History of Europe

Olympic Games 1972:Kiel becomes the sailing capital

August 28, 1972:The Olympic Games are officially opened. Most of the competitions are held in Munich and other Bavarian cities. But the sailing competitions take place in Kiel.

In 1972, Germany is hosting the major sporting event for the second time since 1936. And Kiel is also hosting the sailing competitions of the Olympic Games for the second time. The Schleswig-Holstein state capital has prevailed as a sailing location in competition with Travemünde.

Kiel-Schilksee is getting ready for the Olympic Games

The Schilksee harbor doubles in size for the 1972 Olympic Games and has an Olympic center right on the water.

However, unlike in the 1930s, the Olympic port on the banks of the Hindenburg should not be the scene of the action, but the district of Schilksee in the north, directly on the open Baltic Sea. Within four years, the Olympic Center was built there right on the water, with space for official rooms and accommodation for the athletes. All in all, the entire Schilksee harbor will be doubled in size for the major event. Experts are developing a new infrastructure in Kiel to withstand the expected crowds - this includes a new central bus station, an expanded old market and a completely new waterfront promenade on the Kiellinie.

"Connection to the world":Kiel is connected to the A7

The traffic routes are also being expanded. The state capital also benefits from the major event with a motorway connection to the A7, a new viaduct over the Kiel Canal and a renovated federal highway 503. According to the city, the improvement of the transport network cost around 110 million Deutschmarks, which the federal government carries. The federal government pays half of the approximately 82 million that go into the sports facilities in Schilksee and the surrounding area. The other costs are shared between the state and the city. "A windfall that you can't get back anytime soon," said the then mayor of Kiel, Günther Bantzer (SPD).

His press chief at the time, Werner Istel, later recalled:"We were a kind of cosmopolitan city on the fringes - for a short time." According to Istel, the total expenditure for the event amounted to around 500 million marks. "The city negotiated so happily that in the end they only had to pay five percent of it. And the connection to the Autobahn to Hamburg - that was the connection to the world!"

Who is allowed to light the Olympic flame in Kiel?

In the end, the 16-year-old sailor Philipp Lubinus is allowed to carry the torch on the last stage.

Finally, on August 28, 1972, the time had come:the games were officially opened. The Malente sports boarding school student Uwe Brandenburg is selected in advance by the Schleswig-Holstein State Sports Association to carry the legendary torch and kindle the Olympic flame in the port of Kiel-Schilksee. The track and field athlete has qualified for this honorable task with good reason:he became national champion in twelve disciplines that year - and at the time was the most successful young person in sport.

Klönschnack with Juan Carlos:"An unforgettable experience"

Two weeks before the event, however, Brandenburg received a message:The organizers wanted a sailor who would light the flame and thus open the sailing competitions on the Baltic Sea. The choice for the final runner falls on the 16-year-old sailor Philipp Lubinus. So the young top athlete Brandenburg runs the penultimate stage instead of the last. He is fortunate enough to have a chat with the Spanish team's captain - future King Juan Carlos. "We had a nice chat, took pictures - a huge experience," Brandenburg remembers decades later. He still has the torch he was allowed to carry back then.

Special torches for the windy north

For the perfect moment:the Olympic flag is tested in Kiel months before the opening ceremony.

It is meticulously planned that the Olympic flame can even come to the windy Baltic Sea coast. Athletes have to bring the torch from Olympia to Kiel via Munich. That's a whopping 5,500 kilometers. From Hamburg to Kiel alone, the committee needs around 95 runners. At Pinneberg, Schleswig-Holsteiners take over the fire and carry it one kilometer each. Bönningstedt, Lentföhden, Bad Bramstedt, Bordesholm - always heading north. But there is a problem:the torch keeps threatening to go out. The manufacturer finds a solution and develops torches that can also withstand the Baltic Sea wind.

Kiel enthusiastic about games

On the whole, the big event gives the city an upswing. "Thanks to the Olympic sailing competitions, the somewhat sleepy state metropolis of Kiel became a sports capital," said Uwe Brandenburg, looking back on the development a few years ago. The citizens of Kiel are mostly enthusiastic about the games on their own doorstep. And Mayor Bantzer at the time can also be quoted with a consistently positive conclusion:"It's not just me saying that it was worth it, everyone says that. And I would do it again immediately."

Hamburgers don't want:Olympic Games 2024 in Paris

In 2024 the Olympic Games could have come back to Germany. One of the favorites as a venue was Hamburg - again with Kiel as the port for the sailing competitions. In a referendum in 2015, the residents of Kiel narrowly voted in favor of bringing the Olympic Games to the north - the people of Hamburg, however, rejected it. Paris is now the host for the upcoming games - the sailing athletes will compete against each other in Marseille.