Model of the stadium as it would have appeared after the planned reconstruction. Sketch from the memorandum of 1933.
The Chancellor declared himself to be satisfied with the prize-winning plans drawn up by Werner March in 1925 for the extension of the Sport Forum, and he also upheld the proposal of the Reich Sport Leader that a large dormitory capable of accommodating 1,000 participants in the courses of the Reich Academy for Physical Training should be erected on the race course property. The Chancellor again conferred with the same group on December 14th, 1933, on which occasion plans for the division and development of the entire section, a design of the open-air theatre, and models of the display room and the House of German Sport as well as accompanying sketches were exhibited in the large reception room of the Reich Chancellery.
Herr March explained his two proposals. The plan of Dr. Lewald and Dr. Diem that the entire complex should be developed along an axis representing the extension of the Schwarzburgallee found the approval of the Chancellor. He also agreed that the assembly grounds—the later May Field which was used for the polo matches-should be enclosed by a wall slanting from a maximum height of 65 feet, above which the Bell Tower should rise 247 feet. A second decision of great importance was made during the autumn of 1933 when the Reich Minister of Defence, upon the recommendation of the Chief of the Defence Department, Lieutenant-General von Reichenau, resolved not merely to place the Doberitz barracks at the disposal of the Olympic Committee, but to erect a special Olympic Village for the athletes at the military training grounds north of the Hamburg highway and about 9 miles from the Stadium. The Chancellor gave his assent.
The ship of the Organizing Committee could now set out under full sail, the new course having been decided upon. The gymnastic and sporting circles no longer faced the Olympic task alone; the entire German nation with the Chancellor and Reich Government at its head had accepted the responsibility. This stupendous change can be best appreciated by those who had worked diligently since 1930 in order to bring about the realization of the Berlin Games. It was thus with undeviating confidence in the future that the official invitations of the Organizing Committee, which were artistically designed and produced by the Reich Printing Company, were sent to all the National Olympic Committees which were recognized by the International Committee. A total of 52 invitations were sent out at this time, seven following at a later date as the Internatianol Committee included other National Olympic Committees in its list. The last official invitation was posted on June 13th, 1936. The replies from the first two nations, Finland and Italy, were received within two weeks of this date, and by the middle of 1934, 30 nations had accepted. The number increased to 40 by the end of that year and finally to 53, of whom 49 actually participated. The nest task was to perfect our publicity department, We had issued several press notices in 1932 and 1933, and the first number of the Olympic Games News Service, which was published only in German on February 17th, 1933, announced the acceptance of the patronage over the Berlin Festival by Reich President von Hindenburg. After December 21st, 1933, the News Service appeared in five languages: German, English, French, Italian and Spanish, this being the first time that Italian was employed for Olympic publicity purposes. Each number comprised several printed pages. It was sent to every administrative and sporting centre in Germany and abroad that was in any way connected with the Olympic Games as well as to the international press, the mailing list, which