Olympiapark

About

The Olympiapark (English: Olympic Park) in Munich, Germany, is an Olympic Park which was constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympics. Located in the Oberwiesenfeld neighborhood of Munich, the Park continues to serve as a venue for cultural, social, and religious events, such as events of worship. It includes a contemporary carillon. The Park is administered by Olympiapark München GmbH, a holding company fully owned by the state capital of Munich. The Olympic Park Munich was also considered to be an architectural marvel during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Olympic Park Munich 370m 403yds 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 - view - talk - edit Olympic Park Munich 1 Olympic Stadium 2 Olympic Hall 3 Theatron 4 Aquatic Center 5 Small Olympic Hall 6 Olympic Tower 7 Olympic Ice Sports Center 8 Olympic Village 9 SAP Garden 10 Olympic Mountain

The use of the term Olympiapark to designate the overall area has prevailed as a semiofficial practice, but no official name for the entire area exists.

The general area comprises four separate sub-areas:

- Olympic Area : Includes the Olympic sports facilities such as the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Hall with Olympic Tower. Also in this area are the Aquatic Center and Olympic Event Hall.

- Olympic Village, comprising two villages, one for male and one for female athletes.

- Olympia-Pressestadt, today the home of the Olympia Shopping Center. Strictly speaking, this portion belongs to the area of the Moosach district.

- Olympic Park, adjoining the Olympic Area to the south, it includes the Olympic Hill and Olympic Lake. The park is located in the Milbertshofen-Am Hart borough near BMW Group headquarters and the " Uptown " skyscraper of O2. Georg-Bräuchle- Ring divides the area into two halves: Olympic Village and Olympia Pressestadt to the north and Olympic Area and Olympic Park to the south.

After 1945, the Oberwiesenfeld area remained fallow, and was known as a "Trümmerberg," which in German refers to a hill erected from the rubble resulting from the destruction caused by bombings during the war.

Following the war, the US Army occupied this area and had facilities at the Oberwiesefeld. In October 1957, the Army housed most of the refugees from the Hungarian Revolution in a camp at this facility.

Apart from infrastructure projects such as the Oberwiesenfeld Ice Rink, the area remained largely vacant during the post-war decades and presented an ideal site for the construction of the Olympic Stadium and complex.

After the International Olympic Committee awarded Munich the Olympic Games in 1966, plans were solidified for the urban redevelopment of the Oberwiesenfeld area.

The old airfield, intensely used up until 1939, lost its importance once the Munich-Riem airport was opened that year and expanded during the next three decades. As a result, Oberwiesenfeld airfield remained largely idle.

Germany chose the concept of a "green Olympic Games", with an emphasis on democratic ideals. Officials sought to integrate optimism toward the future with a positive attitude toward technology, and in so doing set aside memories of the past, such as the Olympic Games of 1936 in Berlin under Hitler. The architecture firm of Günter Behnisch and its partners developed a comprehensive master plan for the sports and recreation area, which was under construction from 1968 until 1972. The landscape layout was designed by landscape architect Günther Grzimek. The eye-catching tensile structure that covers much of the park was designed by German architect and engineer Frei Otto with Günther Behnisch. In all, the project cost 1.35 billion German marks to complete.

The name "Olympiapark" was related to the city's administrative commission practice for naming metro stations along the U- and S-Bahn (subway and metropolitan railroad) routes in the city area. On 3 November 1969 it had chosen the name "Olympiapark" for the subway station at the Olympic village, set on the U3 line of the Munich U-Bahn. This naming decision was based on the idea that the name "Olympiapark" related well to the central theme of a "green Olympic Games". It also related to the central function of the U-Bahn station, which, together with the bus station, served all sports venues and important sectors of the area. The term quickly entered into quasi-official common parlance, and consequently into media use. In most situations, the meaning established by the administrative commission is used to describe the entire area, not just the U-Bahn station, as was originally intended.

After 1945, the Oberwiesenfeld area remained fallow, and was known as a "Trümmerberg," which in German refers to a hill erected from the rubble resulting from the destruction caused by bombings during the war.

Following the war, the US Army occupied this area and had facilities at the Oberwiesefeld. In October 1957, the Army housed most of the refugees from the Hungarian Revolution in a camp at this facility.

Apart from infrastructure projects such as the Oberwiesenfeld Ice Rink, the area remained largely vacant during the post-war decades and presented an ideal site for the construction of the Olympic Stadium and complex.

After the International Olympic Committee awarded Munich the Olympic Games in 1966, plans were solidified for the urban redevelopment of the Oberwiesenfeld area.

The old airfield, intensely used up until 1939, lost its importance once the Munich-Riem airport was opened that year and expanded during the next three decades. As a result, Oberwiesenfeld airfield remained largely idle.