The city of Berlin is currently discussing possible bids to host the Olympic Games in either 2036, 2040, or 2044, as well as a bid to stage the World Expo in 2035. An Expo candidacy has not yet been endorsed by the Berlin Senate, but advocates, such as the non-profit initiative Global Goals Berlin, continue to drive the initiative. Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Freie Universität professor at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, has researched mega events like the Olympic Games and World Expo in her work as a historian.

Professor Gienow-Hecht, your research covers nation branding, i.e., the image cultivation of countries. This also involves mega events like the Olympic Games and the Expo world’s fair, which you recently attended in Japan. What is your take on the Berlin plans?

It’s quite odd to hear that the city of Berlin is considering staging not just one mega event, but three in a row! If the plans materialize, we’d have the Expo in 2035, the Olympic Games in 2036, and the 800th birthday of the city of Berlin in 2037. The third event will come whether we like it or not; but if the other two see the light of day as well, there would be a lot going on in a city that isn’t exactly known for running major events without hitches.

I’m referring here to the 2021 parliamentary elections. That year, the Berlin Marathon and the elections were so poorly organized that the elections had to be repeated, costing taxpayers dozens of millions of euros. The city can, of course, learn from that and be better prepared in future.

We’ll come to the Expo bid in a moment, but let’s talk about the Olympics first. A number of people – including Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier – have raised concerns about the Games being held in Berlin again exactly 100 years after the Nazi Games. The 1936 Olympic Games shaped by mass parades, Nazi orchestration, and the imagery of Leni Riefenstahl would be at the back of everyone’s minds even 100 years later.

I do understand their concerns, but I would say that this may be precisely why these plans should go ahead. After all, Berlin as a city destination is now defined by the way it addresses its own past. We are even witnessing a kind of “dark tourism.”: Berlin is a city constantly examining its own past, visible for all wherever you look – from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe to the Brandenburg Gate, through the victory column to the Berlin Wall Memorial.

Berlin could also adopt a position based on this relationship to its history. It could look at the changes over the past 100 years and highlight how a liberal-democratic state can evolve following a dictatorship.

Could a parade really be held in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium without connotations of the Nazi games constantly coming to light? Then again, soccer World Cup matches were played there in 1974 and 2026, as were 2024 European Championship ties.

I don’t think 1936 registers with many people from younger generations, especially if they are not from Germany – unless you tell them about it. And that would also be the mission: historical memory would have to be part of it.

What topics are covered in this interview about mega events in Berlin?
Historian Jessica Gienow-Hecht explains how cities and countries use major events to cultivate their image. For example, staged for the first time in 1851, the world’s fair has evolved over time from a fair for industrial innovations and inventions to a meeting place for political ideologies and ideas. 

Why is that important?
Berlin is bidding to host the Olympic Games. Berlin’s bid for Expo 2035 is also finding support from Global Goals Berlin, among others. University President Professor Günter M. Ziegler is backing it because he is convinced that the universities have a role to play in this area, too: their research expertise makes them a powerful motor for the city. 

 

One important related point: I think the Olympic Games in France last summer and in Italy in the winter very clearly demonstrated how the event can be envisioned in a decentralized format. This means there wouldn’t be any parades in the Olympic Stadium at all. The stadium would host sports events, as it always does, while the opening ceremony would have a completely different concept and be staged in other locations.

Let’s talk about the Expo bid, which has garnered support beyond Berlin’s business associations. The world’s fair evolved from the “Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations” that was first held in London in 1851. You attended Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. What kind of event is it today?

As a historian, I would say the World Expo has changed immensely over time. London’s Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 bears little resemblance to what the Expo became 100 years later.

Before the First World War, Expo was essentially a trade fair for industrial innovations and inventions, organized by the exhibiting industrial enterprises, graciously accompanied by governments, who saw an opportunity to present themselves in a positive light.

As early as the interwar period, political ideology began to play an increasingly prominent role. The 1937 Expo in Paris is famous for the rivalry between National Socialists and Soviets, who faced off against each other with monumental buildings and statues.

And during the Cold War?

Back then, the Expo became another venue for the East-West conflict. The Soviet Union and the USA put themselves on display with their space research achievements and large-scale public works projects. They used the Expo stage to celebrate technological advances and present their versions of an imagined future – one capitalist, the other socialist. From 1970, contributions to global progress and the future of all humankind became increasingly popular. In fact, it stayed that way until the fall of the Berlin Wall with the Expo serving as a symbolic soft power arena of ideologies.

Since 1990, we have seen an odd mixture of technological and industrial innovation exhibits juxtaposed with displays of ideological rivalry. That was plain to see in Osaka last year – a battle of ideologies, but different to the Cold War: on one side, you have liberal democracies and, on the other, authoritarian states. In Osaka, the pavilions belonging to Arab states, like the United Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia were tremendously successful. They invested incredible amounts of money and labor into efforts to cultivate their image while completely bracketing out politics.

What kind of statement were they making if not a political one?

Well, the Saudi Arabian pavilion in Osaka presented a form of nation branding mainly focusing on modern music while addressing the role of women very effectively through sustainability, innovation, and art. The theme of the Chinese pavilion was climate protection and “Green China.” And all of this was of course taking place in a highly efficient Asian country where everything runs like clockwork because – presumably a subtext – no one gets tied up in drawn-out and tricky democratic processes.

By contrast, many of the liberal democratic countries, the Scandinavians, Germany too, chose the topic of participation for their presentations in Osaka: how can we develop a diverse, sustainable vision of the future that is stabilized through democracy and benefits us all?

Several proposals going around for Berlin’s Expo bid have even included Brandenburg. How will that work?

Berlin and Brandenburg would have to tell the Federal Government that they will work on the Expo organization together. One proposal envisages a site being set up near BER airport that would ideally be conceived as a kind of urban extension.

But isn’t tourism a key factor?

Actually no. Of course, a considerable number of visitors will come from abroad for the Olympic Games, but World Expos are normally attended by locals – visitors from neighboring countries are very likely come to Berlin though, too.

The Expo is essentially an educational attraction – that became very clear to me again last year in Osaka. Or rather, it is two things: an opportunity to cultivate an international image and, at the same time, a chance for your own citizens to see something that may never come round again in their lifetime.

Would you agree that the overall impression is that the local population, especially in Berlin, tends to oppose such mega events?

These are major projects for which the city, the state, and the citizens have to accept considerable compromises. The city gets louder, fuller, and more expensive. It leads to other projects being sidelined because resources are limited after all.

For example, at Expo 2025 in Osaka, the grounds were encircled by the “Grand Ring,” an enormous wooden structure that allowed you to promenade around the whole area. It was wonderful. Nevertheless, the construction of this walkable sculpture placed quite a strain on the Japanese lumber industry. Foreign exhibitors complained that they had to bring their own wood along to construct their pavilions.

Another important question for host cities is what is left after such mega events.

Yes, this has been a key factor since the 1990s. Just think about the Space Needle in Seattle that became a permanent landmark in the city. Or, the Parque das Nações in Lisbon where the Expo site has been developed into an important and attractive residential area.

Shanghai was one example showing the opposite: for a long time, the site remained an enormous abandoned space that was mainly used by driving instructors; it is now turning into an attractive park. For Berlin, the idea of a new town could be an option – sustainable, stylish, and offering urban homes at affordable prices, something a lot of people in this city are sure to welcome.

What role would universities play?

In my view, the Berlin universities would be well-advised to get involved in an Expo bid early on. It’s a great opportunity for research institutions to maximize their visibility, as could be seen in Osaka: universities shared pavilions with companies or the government to demonstrate how people might live in the future.

And who else, if not the universities, should have a say in the contest to deliver on the promise of a better future for humanity? Berlin is in an excellent position in this respect. I doubt any other single city in Germany can boast so much talent in the fields of research and education.

Pepe Egger conducted the interview.

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The original German version of this article appeared in the Tagesspiegel newspaper supplement published by Freie Universität Berlin.