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Olympic Games
Würbel, Franz, born 1897 - Enlarge image
Olympic Games
- Object:
Poster
- Place of origin:
Germany (printed)
- Date:
1936 (printed)
- Artist/Maker:
Würbel, Franz, born 1897 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Colour lithograph
- Credit Line:
Reproduced courtesy of the International Olympic Committee
- Museum number:
E.2905-1980
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case 3, shelf G, box DR 33
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.
