History
Work on the stadium, the Deutsches Stadion ("German Stadium"), began in 1912 at what was the Grunewald Race Course. It was planned to seat over 18,000 spectators. On 8 June 1913 the stadium was dedicated with the release of 10,000 pigeons. 60,000 people were in attendance.
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, organization continued as no one expected that the war would continue for several years. Eventually, though, the Games were cancelled.
A winter sports week with speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey and nordic skiing was planned; the concept of this week eventually gave rise to the Winter Olympic Games. The central venue was to have been the Deutsches Stadion. Berlin returned to Olympic bidding in 1931, when it beat Barcelona, Spain for the right to host the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Read more about this topic: 1916 Summer Olympics
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“All history and art are against us, but we still expect happiness in love.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Gossip is charming! History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)