Water Polo at the Olympic Games: Berlin 1936

The 11th edition of the Olympics has gone down in history as the Games in which the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler tried to show the superiority of the Aryans over Jews and Afro-Americans. Yet, Berlin was given the organisation of the Olympic Games in 1931, two years before the rise to power by Nazism. The Nazi regime invested a huge amount of money on the event, building a new 100,000-capacity stadium as well as various venues.

by Simone PierottiIndeed, director Leni Riefenstahl was hired by Hitler himself to film the entire event and the result was the release of a documentary split in two parts – Olympia 1. Teil-Fest der Völker (“Festival of Nations”) and Olympia 2. Teil-Fest der Schönheit (“Festival of Beauty”) – in 1938. The water polo tournament took place in one week, from 8 to 15 August, in the newly-built Olympiapark Schwimmstadion Berlin. For the first time, a preliminary round with group stage was played, in which all the teams played among each other. The placings were determined on points. If the points were equal, then the better goal average decided. The first two teams of each group were qualified for the semi-finals, while the third and fourth placed ones were eliminated.Read more:

If you like this article, please subscribe to the feed by clicking on the image below in order to keep updated: