The rollercoaster test of courage for Markus Söder at the Oktoberfest is yet to be followed by the biggest challenge for Munich's newly crowned Olympic contenders. After winning the national election duel against Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr, Bavaria's state capital must prove on the world stage that the German dream of hosting the Summer Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044 can really come true again. “I believe that Germany is in a better position, that we have more chances than the last few times,” said Bavaria’s Prime Minister Söder, referring to the last seven failed bids for the Olympics and Paralympics.
The CSU boss can no longer avoid the promised trip in the Olympic loop at the Oktoberfest after the Munich team won against their North Rhine-Westphalia rivals with 91:50 votes, more clearly than expected in the vote of the German Olympic Sports Confederation in Baden-Baden. Munich's mayor insists on the bet, but Dominik Krause is not only putting pressure on this issue. The Green politician is demanding immediate financial commitments from the federal government and speed in the necessary construction work for the ten billion project for the Isar metropolis.
Merz: “The Olympics belong in Germany”
After 1972, when the Olympics were hosted in Germany for the last time, Munich should be ready to play host again as quickly as possible. "We cannot wait with the infrastructure costs until the IOC's decision has been made. We have to get going now," warned Krause. With the exception of football games in Stuttgart and the sailing competitions in Kiel, all competitions will take place in Bavaria.
Positive signals immediately came from the Chancellery. "The Olympics belong to Germany. Munich is our candidate for the application, the whole of Germany is behind it," said Friedrich Merz (CDU). Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) even gave via Instagram “an Olympic guarantee: We want and we can afford the Olympic Games in Germany.”
The new Minister of State for Sports Ronald Rauhe promised: “The Chancellor is aware that he has to take action now.” Munich's plans should be urgently submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In March 2027, Germany's Olympic organizers want to be there when the promising candidates are pre-selected and move up to the so-called “Strategic Dialogue” with the IOC. The 2029 Olympics and 2036 Paralympics will be awarded, and possibly also the 2040 ones.
What Munich still has to do
There is “a lot of attention in the IOC, a lot of curiosity about the German application,” assured the German IOC member Michael Mronz; he is considered the next DOSB president. With short distances, Bavaria's economic power, tradition and major event experience, Munich also wants to outdo the international competition.
There is still a lot of homework to be done. The people of Munich have to raise a lot of money, renovate competition venues such as the listed Olympic Stadium and solve a tricky land issue for the Olympic Village. “We are under special observation, and that is why Germany will manage it,” said Söder, who had already declared on the television stage: “If the third largest economy in the world were to fail because of money in the end, that would be embarrassing.”
At the end, the CSU boss and the Bavarian Olympic planners had to worry once again. Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr seemed to be able to catch up on the home stretch. In the DOSB auditors' evaluation published shortly before, Munich's concept was only slightly ahead. “I thought about it in my head, what do I say if we lose,” Söder confessed. His colleague Krause assured: “The joy is endless now, we were really worried.”
Mishap at the election show
The tension was only relieved when DOSB President Thomas Weikert awkwardly held the opened winner's envelope when handing it over to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in such a way that the winner's name could be read before the announcement.
In the end, the vast majority of DOSB delegates felt that the risk with Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr was too big. The traffic problems in congested North Rhine-Westphalia and the lack of international appeal in locations such as Wuppertal, Recklinghausen and Herten probably weighed too heavily on the vote. “In the end, nuances decide,” said North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst.
Söder: “We think German”
Even at the moment of defeat, the CDU politician assured: "Sport has won. We want to make our contribution to bringing the Olympic Games to Germany, to give our children the gift of experiencing the Olympics in their own country."
Similar sounds came from Hamburg and Berlin. The Hanseatic city had already dropped out of the race at the end of May after losing a referendum. Berlin withdrew from the DOSB vote for two days in great frustration because the Olympic supporters in the Senate had been voted out in the House of Representatives election.
In return, the Munich campaign promised to incorporate good ideas from German competitors into its own concept. "It's something historic and we want to give everything so that in the end we can present ourselves as one country together as Germany, as a partner for the North, for the South, for the East and the West. We think German," said Söder. However, he and the DOSB leadership ruled out integrating other locations, for example in East Germany; the distances should remain short.
