Munich has been selected as Germany’s candidate city to host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044. The Bavarian capital defeated the Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr region in a vote, as Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced on Saturday in Baden-Baden. Munich can now prepare for the international bidding process for the 2036 Games. The process will begin next March, with a decision expected in 2029.
Munich Mayor Dominik Krause (Greens) said, “The joy is now boundless.” He said he wanted to ride the Olympia Looping roller coaster at Oktoberfest with Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder (CSU) to celebrate the success. Söder said that such a bid was something historic. “Our state wants to make the Games possible for the whole of Germany – for the north, for the south, for the east and for the west,” he said.
The decision was made by a vote involving 141 eligible voters. They included representatives of the 42 top-level Olympic sports federations united under the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). The voters also included members of the DOSB executive board, Germany’s two representatives on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and former German Olympians.
Four candidates originally applied to host the Games. Hamburg withdrew after a negative public referendum. Berlin pulled out shortly before the decision, with the Senate blaming the Left Party’s election victory for the move. The contest between Munich and the Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr region had been considered completely open ahead of the vote.
A commission assessed both bids as very good, with Munich holding slight advantages. One of the main differences between the two bids was their approach to hosting the Games. Munich was able to promote a concept based on short distances within one city, while the North Rhine-Westphalia region focused on providing 17.6 million tickets and therefore offering the largest spectator numbers in Olympic Games history.
The International Olympic Committee will decide in 2029 where the 2036 Games will be held. The next step will begin in March next year, when the candidates enter what is known as a strategic dialogue phase with the IOC. During this phase, the applicants are expected to work towards aligning their bids as closely as possible with the IOC’s objectives.
At the end of 2028, the final selection phase, known as the targeted dialogue, will begin. This phase will involve one or more candidates. The decision on the host city is expected to be made in summer 2029 at the end of this dialogue.
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