The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The country also hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics, which were held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. It was the last year in which the Summer and Winter Games both took place in the same country (the cancelled 1940 Olympics would have been held in Japan, with

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

hosting the Summer Games and

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...

hosting the Winter Games). The 1936 Winter Games were organized on behalf of the German League of the Reich for Physical Exercise (DRL) by

Karl Ritter von Halt Dr Karl Ritter von Halt, born Karl Ferdinand Halt (2 June 1891 – 5 August 1964) was a sport official in Nazi Germany and in the German Federal Republic. He was born and died in Munich. Biography Karl Ritter von Halt was a track and field a ...

, who had been named president of the committee for the organization of the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen by ''Reichssportführer''

Hans von Tschammer und Osten Hans von Tschammer und Osten (25 October 1887 – 25 March 1943) was a German sport official, SA leader and a member of the Reichstag for the Nazi Party of Nazi Germany. He was married to Sophie Margarethe von Carlowitz. Hans von Tschammer un ...

Highlights

Bundesarchiv R 8076 Bild-0019, Olympische Winterspiele

* German skier Willy Bogner took the

Olympic oath The Olympic Oath (distinct from the Olympic creed) is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of all ...

during the opening ceremonies. * Alpine skiing made its first appearance in the winter Olympics as the combined, which added a skier's results in both the downhill and slalom. German athletes

Franz Pfnür Franz Pfnür (21 November 1908 – 21 September 1996) was a German alpine skier who competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics. He was born in Schellenberg Schellenberg is a municipality in the lowland area of Liechtenstein, on the bank ...

won men's alpine and

Christl Cranz Christl Franziska Antonia Cranz-Borchers (1 July 1914 – 28 September 2004) was a German alpine ski racer. Cranz dominated international competition in the 1930s, winning twelve world championship titles between 1934 and 1939. At the 1936 Winte ...

won women's alpine events. * Ivar Ballangrud won three out of the four

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skatin ...

races. *

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic champion ( 1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European champi ...

won her third consecutive gold medal in woman's

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

. * Switzerland won the 4 man bobsled in a time of 5:19.85. *

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

upset 1932 gold medalists

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

when Edgar Brenchley scored the winning goal within the last ninety seconds. *

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

won the overall games with a total of 7 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 3 bronze medals. * These games had the largest and heaviest medals ever awarded to athletes: diameter, thick, weighing .

Sports

Medals were awarded in 17 events contested in 4 sports (8 disciplines). * * * Skating ** ** *

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

** ** *** *** ***

Demonstration sports

Military patrol Military patrol was a team winter sport in which athletes competed in cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering and rifle shooting. It was usually contested between countries or military units. The military patrol competition encompassed 25 ki ...

Ice stock sport Ice stock sport (also known as ''"Icestocksport"'' or ''"Bavarian curling"'') is a winter sport, somewhat similar to curling. In German, it is known as Eisstockschießen. Although the sport is traditionally played on an ice surface, events are al ...

Venues

Große Olympiaschanze The Große Olympiaschanze ( en, Great Olympic Hill) is a ski jumping hill located on the Gudiberg, south of the district of Partenkirchen of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, and is traditionally the venue of the Four Hills Tournamen ...

– Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and Ski Jumping. *

Gudiberg Gudiberg is a mountain of Bavaria, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. It lies south of the centre of Partenkirchen and east of the Partnach river. Alpine skiing It hosted the slalom part of the alpine skiing combined event for the 1936 Winter ...

– Alpine skiing (combined – slalom) *

Kreuzjoch Kreuzjoch (German: ''cross col'') is the name of many summits and several mountain passes, predominantly in the Eastern Alps. Summits: * Hohes Kreuzjoch, 2992 m, in the southern Ötztal Alps in South Tyrol * Kreuzjochkogel, 2746 m, between the S ...

– Alpine skiing (combined – downhill) * Kreuzeck – Alpine skiing (downhill finish line) * Olympia-Kunsteisstadion – Figure skating and Ice hockey *

Riessersee Riessersee is a German lake located in southwest Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The lake itself hosted the speed skating events and 10 of the 37 ice hockey games for the 1936 Winter Olympics. Adjacent to the lake, the bobsleigh events took place. Bobslei ...

and surrounding areas – Bobsleigh, Ice hockey, and Speed skating

Participating nations

28 nations sent athletes to compete in Germany. Australia,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

all made their Winter Olympic debut in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, Latvia,

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

all returned to the Games after having missed the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February ...

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees (from highest to lowest)

Medal count

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09482, Sonja Henie

Podium sweeps

References

Notes Citations

External links

*
Complete official IOC report. In German

The program of the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics