A German Olympics won't work without Berlin, says city mayor

Berlin must be the venue for a German Olympics because of its status and the economic benefit it will bring to eastern Germany, city mayor Kai Wegner said on Friday.

Berlin is going against Hamburg, Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr region to be Germany's bidder for either the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Summer Games. A Berlin Olympics in 2036 would be 100 years after the Nazi-organized Games in the city and backers say it would show how far the capital has come since.

Wegner also sees other reasons for Berlin to get the nod.

"To bring the Games to Germany, there will be no getting around Berlin," he told a news conference updating on the bid.

"This will be a true investment boost for our city. This will be an investment boost for eastern Germany - into infrastructure, into public transport and into housing construction."

The former East Germany still underperforms the West economically despite the two sides reunifying in 1990.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) wants to make a choice between the four bidders in the third quarter of 2026, as well as deciding which Games to target. Los Angeles hosts 2028 and Brisbane 2032.

A recent Civey opinion poll said 67% of Berliners are against an Olympic bid.

Munich voted in favour of the Games in a plebiscite at the end of October with a clear majority of 66.4%. In Hamburg, a referendum is planned for May and North Rhine-Westphalia will hold one in April in the Rhine-Ruhr municipalities which would host.

However, there will be no referendum in Berlin.

The last German Olympics were in Munich in 1972.