In 1910, German art critic and publicist Karl Scheffler famously said, “Berlin is a city condemned forever to becoming and never to being.”
Fast forward to 2026, and one would think he was talking about the political fandango around hosting major sporting events, rather than architecture.
So as it is, Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner confirmed that the capital of Germany has withdrawn from the bid process to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044. Germany will decide on Saturday between Munich and Cologne as its remaining candidate cities.
In the end, Berlin’s citizens and politicians were not in favour of pursuing the bid.
“Today is a sad day for Berlin,” Wegner told the media.
Hamburg also withdrew in May, leaving Munich and Cologne as the two remaining German bidders. Both of which have public support.
Berlin’s political shift became an important factor in the decision. The coalition government that had supported the Olympic plans was voted out last Sunday in the Berlin House of Representatives election. It was the left-wing Die Linke making significant gains after campaigning strongly against hosting the Games.
“I think this decision has already been made for us,” declared Mayor-elect Elif Eralp.
Money was an issue from the beginning. At this point, the spending simply did not make sense to the Die Linke. The Olympic Games, particularly the Summer Games, require massive investment. There is no guarantee that the full economic picture will look favourable once the accounting is finally done. This is typically calculated well after the Games have ended.
While politicians were backing away, national sport organizations wanted the bid to continue.
“We were unable to offer the federations what they demanded of us, namely political stability,” admitted Berlin Olympic Commissioner Kaweh Niroomand. He also said Berlin’s bid did not need to be “thrown out” in a vote and that the city ultimately chose to “spare ourselves this embarrassment.”
Kaputt! Leben ist kein Ponyhof
