My 1972 Olympics: As a 15-year-old from Munich, she danced at the opening ceremony

Created: 01/08/2022, 09:22 AM

By: Leoni Billina

The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Munich took place on August 26, 1972.

© dpa

In 1972 the Summer Olympics took place in Munich.

The then 15-year-old Gisela Welzenbach, who was allowed to dance at the opening ceremony, was there.

Munich - It was a major event and the whole world was looking at Munich *: the 1972 Summer Olympics. It was 50 years ago.

Gisela Welzenbach, then 15 years old, was there very closely.

She and other boys and girls had been chosen to dance at the opening ceremony on August 26th in the Olympic Stadium.

"I still consider it a great honor to be able to take part," says the 64-year-old from Munich.

As the host, the city planned a dance for schoolchildren, the “Greetings from the Young”.

For this purpose, schools were called upon to rehearse the dance with children from the eighth and ninth grades.

Gisela Welzenbach was one of them.

“Of course, not everyone could take part.

I was lucky, ”she says.

The 1972 Olympic Games in Munich: 3000 young people danced with us

Around 3000 young people were supposed to dance with them - whereby: "Actually, they marched rather than danced, it was a bit bland for us." The music - a piece by Carl Orff - was also not quite to their taste.

"Nevertheless, we trained hard because it was honorable to be able to participate."

The big day was anything but bland: in bright sunshine, the students drove to the stadium in buses, dressed in their costumes: the girls with yellow skirts and T-shirts, the boys all in blue.

"We felt very uncomfortable at the idea of ​​how many people practically all over the world would be watching."

Appearance at the Olympics: Munich woman danced with - "Everything went wonderfully"

When they arrived, a large crowd was already gathered in front of the stadium. "Then we marched into the stadium and took our seats." After the speeches and the invasion of the nations, commentator Blacky Fuchsberger announced: "Munich boys and girls offer the young people's greetings." Then it started. Gisela Welzenbach remembers exactly: "The excitement died down when we started, and everything went wonderfully."

After the performance, the Munich girls and boys watched the rest of the opening.

"It was especially festive when the torchbearer Günter Zahn, a German long-distance runner, came into the stadium and ran up the stairs near me and lit the Olympic flame." A historic event and a perfect start.

"I can still well remember that the atmosphere that lay over the city during the early days of the Games was characterized by joie de vivre, happiness and the lightness of being."

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Terrorist attack at the Olympic Games: "There were indescribable feelings of horror"

A wonderful time - "until the dark shadow of the terrorist attack * hit us with full force." On September 5, eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September broke into the quarters of the Israeli team in the Olympic Village.

This is followed by a hostage-taking, in the end five of the eight terrorists, one official and eleven Israelis lose their lives.

"It was indescribable feelings of horror that overwhelmed us," remembers Gisela Welzenbach.

"The Olympic Games in Munich, which would go down in history as the Merry Games, were now forever linked to this terrible terrorist attack."

Despite these bad memories, she is looking forward to the anniversary year of the Olympic Games * in Munich and that the city is honoring the event.

“When you have been so close, you are particularly touched.”