Adolf Hitler saw this as an opportunity to showcase his far-right


It was the athletes' village for the infamous Nazi 1936 Olympics Games but it now lies decaying in a state of disrepair.

In 1931, two years before the Nazi Party came to power, Germany won the right to host the games.

Adolf Hitler saw this as an opportunity to showcase his far-right totalitarian ideology he wanted to impose on the world.

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Decaying: During the war, Nazi solders used the Olympic complex as a hospital. As the German military were overwhelmed in the final few weeks of the war, Russian troops used the venue as a barracks in 1945

Legend: The athletes' village for the infamous 1936 Olympics Games is now little known and in a state of disrepair

Sporting vision: German officials look over the plans for the Olympic village for the 1936 Games which were the first to be televised

State of disrepair: Around 4,000 athletes had the use of the luxury accommodation in the complex named 'village of peace'

Crumbling: The German chancellor wanted to ban black and Jewish athletes from competing in the first televised Olympics

Poor condition: Other nations threatened to boycott the games if the Third Reich had its wish and banned all black and Jewish athletes

But the brilliant American Jesse Owens, one of athletics all-time greats, won four gold medals in track and field much to the disappointment of Hitler and his supporters.

The German chancellor wanted to ban black and Jewish athletes from competing in the first televised Olympics but failed when nations threatened to boycott the games.

Although the 100,000 seater stadium built for the games is still used today as one of the finest sports venues in Europe, much of the lesser-known Olympic Village is falling apart.

On the outskirts of Berlin, the Olympic Village in Wustermark features training areas, a swimming pool and dormitories which are far from their peak condition of 80 years ago.

Unused: Although the 100,000 seater stadium built for the games is still used today as one of the finest sports venues in Europe, much of the lesser-known Olympic Village (pictured) is falling apart

Falling away: On the outskirts of Berlin, the Olympic Village in Wustermark features training areas, a swimming pool and dormitories which are far from their peak condition of 80 years ago

Capacity: The stadium built for the games is still used today in Berlin by Hertha BSC and some matches for the German national team

All-time great: The American Jesse Owens won four gold medals in track and field much to the disappointment of Hitler and his supporters

Athletes: The village was meant to portray a peaceful, idyllic picture of a modern Germany but only three years later the Third Reich would be at war with Britain, France and much of Europe

Crowds: During the war, Nazi solders used the Olympic complex as a hospital. As the German military were overwhelmed in the final few weeks of the war, Russian troops used the venue as a barracks in 1945 (pictured is the Olympic Stadium)

Olympic vision: The 1936 Olympics were the first to be televised and were beamed around the world in black and white

On film: The record books tell how in three weeks the participants consumed 100 cows, 91 pigs, over 650 lambs, 8,000lb of coffee, 150,000lb of vegetables and 160,000 pints of milk

German sporting victory: Adolf Hitler was delighted as his German ‘supermen’ won the Games with a medal count of nearly 90

Berlin in 1936: Among the new tenants of the Olympic Village were the torturers of SMERSH and the KGB, interrogators who turned the subterranean rooms housing the swimming pool’s heating system into a theatre of pain and death

Then and now: The swimming pool then in 1936 (right) and today in 2016 (left) has now deteriorated at the rate of other venues

From the past: Since the fall of communism, the Olympic Village has been largely undisturbed, any hopes of restoring it scuppered by its Nazi history

Needing work: The village has even hosted sporting competitions and is accessible through tours and visits including to Jesse Owen's reconstructed dormitory

Around 4,000 athletes had use of the luxury accommodation in the complex named 'village of peace'.

It was meant to portray a peaceful, idyllic picture of a modern Germany but only three years later the Third Reich would be at war with Britain, France and much of Europe.

During the war, Nazi solders used the Olympic complex as a hospital. As the German military were overwhelmed in the final few weeks of the war, Russian troops used the venue as a barracks in 1945.

It was kept under Russian control as a site for KGB interrogations until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

In the 1990s the complex was left to crumble and fall into the long forgotten past.

But restorations efforts are now underway to build a museum and construct apartments and homes to meet the needs of Berlin's rising population.