Berlin, 1936: the Games televised and exploited

Berlin 1936 marked the start of TV broadcasting of the Games. Twenty-five “public auditoriums” and beer halls equipped with screens opened in Berlin, Potsdam and Leipzig. These places allowed exactly 162,228 spectators to follow the competitions free of charge. It was a dream opportunity for the Nazi regime to show off its modernity and temporarily calm international concern. At the same time, film-maker Leni Riefenstahl, a friend of Hitler, began filming her documentary, Olympia, which magnified the bodies of the Olympic athletes and invented a way of filming movement.