Third Reich 1936 Olympics Olympia Band 1 Cigarette Card Album Berlin

Offered here is an original Third Reich-era 1936 “Olympia” collector album, Band 1, titled “Die Olympischen Spiele 1936 in Berlin und Garmisch-Partenkirchen.” Published by the Cigaretten-Bilderdienst Hamburg-Bahrenfeld, this substantial period volume documents the 1936 Winter Olympic Games at Garmisch-Partenkirchen while also serving as a preview of the Berlin Summer Games. Contemporary bibliographic records confirm that this was part of a two-volume 1936 Olympic work illustrated with collectible cigarette cards depicting athletes, events, personalities, and Olympic subjects.

This is a particularly attractive example because it still retains approximately 50% of its original collectible cards/pasted-in photographs. Throughout the album are impressive period images, photographic plates, illustrations, international Olympic committee insignia, sporting scenes, athletes, ceremonies, architecture, and extensive German-language text documenting one of the most historically significant Olympic Games of the 20th century.

The imagery is exceptional. Among the contents are scenes connected with Adolf Hitler and Third Reich officials attending the Games, German uniformed personnel, the Hitlerjugend escorting the massive Olympic Bell, Olympic medals and decorations incorporating period insignia, 1936 Olympic postage-stamp designs, international teams and national emblems, ice hockey, winter sports, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and preparations surrounding Berlin 1936.

One especially striking page depicts the enormous Olympia-Glocke (Olympic Bell) being transported with uniformed Hitlerjugend members providing an honor escort. Other pages feature period Olympic insignia and awards, including imagery incorporating the German eagle and swastika, making the album an important surviving artifact of the visual culture surrounding the 1936 Games.

The album was specifically designed to receive collectible cigarette cards distributed through the Cigaretten-Bilderdienst system. Surviving institutional descriptions identify the series as containing mounted black-and-white and color cigarette cards covering both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games.

Condition:

Overall Very Good (VG) condition for an original 1936 publication.

The blue cloth hardcover exhibits expected age-related wear, including edge/corner wear, rubbing, scattered marks and general handling wear as clearly shown in the photographs. Despite the exterior wear, the interior is in excellent condition overall, with the pages remaining remarkably attractive for a book approaching 90 years of age.

Most importantly, the large fold-out/pull-out map located at the rear is present and in exceptional, crisp condition—an excellent feature that is especially desirable in a surviving example.

The album contains approximately 50% of the collectible cards. It is not a complete-card example, and this is reflected in the description. Please examine all photographs carefully for the exact contents and condition.

There is also a period/personal handwritten inscription on the front endpaper, including the dates “1941–1948,” adding further provenance and character to this particular copy.

This is a substantial and visually impressive original period book—not a modern reproduction.

Highlights:

• Original 1936 Third Reich-era publication
• Olympia 1936 – Band 1
• Full title: Die Olympischen Spiele 1936 in Berlin und Garmisch-Partenkirchen
• Published by Cigaretten-Bilderdienst Hamburg-Bahrenfeld
• Covers the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics and previews Berlin
• Contains approximately 50% of the original collectible cigarette cards
• Numerous black-and-white and color illustrations
• Adolf Hitler and Third Reich-era Olympic imagery
• Hitlerjugend / Olympic Bell imagery
• Olympic stamps, medals, insignia and national emblems
• Winter sports, ice hockey, athletes and international teams
• Extensive German-language historical text
• Original rear fold-out map present
• Fold-out map remains in exceptionally crisp condition
• Interior in excellent overall condition
• Cover in VG condition with expected period wear
• Handwritten period ownership/gift inscription inside
• Excellent original display and reference piece

The 1936 Olympic Games occupy a unique intersection of international sporting history and Third Reich history, making original contemporary publications such as this highly collectible today. This volume provides a remarkable visual record produced during the period itself rather than a retrospective account.

An excellent addition to any collection focused on 1936 Berlin Olympics memorabilia, Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics, Third Reich history, German cigarette card albums, Olympic ephemera, sports history, German propaganda-era publications, stamps and postal history, or pre-WWII German historical material.

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