Olympic portrait

The world would be in for a "Festival of Friendship" if Munich is awarded hosting rights for the 2018 Olympic Games. The three competition sites selected by the Munich Bid Committee represent a mixture of old and new: the Bavarian capital Munich, the resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the nearby Lake Königssee.

The Munich Olympic Park, which was originally created for the 1972 Summer Olympic Games, is to be the site of all ice events at the Winter Games. Some existing buildings on the site will be re-used, such as the Olympic Hall, which would host the figure skating and short track, whilst a renovated Olympic swimming pool is to be the site of the curling events. In addition, a new multi-purpose hall, the construction for which was approved in 2009 by the city council, will also be eagerly awaiting the Munich athletes. A new facility will also be built for speed skating, as well as a second hockey arena. Should these two buildings fall into disuse following the Games, it will be possible to dismantle them.

Munich Mayor Christian Ude has hailed the Munich Olympic Park as ecologically sound and sustainable. He added that it would be a very positive development if there would again be a use for the area, following the move by Munich's premier football club, Bayern Munich, from the stadium to Allianz Arena. Since then, many of the park's sports facilities have been only occasionally in use. "Once again, the Olympic Park has a future; it can once again be a crowd-puller which can support its economy over the coming decades," said Ude.

Snow Park

An hour from Munich, in the shadow of the Zugspitze mountain - Germany's highest peak - sits the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is down to host all the snow-based events of the Olympics. The alpine events are to be held predominantly on the Kandahar Slope, whilst the nearby village of Schwaiganger will host biathlon and cross country skiing, events which were originally intended to be held in Oberammergau before local land owners were successful in preventing the use.

The Königssee Sliding Center, which is to undergo $31.5 billion (21.7 billion euros) in renovations, will serve as the venue for the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions. It will undergo renovation this year and will become the world's first artificially refrigerated ice track. Approximately 400 athletes and officials will be accommodated in a new high-end hotel on the scenic shores of the Königssee.

Financial benefit?

According to previous calculations, a Winter Games in Munich will cost around 3 billion euros. Almost half of this would be spent on organization and execution, the rest on constructing new facilities and renovating old ones, as well as expanding other key infrastructure. Some predict this will have a "stimulus" affect on the Bavarian economy, others fear a severe burden will be placed on local communities.

Munich has committed to paying particular attention to the environmental footprint of the Games should it win. The environmental concept formulated by the Bid Committee is almost 200 pages long. Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer has praised this "responsible and cautious" approach which would see the 2018 Olympics referred to as the "Green Games in Winter."

However, this hasn't stopped green groups such as Deutscher Naturschutzring (German Nature Protection Ring) and the Bund Naturschutz (Nature Protection Alliance) from objecting to Munich's bid to host the Winter Olympics. The groups have argued that the Alpine ecosystem is too delicate to be tampered with. A long-running dispute over the involvement of Garmisch-Partenkirchen also sullied the bid when local farmers decided to oppose their region's involvement. The issue was eventually put to a local referendum in which 58 percent voted in favor of hosting the Winter Games.

Despite these squabbles, one thing is clearly working in favor of Munich winning the 2018 Winter Games: The general level of enthusiasm amongst most Germans for winter sports is considerable, and will count as a massive bonus for Munich's chances. Stadiums will be full and crowds will be loud.

The German government is also standing behind Munich, with Chancellor Angela Merkel commenting recently, "I think we have every chance of planning for a winter fairy tale following the summer fairy tale that was the 2006 FIFA World Cup. And I think the world would enjoy this because Germany is a good host."

Author: Michaela Bold / dfm
Editor: Michael Lawton