Birth of modern infrastructure - How Olympia changed the city of Munich

Created: 01/18/2022, 05:45

By Phillip Plesch

Marienplatz, a huge excavation pit: everything at the foot of the town hall was torn open for the construction of the underground and S-Bahn in the 1960s.

© Heinz Gebhardt

No event shaped Munich more after the Second World War than the 1972 Olympic Games. In a new series to mark the 50th anniversary, we are remembering that time.

Munich – In April 1966 the decision was made: The 1972 Summer Olympics will take place in Munich.

But there was no lingering in the state capital with exuberant joy and long celebrations.

Instead, the authorities around Mayor Hans-Jochen Vogel (SPD) switched on the turbo.

A completely new infrastructure was built - in record time.

In 1971 the subway was put into operation, in 1972 the S-Bahn as a connection between the city and the surrounding area.

The pedestrian zone has also existed since 1972, new residential areas such as the Olympisches Dorf and Neuperlach emerged.

Plus the Olympic Park.

As a landmark and as a meeting place and event location, it still enlivens the city today.

Olympia acts as a catalyst for Munich

Jürgen Schmude (66), LMU professor for economic geography and tourism research, qualifies: "The myth that the games in 1972 gave Munich U-Bahn and S-Bahn is wrong. The resolutions for this are older, they existed before the contract was awarded.” What is undisputed, however, is that construction took place much faster as a result.

Not an easy time for Munich.

The city became a huge construction pit.

There was construction and noise everywhere, plus wasted money, corruption and deaths from accidents.

"Today, the population would no longer accept that," says Alain Thierstein (64), TUM Professor of Urban Development since 2005, with certainty.

The airport at Oberwiesenfeld was shut down to make room for the stadiums.

Because apart from a lot of space, there was almost nothing in Munich.

But first around a hundred bombs had to be defused.

Alain Thierstein, TUM Professor for Urban Development.

©TUM

When the construction period was over, completely new possibilities opened up for the people of Munich.

"The subway construction was of course great," reports Elvira Tögel-Erceg (78), who moved to the Olympic Village after the 1972 games and has lived there ever since.

From then on, she took the subway to get to work.

"It was much quicker," she says.

She could drive as far as Goetheplatz.

From there we continued on foot in the direction of the main train station.

Fortunately, when the company later moved south, the subway network had already been expanded.

Enthusiastic about the subway: Elvira Tögel-Erceg © ACHIM FRANK SCHMIDT

An S-Bahn stop was built at the Olympic Stadium especially for the games.

After the Olympics, however, the line was only occasionally used for soccer games before it was shut down in 1988 and the station was closed.

It is a listed building and nature has now reclaimed the area.

Highly frequented at the time, now closed: The S-Bahn station at the Olympic Stadium.

© Heinz Gebhardt

Back to the 1960s: Hans-Jochen Vogel had the right nose and drew the decisive conclusions from it.

"Back then there was strong population growth, and it was also the heyday of the automobile," explains Alain Thierstein.

There are even said to have been plans for freeways throughout the city.

Luckily, the decision-makers took a different route back then – a “quantum leap” for Munich traffic.

Costs significantly higher than planned

That is exactly what the Olympic Games are about, Thierstein believes.

As a result of this major challenge, the infrastructure has made a leap forward that would otherwise not have taken place.

Even if the costs were tough: 1.35 billion euros were invested in Munich alone.

Significantly more than originally estimated.

But the investment should be worth it.

Tourism got new impetus.

"In the first few decades, Munich benefited a lot from the games," says Thierstein, "but in the past 10, 15 years we have not prepared enough for the next 50 years." So there are new tasks for the future direction the city to.

But that should be a topic in a later part of the series.