Olympic Stadion

Once a upon a time we had churches and castles. Places where people congregated on mass to support a cause, they were places of community and icons of the cities they resided in. Nowadays, we no longer require castles (we have missile defense systems instead) and churches are no longer places for the community but places for people to try and justify their faith. Stadiums have become the Mecca's of our time, they are our last hooray at building community spirit. Stadiums though have a second purpose, they provide us with moments of inspiration and everlasting history.

Over the course of the last few years I have been to some of the most dramatic and communal stadiums in the world. Few though have the symbolism and immense emotion that the Olympic Stadion in West Berlin has. The two iconic towers that preside over the entrance of the stadium automatically take you back 73 years to Nazi Germany and a feat by Jesse Owens that will stand in history as one of the most dramatic sprints of all time.



When you step into the stadium and look across the concrete mass you see where the Olympic flame once shone brightly and it does take you back in time. I love that ability stadiums and sport has, Jesse Owens race time that year was not groundbreaking by todays standards and neither is it surprising for an African-American to be the fastest man in the world. In 1936 though, the thought that Owens could go to Berlin whilst Hitler was building his perfect race and completely dominate the games and push racial equality so far forward in a sporting event is truly remarkable and the Olympic Stadion stills holds those moments strongly within it's stands.

The actual design and architecture of the stadium is nothing that spectacular, the running track like in most stadiums makes it seems unnecessarily big and the mass of grey dispel it of beauty but that doesn't matter and that is why stadiums are so important in the world. They don't have to be, because they create, hold and sustain moments of time that can't be achieved anywhere else in the world. The Olympic Stadion is up there with the Maracana, Birds Nest, Wembley, MCG, Rose Bowl, Nou Camp and many others.