Winner Medals

According to the Olympic Statutes, medals of victory are to be awarded in silver-gilt, silver and bronze to the victors in the various Olympic competitions. The design of the Italian sculptor, Professor Cassioli, Florence, was selected by the International Olympic Committee in 1928 as the permanent Olympic medal, the inscription being changed to correspond to each Olympic Festival. The Organizing Committee was therefore obliged only to provide an adequate number of medals from the mould, which is placed at the disposal of the proper Organizing Committee on the occasion of each Festival. This task was awarded to the firm of B. H. Mayer, Pforzheim, a total of 960 medals being produced.

(Source document:  Official Report 1936, page 125)

Participation Medal

It is moreover required that every athlete and all persons who participate in an official capacity shall be awarded a commemoration medal. The number of artists whose services were enlisted for this work was intentionally limited, and among the 15 invited to compete there was not one who had not performed similar tasks in a completely satisfactory manner. The prize was awarded to the Berlin sculptor, Otto Placzek, his design revealing on one side five athletes representing the different continents, all of whom are engaged in pulling the rope of the Olympic Bell. The reverse side of the medal contained the Olympic Bell in relief. Bronze was selected as the appropriate metal for this medal, and the required number of 20,000 were cast by four Berlin foundries, Heintze & Barth, Sperlich, Noack & Martin, and Pilzing. Otto Placzek was also entrusted with the designing of the other medals issued by the Organizing Committee. These included the commemoration medal for the participants in the aeroplane, automobile and bicycle rallies as well as the medal for the carrier pigeon breeders who offered their birds for the festivities of the opening day. The artist utilized a uniform design for the reverse side of all these medals, the Olympic Bell, as the symbol of the Berlin Games, while the face revealed in each case the individual significance of the medal.

(Source document:   Official Report 1936, Vol. I, page 125)

Diploma

Special care was taken in the selection of a design for the diploma, which, according to the Olympic Statutes, should be presented to the victors in addition to the medals. Twelve leading German graphic artists were invited to submit designs, and the results varied widely. The prizewinning design of Professor Ernst Boehm, Berlin, represented an entirely new conception of such a diploma. He utilized white cardboard for his diploma, the Brandenburg Gate and Olympic Bell, as symbols of the Games, being printed on a gilt background, while the Olympic Stadium embossed in white formed the centre piece. The central portion of the certificate was divided by a gold band upon which the word, "Ehrenurkunde" was inscribed. Above it the inscription, "XI. Olympiade Berlin 1936," was engraved in red on a white background and the lower part contained the name of the victor, his country and the sport in which he participated. At the bottom of the diploma was another gold band upon which the facsimile signatures of the Presidents of the International Olympic Committee and Organizing Committee as well as the five Olympic rings in their original colours were embossed. The Berlin firm, Erasmus-Druck GmbH, undertook the production of these diplomas, an extremely difficult task because of the unusual material used, and provided a total of 1,500, including appropriate folders. The paper was contributed by the firm, J. W. Zander, Berlin, first-rate paper being provided for this purpose.

(Source document:  Official Report 1936, page 126)

Badges

A task of particular importance was that of designing the Olympic badge which was to be worn by every athlete and person connected with the Games in an official capacity, denoting at the same time the function of the wearer. It was decided to follow the example of Los Angeles and to provide a combination of medal and ribbon. Of the seven artists who participated in the competition, the jury selected the designs of Professor Walter Raemisch as the most suitable. He combined the landmark of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate, and the five connected rings symbolizing the Olympic Games in a most effective manner. This badge could be attached to ribbons of different colours and also contained space for engraving the function of the wearer. Tombac plated with antique silver was selected as the metal for these badges and Messrs. Lauer, Nuremberg, were commissioned with their production, The company performed its task to complete satisfaction, producing the 14,000 badges necessary because of the unusually large participation in good time before the opening of the Games. 

(Source document:    Official Report 1936, page 125)

Poster

The first important task was the designing of an official publicity poster for the Games, and as early as June, 1934 a competition was announced by the Publicity Committee for the Eleventh Olympic Games, 49 outstanding German graphic artists enrolling, out of which 44 submitted 59 posters. The result, however, was unsatisfactory. The threefold object, that of indicating the importance of the Olympic Games, calling attention to Berlin as the host city and of publicizing the Games in an effective and internationally understandable manner, was not achieved. In view of the regulation of the Reich Chamber of Culture to the effect that prizes offered in a competition must be awarded regardless of whether or not the results are satisfactory, the five best designs were duly selected and the artists rewarded. The first prize was awarded to the Dresden artist, Willy Petzold, whose design, an antique bronze head bearing a wreath of victory, was inadequate for the official Olympic poster although it appeared to be suitable for publicizing the Olympic Art Exhibition and was later used for this purpose.

( Source document:   Official Report 1936, page 124)

Pictograms

Postage Stamps

In accordance with the world-wide importance of the Olympic ideals, special Olympic postage stamps and postcards were issued, these including eight denominations of postage stamps and two postcards for the Games in Berlin, and two special postcards for the Olympic yachting competition at Kiel. In addition, booklets of stamps were also prepared, some of which gave the postal tariff in four languages. There were also two blocks of four stamps each on special water-marked paper, these comprising all of the eight denominations. A fixed supplement, printed on the postage stamps and postcards, was added to their price, this being used to further German athletics. For this reason, the German Sport Assistance was especially active in selling these stamps. During the period of the Games, from August 1st to 16th, special Olympic cancellation machines were used to cancel the postage stamps at the special post offices in Berlin and Kiel, as well as at the stamp mailing depot. These were as follows:

There was a total of 16 different cancellation stamps with varying inscriptions. As it was necessary to make several machines with identical inscriptions, these were provided with distinguishing letters. The total number of special Olympic cancellation machines was 193. The special post offices accepted everything except large packages. Telegrams could be sent and telephone calls made. These post offices also maintained a general delivery service and cashed travellers’ cheques. Packages were received and given out at the Olympic Village, at the post office for the general public in the Olympic Stadium, and at certain storage post offices. Due to the measures which had been taken well in advance, the organization functioned smoothly and extraordinary rushes of business on certain days were handled without difficulty. In general, there was only a limited increase in the number of postal money orders, consignments of valuables and packages sent.

On the other hand, great numbers of registered letters and even more air mail letters were sent. The registered letters were mostly for the purpose of sending and cancelling postage stamps for stamp collectors. Due to the advantageous air connections from Berlin in every direction, the press representatives in particular welcomed the opportunity to send fairly long articles and pictures by air rather than by means of the more expensive telegraph or wireless. The great crowds who filled the special post offices on all contest sites wished for the most part to buy Olympic postage stamps and have them cancelled. At times, especially before and after the competition, there was an extraordinary rush at certain special post offices, which could only be handled through pre-arranged auxiliary measures. 

The most important of these measures was the employment of about 100 itinerant stamp salesmen (usually 40 at one time in the Olympic Stadium), from whom the public could make the desired purchases without entering the post offices. The same purpose was served by 10 recently developed mobile counters, which were used on this occasion for the first time. At these counters Olympic postage stamps were sold and could also be cancelled at once if desired. The selling was also expedited through the sale of souvenir sheets, on which a complete set of the 8 Olympic stamps had been pasted. These were very much sought after by philatelists and souvenir collectors. Over 200,000 of these sheets were sold during the 16 days. 85,000 such stamp sets were cancelled for the German Sport Assistance alone. Among these were 25,000 sheets on which each individual stamp received a different cancellation. A special stamp sending and cancellation desk was created in the Olympic Postal Bureau of the Charlottenburg 9 Post Office. This desk was intended to relieve some of the burden on the special post offices caused by the collectors’ requirements for stamps. All the requests by letter, which came in from all parts of the world, for the sending and cancellation of Olympic stamps, were dealt with at this desk. 

Tickets

At the 1932 Olympic Games, it was possible to adopt the system customary in the U.S.A. of one price category, or at the most two. In Berlin, however, it was necessary to take into consideration the entirely different financial circumstances and habits of European lovers of sport. This led us to base our division into categories on the system followed in Amsterdam, where, moreover, season tickets for the different sports had been sold. As contrasted with 324 different kinds of tickets in Amsterdam, there were 166 in Los Angeles, and 660 in Berlin.

The tickets were designed by the artist Werner Beucke and printed by the Giesecke & Devrient Press of Leipzig which specializes in the printing of securities. The firms, Bajanz & Studer, Berlin, and Bireka A. G., Staaken, provided tickets for the elimination rounds as well as tickets needed shortly before or during the Olympic Games (for example, for the repetition of the Festival Play).

Three principles governed the production of the tickets:

1. The print, size and colour of the tickets: as well as the order of the necessary  particulars printed on the 
    tickets, must be such that the many types can be differentiated at a glance.
2. Forgeries must be made practically impossible.
3. The ticket should be an artistic souvenir.

The tickets were divided into four principal types.

1. Tickets for the Olympic Stadium.

They were distinguished from the tickets for all other centres where contests were held by their size:  5 X 2.8 inches. In the centre was a picture of the Olympic Stadium  from an original woodcut. The six  colours for 1st and 2nd stand seats, 3rd stand seats on the east side and on the west side, standing room on the east side and standing room on the west side, were different for the first and second weeks. On the back of the ticket was a plan of the Olympic Stadium.

2. Tickets for other centres of competition.

They were 5.2 X 2.4 inches. In the centre was the Olympic Bell. It was also impossible in this case to have different colours for each category. Therefore a different colour was merely used for each site. On the back of the tickets was a plan showing the location of the different sites. 

3. Tickets placed on sale after July 1st, 1936.

The danger of forgery was not great in the case of these tickets. They were therefore given a simpler form. They were principally tickets for the art exhibition, for the handball and football elimination rounds, half-day and similar tickets. In order to be prepared for unforeseen eventualities, 100,000 general tickets without dates or  mention of location were printed in nine categories. It was necessary  to use these tickets in several instances.

4. Blanket Passes.

These were special tickets of two types. One was of the same size as the Olympic Stadium tickets and valid  only for this site. The other one, which was 5.2 X 2.4 inches, with no place indication, was valid for all events and performances. These passes were for visitors who could prove that their tickets had been lost. In special cases they were also used to fulfil urgent requirements for complimentary tickets, to permit the entry of groups in mass formation and for other special arrangements.

(Source document:   Official Report 1936, Vol. I, page 481)

Vignettes

Picture Postcards

Identity Card

The Organizing Committee provided active participants, accompanying officials, and members of the National Olympic Committees and the IOC, with Olympic identity cards. The cards were sent to the National Olympic Committees who took responsibility for their being filled-out, certified, and distributed.

The statistics of the issue of Olympic identity cards showed the ratio between the number of active team members and the total number of cards issued. Altogether one-third of the total number went to active competitors. Accordingly, about two-thirds of the identity cards were issued to officials, judges, or to persons accompanying the teams or standing in some relation or other to them. It was not possible for the Organizing Committee to check the persons to whom Olympic identity cards were given as it was entrusted to the National Olympic Committees to account properly for their distribution. The lists of the identity cards issued were handed in to the Organizing Committee at the time when teams arrived. Speaking generally, the large number of non-active persons who had received identity cards came as a surprise to the Organizing Committee, which had itself been very sparing in the issue of these special passes.
 

The Olympic identity card entitled the holder to the following privileges:

1. Grant of the German travel vise free of charge by the German consular authorities.

2 . Reduced fares on all steamship, railway and air lines of the world. The extent of the reduction could be seen in a booklet published by the Organizing Committee, "Travel and Transport Reductions."

3 . Customs facilities granted by the Reich Ministry of Finance.

4 . 50% reduction in fares on the German State Railway, and free baggage up to 75 kilogrammes including sports apparatus.

5 . Free travel on all Berlin systems of transportation.

6 . Special advantages for the "Chefs de Mission" after arrival in Berlin; these including the right of admission to the seats reserved for competitors in the Stadium.

The Olympia identity card did not confer the right of free admission to the scenes of competition
without a participants' badge or participants' ticket.

(Source document: Official Report 1936 Berlin, Vol. I, page 256)