Olympic Park(German: Olympiapark) was the site of the XX Summer Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich. To this day it is a venue for sporting, social and cultural events.
The term Olympic Park for the entire region has already taken root in everyday speech, but it is semi-official. There is no official name for this general area; moreover, it is divided into four different zones:
1. Olympic venues, venues sporting events, such as the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Arena with the Olympic Tower.
2. Olympic village, which is divided into a men's village and a women's village.
3. Olympic press center. Today it is a residential area with the Olympia shopping center.
4. Olympic Park with Olympic Mountain and Olympic Lake.
Total area Olympic Park bounded in the east by Lerchenauer Straße, in the north by Moosacher Straße, in the west by Landshuter Allee and Willi-Gebhardt -Ufer).
The once flat area of Oberwiesenfeld, the site of today's Olympic Park, bordered the city of Milbertshofen, which was incorporated into Munich in 1913. Until 1938, the Munich-Oberwiesenfeld civil airport was located on this site. In 1938, the year the airport closed, French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain landed here to sign the Munich Agreement. After the opening of the new Munich-Riem Airport (German: Flughafen München-Riem) in October 1939, the territory of the old airport was used until the end of the war by military aviation.
Since 1957, shortly before construction began on the Olympic Games facilities, the northern part of the field has been used by sports aircraft. The last plane took off here in March 1968. The southern part of the site was occupied between 1954 and 1967 to host the annual Bauma construction exhibition. Even before Munich was awarded the right to host the Olympic Games on this territory between 1965 and 1967. an ice stadium was built, which later became the Olympic center speed skating. This building was used during the 1972 Olympics to host boxing matches. Another pre-Olympic building was built next to the skating rink - a television tower.
After the International Olympic Committee awarded Munich the right to host the Games in 1966, concrete plans were developed to redevelop the Oberwiesenfeld site. The slogan “ Olympic Games in nature." Although the idea itself of building a sports complex in a green area was not new, for the design of the venue for the Olympic Games this concept was completely new. Also, the architecture of the Olympic Stadium, whose roof resembles a spider's web, stands out from the often monumental neoclassical Olympic venues completed before this time.
So, by the beginning of the 1972 Games, the Olympic complex had an Olympic village; press center; a tower with a height of 291.28 m, built between 1965 and 1968; swimming pool; Olympic arena, stadium and others sports grounds; tennis courts; The Olympic Park with the Olympic Mountain and the lake, on the shore of which the Teatron theater was located to host the cultural program of the Games.
How to get to the Olympic Park?
you can get to the Olympic Park by public transport, in particular, by metro - line U3 or U8, stop " Olympic Center"(German: "Olympiazentrum").
Official website: www.olympiapark.de/de/olympiapark-muenchen/
Address: Spiridon-Louis-Ring 21
80809 Munich, Germany.
Location map:
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Why go? Better places you won't find anything for relaxation in Munich. I also like the English park, but when walking through the Olympic Park it feels like it’s happening outside the city.
How to get there. The Olympic Park is located in the northern part of Munich, approximately 3.5 kilometers northwest of the Central Station. The most convenient way to get to the park is by metro. To the north of the Olympic Park is the Olympiazentrum station, to the east is the Petuelring station. From Central Station to the park there is line 8, when traveling from the center you need to use line 3. It takes about 10 minutes to get to the metro.Several lines are suitable for travel to the park ground transport. Bus route 144 runs past the southern border of the park, and bus routes 173 and 180 stop from the northeast.
There are many roads around the park. Large, busy highways pass by the park, so getting to it by car is not a problem. The problem is finding free parking nearby. There is a paid fee, 7 euros per day. We were greedy, deciding that 7 euros would be of great use to us. I had to go east to residential areas and park there. How to get there. The park is open to the public year-round, but before you go for a walk, you need to check if there is a football match taking place that day. Located in the park, the stadium can accommodate tens of thousands of fans, and many thousands more gather nearby to cheer on the team. If the game is planned, the pleasure of the walk will inevitably be spoiled.
In days football matches and concerts in the park are too crowded. The park itself is accessible at any time of the day, but the facilities located on its territory operate according to a certain schedule. Those. The Olympic Stadium can be visited in the summer from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; in other months, its opening hours are reduced. The same situation applies to swimming pools, golf courses and other sports arenas. What to do. It’s perplexing how unusual the park looks. Its secret is that the entire, absolutely entire landscape is created artificially. The mountains are artificial, the ponds are man-made, we don’t even need to talk about the buildings. Fifty years ago, a colossal landfill was located on this site, where garbage was removed from the central areas of the city. The area was turned into a recreational area in preparation for the 1972 Olympic Games. The park covers an area of 85 hectares, and when I walked through it with friends, I tried to imagine what a huge amount of work the Germans had to do.
All this beauty was created by the hands of people. The Munich Olympic Park amazes with its landscapes and architecture at the same time. There are rarely large buildings in parks, except perhaps gazebos or small houses, like Trianons. In Munich everything is different. The buildings are well integrated into the landscapes. Looking at their broken lines, you inevitably think that nature created them. I am sure that if we, people spoiled by modern, unusual architecture, sports arenas The Olympic Park makes a strong impression; in the 1970s they generally looked fantastic. 
Unusual architecture of buildings During our walks, we found many cozy places where we could relax in peace and quiet. Which is what we did repeatedly. But those who like active recreation, also do not come at a loss when visiting the Olympic Park. They can go boating on the lake, run, swim, and not die of boredom, in short. I prefer beautiful landscapes, grass, trees, and I got them in full. 
Nutrition. Everything in the Olympic Park is thought out and adapted for the benefit of people. There is a restaurant and bistro on site, and an outdoor beer garden is open between April and September. What is good and what is bad. The park is large, beautiful, and convenient. I meticulously examined it, but could not find a single significant flaw.
Munich. Olympic Park. "Bedouin tents" made of glass and steel on the Georg Brauchle Ring.
To hold their next session in the spring of 1966, members of the International Olympic Committee gathered in Rome. Here, in the large, beautiful hall of the Excelsior Hotel, they determined the fate of the candidate cities to host the XX Olympic Games in 1972. According to the voting results, Munich won a convincing victory, sending a magnificent project for the Olympic buildings and organization of the Games.
Once upon a time, north of the city limits of Munich, there was a large wasteland called Oberwiesenfeld, where the army conducted maneuvers and artillery firing. At the beginning of the 20th century, an airfield was located on its flat field, and next to it a small aircraft engine plant. By the sixties, the plant had turned into a giant of the BMW automobile industry, and the southern part of the wasteland had become a huge mountain of construction waste, broken bricks, and the remains of buildings destroyed by the war.
It was here, on a former wasteland, that the construction of the Olympic complex began in 1968. At the beginning of the Games, all Olympic facilities were built on an area of 300 hectares:
Olympic Tower (Olympiaturm) 291.28 m high;
Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) with 80 thousand seats;
Olympic Hall (Olympiahalle) with 15 thousand seats;
Olympic swimming pool(Olympiaschwimmhalle) for 10 thousand seats;
Tennis courts and other sports grounds;
Olympic village for 15 thousand inhabitants;
Olympic Press Center;
Olympic Lake with a theater on the shore “Theatron”;
Olympic Park with Olympic Mountain.
The project of sports facilities by architects Günter Behnisch and Frei Otto was a new word in architecture. Was placed in front of them difficult task: in a completely bare place, in an extremely short period of time (2-3 years), to create a park in which new architectural forms of buildings, engineering and constructive solutions would be organically combined with the surrounding landscape. The main idea that guided the authors of the project was: “Games in nature.”
The architects abandoned large, monumental, pompous squares and ceremonial axes and created an Olympic Park of rare beauty and naturalness. A single landscape includes various forms of space use, unites nature and architecture, which does not look alien here. Planted trees, bushes, large lawns divided the park into separate areas that have an individual character due to the use various types and plant forms. A mountain of stones and debris in a vacant lot was turned into a high green hill, lined with pine trees, oaks, and bushes, and became one of the decorations of the park. A network of walking paths blends seamlessly into the terrain. An artificial lake with an area of 3.6 hectares was created at the foot of the hill. On its banks there are terraces with grass, on which spectators sit during the Teatron performances. The stage is located on the surface of the lake and theatrical performances, concerts take place against the backdrop of hills and water, which are illuminated after dark. The lake is also used as a reservoir for collecting storm water from a vast area. On the banks of the lake and the canal, which goes towards the Nymphenburg Palace Park, there are paths of free outlines and recreation areas are equipped.
Munich's wide ring highway - Georg Brauchle Ring - is buried within the park and fenced off with an embankment up to 7 meters high with linear planting of trees along the top. This minimized noise and other negative impacts from heavy traffic. All intersections of pedestrian park paths with transport highways are organized in different levels. Walking along the paths, you can admire picturesque views of the expressive forms of sports facilities among the greenery of the park.
These forms became the main highlight of the architecture of the Olympic buildings. The single Olympic roof, designed and built under the direction of the eminent researcher, architect and lightweight designer Frei Otto, was called a technical record in Germany, “a reflection of the German spirit of the Games,” as newspapers wrote at the time. One light, thin roof hanging high in the air covered the universal gym, swimming pool, stadium stands, and the building of the radio and television center.
Large transparent sheets of plexiglass-215 are held in place by a complex, openwork aluminum alloy structure suspended from huge support pipes and stretched by thick steel cables. In their appearance, the structures are reminiscent of Bedouin tents that inexplicably found their way to Europe and were pitched on the shore of a lake, in the middle of a park, almost in the center of a large, quite respectable German city.
The design of the Olympic roof was designed for a ten-year service life, which in fact has long since been covered.
Munich. Olympic Park. Olympic Lake, on the shore of which the tent of the Olympic swimming pool is pitched. Nearby rises the Olympic Tower - the tallest building in Munich. Behind are the cylinders of the BMW office.
The breadth of scope, the lightness and naturalness of unusual forms, the transparency of surfaces, according to the authors of the project, were supposed to symbolize a new, revived and democratic Germany, its aspiration to the future, its economic and technical capabilities. It was a time when the work of restoring destroyed cities, restoring historical buildings, and building a new state was in full swing and nearing completion. Officially, these games were called "Happy Games".
Munich. Olympic Park. Plan of the area directly affected by Olympic construction. Over time, the name “Olympic Park” was assigned to it.
On the plan:
1 - central arena - Olympic Stadium; 2 - gymnasium; 3 - swimming pool; 4 - Event – Arena – exhibition hall, cycling track; 5 - Olympic Ice Stadium; 6 - volleyball hall; 7 - fields for field hockey; 8 - training fields; 9 - warm-up room; 10 - Olympic Village (for women); 11 - Olympic Village (for men); 12 - TV tower; 13 - radio and television center; 14 - press town; 15 - theater "Teatron"; 16 - artificial Olympic lake; 17 - Olympic Mountain; 18 - metro station "Olympiazentrum" line U3; 20 - parking lots.
Huge efforts were aimed at improving the city, turning it into modern city, worthy of the title of capital of the Olympics. The city's transport infrastructure was completely reconstructed; in 1972, the construction of the U-bahn metro was completed in an optimal, very convenient combination with the high-speed S-bahn. The U3 line was laid towards the Olympic complex and the Olympiazentrum station was built.
The revived German industry also did its best for the Olympics. All structures, as never before, were equipped with the latest information media for that time: information boards, measuring instruments, duplicating equipment, and computers of that time. With the help of well-equipped television, more than a billion sports fans became direct spectators of the Olympics.
Munich. Olympic Park. The Olympic Village, in front of it are the sports facilities of the Central Higher Sports School. To the right of the village you can see the buildings of the BMW automobile plant, and closer, on Lerchenauer Straße, there is the U3 “Olympiazentrum” metro station.
However, the tragedy that happened on September 5, 1972 almost derailed Olympic competitions. That morning, terrorists from the Black September organization entered the Olympic Village pavilion where the Israeli delegation lived and took hostages. The police, encountering terrorism for the first time and not having sufficient experience, tried to take measures to free the hostages and neutralize the terrorists, but their actions were ill-considered. In response, the terrorists killed 11 hostages.
An emergency session of the IOC decided to continue the Olympics. At the Olympic Stadium, in the presence of German President Gustav Heinemann, IOC President Avery Brundage said: “ We cannot allow the Olympics to become a place for trade, political actions or criminal acts, we cannot allow a handful of terrorists to ruin one of the main channels of international cooperation.”
The Munich Olympics continued. It was attended by 7,134 athletes (1,059 women) from 121 countries, who showed new outstanding results: 23 world records were updated in swimming, athletics – 25 Olympic records and 12 world records, in weightlifting - 32 Olympic and 7 world records, in shooting - 6 Olympic and 4 world records. Medals were awarded in 195 disciplines.
At this Olympics, an official mascot appeared for the first time - Dachshund Waldi (Waldi the dachshund). Him (in German dachshunds are masculine) were dressed in a colorful T-shirt to give a festive mood, and were chosen because the dachshund has real sporting qualities: stamina, perseverance and agility. Those who have or had a dachshund will confirm this without a doubt.
Munich. Olympic Park. The main arena is the Olympic Stadium with 80 thousand seats. On the shore of the lake, which descends like an amphitheater towards the water, there are seats for spectators, and in front of them on the water is the Theatron stage. On the left in the distance is the white roof of the Event – Arena.
Some time after the Olympics, the entire territory sports complex Munich residents began to collectively call it Olympiapark. It has become a place of attraction for numerous tourists, a favorite vacation spot for Munich residents, and an active vacation at that. On the paths of the park you can always meet people running or cyclists.
Munich. Olympic Park. Under the canopy of the Olympic swimming pool.
The Olympic hall, swimming pool, ice rink, and other sports facilities are never empty. They hold sports, various cultural events, concerts. By tradition, the stars performing here leave their traces on the pavement of the Walk of Stars, which runs along the Olympic Lake (Munich Olympic Walk of Stars).
Munich. Olympic Park. Avenue of Stars on the shore of the Olympic Lake.
Munich. Olympic Park. Placido Domingo left his mark not only in the hearts of the Bavarians, but also on the asphalt of Munich.
Munich. Olympic Park. In 2011, the group “Rammstein” performed on the Olympic stage.
Whole families, with very young children, come to Sea Life - an aquarium - to admire the life of the sea.
Munich. Olympic Park. Inside this green hill near the lake is Sea Life - an aquarium.
And having climbed with the help of a high-speed elevator to the open observation deck of the Olympic Tower (189 m), residents of Munich and tourists admire the beautiful panorama of this wonderful city for a long time.
Munich. Olympic Park. Panorama of the center of Munich from the height of the Olympic Tower. On the horizon in the clear, cold weather The Alps are visible, and right below, behind the lake, is the serpentine path of the Olympic Mountain.
Munich. Olympic Park. Plan of the southern part of the Olympic Park, where the main sports and cultural facilities are located.
1. Event – Arena – exhibition hall, cycling track; 2. Area for warm-up and training; 3. Tennis courts; 4. Bistro; training room; 5. Olympic athletes base; 6. Memorial; 7. Administration of “Olympiapark München GmBH”, business center; 8. Restaurant “Coubertin”, biergarten; 9. North ticket office of the Olympic Stadium; 10. Commemorative plaque; 11. Place Coubertin; 12. Theatron - open air theater; 13. Trampoline; 14. Path for nordic walking(walking with sticks); 15. Olympic Walk of Stars; 16. Stop " railway» Olympic Park; 17. Restaurant on the Olympic Lake and restaurant “181” on the Olympic Tower; 18. BMW-Welt; 19. BMW-Museum; 20. Olympic Ice Stadium; 21. Mini golf course; 22. SEA LIFE – aquarium; 23. Playing field; 24. Street football; 25. Boat rental; 26. Summer curling.
How to get to the Olympic Park.
You can get to the Olympic Park by U-bahn. You need to get to the Olympiazentrum station, line U3, located on the eastern side of the park, closer to all its main sports facilities. If you are coming from the city center, go towards the rear car of the train and take the escalator to the top. Your gaze will immediately be drawn to a huge building of unusual architecture - BMW-Welt, and a little to the right behind the greenery of tall trees you will see the Olympic Tower. Climb onto the bridge across the wide, traffic-filled Georg Brauchle Ring - and there they are in front of you - the “Bedouin tents”, these completely unusual structures made of glass and steel.
You can get to the northern part of the Olympic Park, closer to the Olympic Village (more precisely, to the residential buildings that the former village became), by reaching the Oberwiesenfeld station on the U3 line.
When you take the U3 line to the final station "Olympia-Einkaufszentrum" - "Olympic Shopping Center", you will find yourself next to one of the largest shopping centers in Munich, which is located slightly west of the Olympic Village, in the former buildings of the Olympic Press Center.
To the west of the Olympic Park, at a short distance from it there is the U-bahn line U1 of the stations “Westfriedhof”, “Georg-Brauchle-Ring”, “Olympia-Einkaufszentrum” - “Olympic Shopping Center”.
Park opening hours.
The territory of the park is completely open and you can walk, run, ride a bike and sit on a bench at any time of the day and for as long as you like.
The Olympic Park (in German Olympiapark) in Munich was built specifically for the XX Summer Olympic Games in 1972. However, since then, the sports heritage of the Olympic Park has not only not been lost, it continues to develop and delight all sports fans.
The appearance of the park resembles a web of iron and glass. Despite the quirkiness and unusual shape of the roof (or, perhaps, precisely because of it), all the buildings and objects of the Olympic Park fit so organically into the landscape.
The Olympic complex includes stadiums (Olympic and aquatic), a velodrome, an ice skating rink and, of course, the famous 290-meter tower (Olympiaturm).
Today there is an observation deck on the tower, to which a high-speed elevator will take you. Therefore, I invite you to inspect the Olympic venues, as they say, from a bird's eye view.
Athletics stadium with 69,000 seats,
Another open stadium for runners, jumpers and javelin throwers.
Channels
Walking and cycling paths
The roof of the indoor sports palace with 12,250 seats (for handball players, volleyball players, etc.) is clearly visible.
Tennis courts
There is also a cycle track (the white round plate in the center of the photo) and a palace aquatic species sports (in the lower right corner).
From Earth, the waterfowl habitat looks something like this (sorry, there is not only the palace in the frame):
Also from the tower you can clearly see BMW-Welt, which I wrote about in one of my previous reviews.
Visibility from the tower is excellent, up to 40 km, so in good weather you can see the city and its surroundings.
The tower has open and closed observation platforms.
In case of strong winds, the entrance to the open area is closed.
Football fans will certainly be interested in visiting the famous Allianz Arena.
Built in the shape of a somewhat flattened ball, the stadium is familiar to everyone who is at least somewhat familiar with football.
Our boys could not resist and sneaked inside, although the stadium was closed. But, as they say, hunting is worse than bondage.
If you are far from sports, then in the Olympic Park you can simply take a walk, relax, sit and lie on the beautiful lawn.
You can get to the Olympic Park by metro, line U3, station Olympia-Einkaufszentrum.
Dear travelers, athletes and people far from sports, take a look at the Olympic Park and soak up the sports atmosphere.
Maybe, inspired by these handsome runners, next time you will take your sneakers or a ball with you, who knows...
As you know, in 1972 the Summer Olympic Games were held in Munich. Of course, we did not prepare for them on the same scale as for the games in Sochi, but something was built specifically for this event. One of the projects was Olympic Park, with several located here Olympic venues such as an athletics stadium, a swimming pool, an ice rink, and a cycling track. In addition, a television tower 290 meters high was built, called Olympiaturm(with German - Olympic Tower) and which can now be seen from any area of Munich.
The Olympic Tower is open to visitors daily from 9 to 24 hours. The entrance ticket costs 5.50 euros for adults and 3.50 for children over 6 years old (up-to-date information can always be found on the official website). A high-speed elevator takes everyone to a height of 190 meters, where there is a revolving restaurant, a rock music museum, as well as indoor and outdoor observation decks.
If on closed area Because of the glass you can’t really take pictures, but the open one allows you to take excellent photos of Munich from a bird’s eye view. To the west of the tower is the Olympic Stadium and swimming pool. All buildings have an original roof shape in the form of tents or awnings, attached to powerful metal guy wires.
To the north is the Olympic Village, whose residential complexes were divided into men's and women's during the Olympics. Here, Israeli athletes were taken hostage by fighters of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. The tragedy ended with an assault at the airport, during which all the hostages and some of the terrorists died. The feature film “Munich” was shot about the retaliation action prepared by the Mossad.
After the Olympics, the buildings of the Olympic village were transferred to student dormitories.
In the northwest of the tower there is a huge territory belonging to the BMW concern. In addition to the factory premises, you can see the company's headquarters, located in the hundred-meter skyscraper "BMW Vierzylinder" (from German - "four cylinders"), BMW Museum in the form of a round bowl with a logo on the roof, as well as a huge car showroom "BMW-Welt"("BMW world").
On the south side there is Olympiasee - the Olympic lake and Olympiaberg - the Olympic hill. Have you also noticed that the Germans are not very good at imagination and toponymy? =)
It’s cool to see, among ordinary houses, a whole block of small garden houses on tiny plots - this can often be found here, especially along the railways.
Facilities are being built on the lake for the motorcycle jumping show at the Red Bull X-Fighters show, which will take place on July 19.
And throughout July, in the southern part of the Olympic Park, music festival Tollwood (more about it below).
In the open observation deck the wind is blowing so strong that you want to spread your wings and fly =)
By the way, here it is officially allowed to write “Vasya was here” on the wall. In my opinion, a completely reasonable approach is - instead of spending a lot of time and money constantly erasing these inscriptions, which will still appear again and again, simply select a certain area for this and call it “Memorial Book”.
The main purpose of the festival, held twice a year - in winter and summer, is to showcase the intercultural diversity of various art forms (music from rock to jazz and blues, theatre, cabaret and other artistic acts) and their integration with environmental aspects.
This year's Tollwood Summer Festival is all about culture, joie de vivre and animal welfare, and guests are greeted at the entrance with wooden sculptures of animals advocating for themselves.
The holiday atmosphere is reminiscent of Oktoberfest. There are also a huge number of different stalls with different food, people in national and other costumes, various performances and, in addition to this, music concerts every evening.
Folk art.
Olympic Park
The Olympic Park was built on the site of a city dump. Mountains of garbage were covered with earth and landscaped. They dug an artificial lake and piled an artificial hill - it turned out quite nice.
Now it is a favorite holiday destination for Munich residents. To the question “where to go in Munich?” you can safely answer: “To the Olympic Park” - and it’s unlikely that anyone will be disappointed.
