Ryan Smart
An infamous venue that hosted Olympic athletes now looks unrecognisable after being left abandoned for many years.
In 1936, Berlin hosted the final Olympics before the beginning of World War II.
The city was then part of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany, with German Jewish athletes being banned from competing by the Nazi regime. Jewish athletes from other countries largely boycotted the Games at the qualifying trials stage.
The Games did go ahead despite calls from other countries to boycott it, with the Nazis attempting to paint a much different picture of Germany to the wider world than the horrific reality that would only get worse over the years that followed.
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The Olympic Village was used to house athletes in Berlin, and it was subsequently occupied by the German army - the 'Wehrmacht' - once the Games finished.
Members of the Wehrmacht resided there during World War II before the area was captured by the Soviet army. It was also used as a hospital.
The facility was then used as a torture chamber by Soviet troops during the Cold War.
It was left abandoned in 1992 and has not been used since, instead being left to rot entirely.
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As per AbandonedBerlin, the village itself was built on a 550,000 square metre site, and placed animals in a man-made lake at the venue.
It is said to have attracted over 370,000 visitors between May and June 1936, before it officially opened to the athletes.
But indoor swimming pools are now empty and walls - some of which still feature Nazi symbols - are now beginning to crumble, with mould rapidly growing.
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Berlin has not hosted the Olympics since 1936, though there are plans to put forward a proposal to host the Games in 2040. If it does win, different facilities are guaranteed to be used.
That is because the Olympic Village is beginning to be renovated 'very slowly' - with money said to be a significant issue.
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Plans were announced back in 2020 for the facility to be turned into a new hotspot focusing on the practice of new Olympic sports, such as skateboarding and surfing.
However, it is unclear whether any significant redevelopment has been completed, with Business Insider reporting in 2024 that the site is still abandoned for now.