The Olympic Caravan began its journey, which was to carry it 6,200 miles and include every German province, on September 1st, 1935, its mission being to interest the entire nation in the Olympic ideals and the Berlin Festival. Only 1// days were required for transferring the entire exhibition from one town to the next, and it was thus possible for the Caravan to make two to three day visits in almost 100 towns. It was in these smaller, more isolated centres that the exhibition achieved its greatest success. The arrival in a new town or village was an event of the utmost importance for the entire district. When the Caravan was drawn up in position on the market square surrounded by the venerable gables of the old houses and the German flag alternated with the white Olympic banner on the high masts, multitudes of curious spectators crowded round the
The official Olympic poster. Design: Werner Wьrbel, Berlin.
huge vehicles, each of which was painted light grey and inscribed with the words, "Olympic Caravan." Over 600,000 persons inspected the exhibits in the Olympic Caravan.
Two prize competitions were announced as a means of gaining support for the Department of Sport Publicity :
A general competition with 1,000 prizes (admission tickets to the Berlin Festival and Winter
Games at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in addition to free accommodation).
A school competition in which the pupils were requested to submit works of art dealing
with the theme, "Olympia." This second competition provided the incentive for the exhibition, "Olympia and the School," which was shown in 16 towns and attracted about 500,000 visitors.
A publicity medal produced in 1935 by the Mitteldeutschen Stahlwerken A.-G., Lauchhammer, at the instigation of the Publicity Commission also proved to be a valuable means of assistance in impressing upon the German nation that the Olympic Games were a national task. This medal, which was cast in metal, revealed an athlete waving the Olympic banner with a swastika in the background. The words, "In the Year of Olympic Preparation," were inscribed around the edge in 1935, and in 1936 the medal contained the inscription, "In the Year of the Olympic Games." The reverse side of the medal exhibited an eagle with the five Olympic rings. The Bavarian State Mint also produced a special medal depicting on one side the goddess of victory holding a laurel wreath, while the reverse side revealed the Olympic Bell in relief. The mould for these memorial medals, which were cast in silver and bronze, was created by the Munich sculptor, Karl Roth. In the case of every large presentation, ambitious business men are inclined to commercialize the publicity in a manner which is not appropriate to the aims and deeper significance of such events. For this reason it was necessary to protect the Olympic symbols, and the Publicity Commission decided upon the following measures :
1. Regulation of the Advisory Board for German Trade concerning the utilization of the official Olympic symbol (five connected rings) on June 28th, 1934 and published in Issue No. 148 of the "Reichs- und Staatsanzeiger" (Reich and State Gazette).