Olympiastadion Berlin

When the Nazis came to power in Germany (1933), they decided to use the Olympic Games in 1936 for propaganda purposes. With these plans in mind, Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of a great sports complex in Grunewald named the "Reichssportfeld" with a totally new Olympiastadion.

At the Berlin 1936 Olympics, Hitler planned to show the world that the Aryan people were the dominant race. Jesse Owens proved him wrong and sealed his place in Olympic history by becoming the most successful athlete of the 1936 Games. Owens also became the first american to win four track and field gold medals at a single Olympics (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump), a record that stood unbroken for 48 years.

Today the stadium is part of the Olympiapark Berlin. Since 1963, it has been the home ground of the Hertha BSC football team. It hosted three

matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. It was renovated for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when it hosted six matches, including the final. The Olympiastadion Berlin served as a host for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup as well as the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final.

During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 100,000. Since renovations in 2004, the Olympiastadion has a permanent capacity of 74,475 seats and is the largest stadium in Germany for international football matches.