We gave our attention to the problem of providing adequate training fields and equipment during the same summer, and were greatly assisted in this work by the City Authorities, who placed all the public sporting fields of Berlin gratuitously at our disposal and equipped them especially for our needs. We were thus in the position to provide the visiting teams with first-rate training facilities since we had at our disposal 11 athletic training fields, 8 swimming pools and 45 shooting ranges, in fact, a total of 123 different centres upon which, according to our schedule, 5,500 hours of training could be accomplished.
Work on the Reich Sport Field and Olympic Village was progressing rapidly, and the President and a number of members of the International Olympic Committee who visited us following the Oslo meeting in March, 1935 expressed their astonishment at the magnificence as well as suitability of the constructions. From our original plans for a remodelling of the Stadium at a cost of 2VЈ million Reichsmarks had grown a gigantic new structure costing 36 million. It was clear, however, that our dates of completion for the various constructions would have to be extended. We had originally planned to have everything finished by February, 1936, but our last time-table drawn up in May, 1935 provided for the acceptance of the completed structures by the Organizing Committee on April 30th, 1936, and it is needless to add that we experienced many anxious moments during this interval. In July, 1935 the semicircle of the Dietrich Eckart Open-Air Theatre was plainly visible and the construction of the tiers of seats had been commenced, the stage itself being in scaffolding; the reinforced concrete construction on the lower ring of the Olympic Stadium was finished and the framework of the upper ring completed; the swimming stadium revealed its general outlines in concrete, and work was in progress on the foundations for the hall of honour and tower at the festival grounds. The preparation of the arenas at the Olympic Stadium and hockey stadium was practically completed and the laying of sod on the other playing fields was under way. Various wings of the House of German Sport were also progressing according to schedule, and work on the Olympic Village had reached the point where there was no doubt but that it would be ready in time.
Two problems which had caused us considerable worry were also solved during this period: The North German Lloyd Company assumed the responsibility of catering for the athletes in
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All of Germany's attractive spots were prepared for the visits of the Olympic guests.
Right: The Olympic Bell at the foot of the Bell Tower. From its lofty chamber the Bell heralded the opening of the Olympic Games
the Olympic Village and other living quarters, and the Berlin Transportation Company (BVG) as well as the German Railway offered to transport all participants, officials and holders of Olympic identity cards free of charge within the precincts of Berlin. It was further decided to establish a special omnibus line from the Zoological Garden Station to the Olympic Village, the Transportation Company enjoying in this case a subsidy from the Organizing Committee. With these decisions the transportation problem was solved, the only remaining question being that of conveying the teams to the centres of training and competition. The German Army again came to our assistance in February 1936 and placed at our disposal a transportation division under the command of Captain Aster. This group began active service on June 15th, 1936, meeting all the teams at the station upon their arrival and transporting them to and from training centres and the Stadium, while army motor-coaches were on hand whenever they were required at the Olympic Village, Kцpenick and other living quarters. A total of 351,470 miles were covered by this service during the period of the Festival without an accident.