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Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C , Case MB3G, Shelf DR, Box 33

Olympic Games

Poster
1936 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A poster advertising the Olympic Games held in Berlin in August 1936. It was published by the German Railways Head Office for Tourist Traffic and the Propaganda Committee for the Olympic Games. The increasing international rivalry that developed in the Olympics after their re-establishment in 1894 was reflected in their posters. The German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, saw the Berlin Olympic Games as a major opportunity for publicity for his Nazi regime and its racist ideology, and high-profile posters were commissioned from Franz Würbel and Ludwig Hohlwein. Classical realism was Hitler's chosen style, and this design incorporates sculpture from Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and a heroic head crowned with laurels.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleOlympic Games (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Brief description
Poster by Franz Würbel advertising the Olympic Games in Berlin, 1936.
Physical description
Poster
Dimensions
  • Height: 1016mm
  • Width: 637mm
Object history
This poster was given to the Museum as part of an exchange between the Library of Congress poster collection in Washington D.C. and the V&A
Subject depicted
Place depicted
Summary
A poster advertising the Olympic Games held in Berlin in August 1936. It was published by the German Railways Head Office for Tourist Traffic and the Propaganda Committee for the Olympic Games. The increasing international rivalry that developed in the Olympics after their re-establishment in 1894 was reflected in their posters. The German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, saw the Berlin Olympic Games as a major opportunity for publicity for his Nazi regime and its racist ideology, and high-profile posters were commissioned from Franz Würbel and Ludwig Hohlwein. Classical realism was Hitler's chosen style, and this design incorporates sculpture from Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and a heroic head crowned with laurels.
Collection
Accession number
E.2905-1980

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Record createdMarch 4, 2003
Record URL
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