Relic of Hitler’s 1936 Olympic Illusion

Hammer Tauberperle 1936

During the 29th IOC Session held on 26 May 1931 in Barcelona, the German capital of Berlin was selected to host the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. What had initially been presented as a peaceful and apolitical celebration of sport soon evolved into a grand propaganda spectacle, carefully orchestrated by Adolf Hitler to promote the totalitarian ideology of National Socialism.

The Hammer Tauberperle racquet, marked with the Reichsadler and Olympic rings and featuring a swastika on a part of the frame deliberately excluded from our presentation, is a relic of that era. It serves as a reminder of how sport, once intended to unite people across nations and cultures, could be appropriated for political purposes and used in the service of a regime determined to shape international perceptions through spectacle and symbolism.

Racquet Handle

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Source:

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