By Will Firth
BERLIN — This city is one of seven in the running to host the 27th Olympic Games. In the last several years Berlin's Senat (local government) and a number of corporations have made major investments in support of the city's bid.
Major efforts in promoting Berlin as a venue began in 1987 with the setting up of a commercial body to "market" the idea. After 1989, its activities ran under the motto "Berlin Thanks the World", reflecting the main thrust of the propaganda effort — to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the East bloc, and the "victory of freedom".
The games are envisaged as legitimation of a "new" Germany — similarly to the Berlin Olympics in 1936, which were a pillar of the Hitler regime's propaganda offensive. The old 1936 stadium is again to be a central venue if Berlin wins the Olympics in 2000.
Restructuring the city
Soon after German unification in October 1990, the Olympic bid was used as justification for a series of megalomaniac projects to restructure East Berlin in the interest of the rich. Urban planning and development are in the hands of local government bureaucrats oriented to the interests of real estate moguls. They frequently circumvent democratic planning provisions.
Partly because of a lack of urban infrastructure, a lot of construction work is under way. This is especially true of the east side of the city, which here is dubbed "the world's largest building site".
Among the developments since 1990 are: the luxurious modernisation of inner-city suburbs; a restructuring of Berlin to be a service-industry city; economically weaker sections of the population being forced to the outer suburbs; a rent explosion; sport and recreation
increasingly being turned into profitable mass-spectator events.
Preparations for the Olympics involve the construction of several massive stadiums. Two are to be situated on the strip of land which was the Berlin Wall, thus frustrating chances that the areas be zoned as much needed recreational land. The date set for building to start was July 1, even though the Olympics decision is not due until September 23.
The Senat rushed things through even quicker in order to circumvent resident-and-citizen consultation: it ruled that these were "special, urgent projects" not subject to the consultation process required of "normal" projects. Construction work on one of the stadiums started on June 16, two weeks prior to schedule!
A large percentage of Berlin's 4.5 million residents are tenants in medium- and high-density apartment buildings. In a rare moment of frankness, one member of the Berlin Olympic Committee admitted that "renters will be driven out, and rent increases are in store".
Whole tracts of inner East Berlin need "doing up", they say. These announcements came after rents in East Berlin had already risen by an average of 57% in the first six months of 1993. Although the large public housing authority has jacked up rents to cover the enormous costs of repairing the dilapidated housing stock, the real estate speculation brought by the Olympic bid has driven land value increases to an extreme.
Berlin's inner ring-road was cut at numerous points by the construction of the Berlin Wall 1961. Reopened in 1990, it is unable to cope with the onslaught of motor traffic. Rather than upgrading public transport on the ring, the Senat has plans to turn the whole ring-road into a multi-lane highway.
This would lead to a major restructuring of some residential areas and to a massive increase in noise and air pollution. Inner-city smog readings are already well over "permissible" limits, especially in winter months. In May 1992 Berliners linked hands around the ring-road in an impressive
symbolic action to protest against the wasteful and short-sighted plans.
Broad opposition
There is broad opposition to the Olympics being held in Berlin, though the mainstream left (e.g. most of the social democratic SPD) have been taken in by promises about new jobs, housing etc. They believe the Olympic Committee's wishful thinking that the games will be a "catalyst for the development of the city".
Among the active opponents of the Olympics are the parties Bündnis-90/Alternative List (radical green left), PDS (the reformed East German Communist Party), the youth, counter-culture and anarchist movements, broad sections of the environmentalist movement and many non-aligned citizens.
Among the numerous protests in recent months were a street blockade by 70 taxi drivers outside the Town Hall, a 15,000-strong street demonstration during the International Olympic Committee's visit to Berlin and a "visit" by 500 cyclists to the five-star hotel where the IOC delegation was staying: 40 participants were arrested and a lot of bikes were demolished in the process.
Two department stores which are major sponsors of the games were fire-bombed, and windows of the many branches of the Deutsche Bank, the Berlin Olympic Committee's largest sponsor, were systematically smashed earlier this year. Three young men alleged to have been involved in the window-smashing were detained for several weeks pending trial, despite public outrage. Even if they are ultimately proven "guilty", it's ironic that these three men were detained for an act of vandalism, whereas assault and murder of foreigners in Germany today are rarely treated with the same rigour.
The publicity campaign in the lead-up to the IOC decision in September entered an aggressive final phase in February 1992, when Axel Nawrocki took over as head of the Berlin Olympic Committee. With a massive budget of 45 million deutschmarks (about $35 million) it has been bombarding the city from all accessible media cannons.
It has also been up to some rather shady work: in late 1992 the TV station "Monitor" revealed that it had compiled a secret dossier on the private lives of the 94 IOC members in preparation for attempts to influence their decision. Nawrocki went on air saying he was shocked and that disciplinary action would be taken, but the plan was no novelty — in fact, it was initiated by the committee's previous head.
Various surveys all showing opposition to the games, ranging from 40% to 60%. According to the survey conducted by the Berlin Olympic Committee itself, 53% of Berliners are in favour of the games being held. This was quite a disappointing result for the pro-Olympics lobby after having saturated the public with pro-Olympics propaganda for several months.
Not here, not anywhere
Some of the opponents of the games in Berlin have been sporting "Sydney 2000" and "Beijing 2000" T-shirts and thinking themselves very smart. They are confronted by other opponents who would prefer the Olympic Games to disappear from the face of the earth, not just from Berlin!
There are several arguments for this stance. First, mainstream competitive sport is used to reinforce the "rules of the game" in this competitive and exploitative capitalist society. Secondly, TV transmission of the games to virtually every corner of the globe encourages people's passivity much more than it inspires them to grab a ball and be active themselves — Coke and Olympics are today's "bread and circuses".
The games are primarily about big bucks. They involve massive investments in sports facilities, infrastructure, advertising and sponsorship. An elite of athletes is covered in brand names and dazzled in the media spotlight while their less fortunate competitors ruin their health with steroids and train themselves half to death.
The games would be a massive drain on Berlin's finances, already curbed by the recession. Although the Olympic Committee calculates a slim profit, it is likely that the costs will soar. What public building isn't dearer than the initial estimates?! The costs
for the Olympic facilities in Munich (1972) almost tripled over their original estimates!
If the games are held in Berlin, progressive organisations will be organising a boycott. Berlin's radical opponents of the Olympics use the term Volkssport ("sport for the people") to refer to their alternative: an open-air rock festival and some big unruly demonstrations to "make things hot for the games". But with any luck the city's bid will fail — earlier this year London bookmakers put Berlin's chances at 14:1.
[Will Firth is an Australian anarchist living and working in Berlin.]