Berlin Aims To Cooperate With Hamburg For Possible 2040 Olympics Bid

BERLIN, Aug 15 (Bernama-dpa) -- Berlin's Senator of the Interior Iris Spanger is aiming to cooperate with the city of Hamburg for a possible German bid to host the Olympic Games.

"A good 50 years after the reunification, it would be an outstanding sign of growing together if the Games were to take place in the two largest cities in the West - Hamburg - and in the East - Berlin," Spranger told the German news agency (dpa).

She also didn't rule out a cooperation with other cities. Germany is planning to bid for the 2040 Summer Olympics.

According to dpa information, there have already been talks between the two cities. For Spranger, the collaboration with Hamburg would create an emotional and diverse image of Germany.

"That would be quite something. the mix of big-city coolness and maritime flair in Hamburg, and Berlin as the international metropolis, the sports metropolis, and the greenest metropolis in Germany," she said.

Spranger added that the Euro 2024 showed that "Berlin can organise major international events. The sporting metropolis of Berlin has the necessary infrastructure, logistical know-how, experience, and expertise to organise global sporting events of the highest standard."

The German federal government has officially paved the way for a German Olympic bid.

German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser signed the basic agreement with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and the federal states and cities interested in a bid at the Summer Games in Paris at the beginning of August.

Germany hosted the Olympics 1936 in Berlin during the Nazi era and 1972 in Munich, plus the 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Several subsequent bids have failed, with Munich’s bid for the 2022 snow and ice Games and Hamburg for 2024 were halted by referendums.

-- BERNAMA-dpa