserting that the Olympic Games of 1936 will be the most imposing of all international festivals and at the same time a German celebration of unparalleled proportions. We have here the unequalled opportunity of inviting all the Germans who have emigrated to foreign countries and those working abroad to visit the homeland and of revealing to them its beauty and significance. For this reason the Games are by no means confined to Berlin but concern every German. Berlin is only the meeting place and first objective of the visitors and from here they will tour all of Germany, this being true of athletes as well as spectators. A number of conventions and congresses have already been announced in connection with the Olympic Festival. The International Recreation Congress decided at Los Angeles in 1932 to hold its next meeting in Berlin during the week preceding the Olympic Games and the International Association of Sport Physicians has announced a similar convention. The International Olympic Committee as well as the International Sporting Federations will also meet in Berlin at the time of the Games, and proposals have already been submitted for the organization of congresses of physical education students and teachers at which the sporting academies and training schools of the world, or at all events, of Europe, would be represented ..."