Hitler’s 1936 Olympic site reborn as homes on Berlin’s edge

“When I was growing up here as a boy it was all farms and fields,” said Wustermark’s Mayor Holger Schreiber, a former logistics businessman

Once home to track stars and Soviet soldiers, buildings constructed for the 1936 Olympics on the outskirts of Berlin are getting a third lease on life as housing for average citizens.
A developer intends to turn the Olympic Village built under Adolf Hitler and used by the Soviet Union as barracks after the Nazi defeat in 1945 – and where American sprinter Jesse Owens lived while winning four gold medals – into townhouses and apartments.
The plan to restore the crumbling complex, located in Wustermark about 11 kilometers outside Berlin city limits, is part of a building boom around the German capital as residents flee soaring prices in the center. The influx is bringing new life to eastern German villages, many of which have struggled with slumping populations in the 25 years since reunification.
“Lots of Berlin families are moving here,” said Holger Schreiber, 53, a former businessman who’s now Wustermark’s mayor. “When I was growing up here as a boy it was all farms and fields.”
Berlin’s housing costs have climbed the fastest of any large German city over the past five years, with prices rising 38 percent and rents increasing 30 percent. The gains stem from a tight housing market, as 45,000 new residents have flocked to the city of 3.6 million annually since 2011. The brisk pace has surprised developers, who are now racing to meet the demand.
The soaring prices are prompting families to move further afield to towns in the state of Brandenburg, which was cut off from West Berlin during the Cold War. Brandenburg communities adjacent to the capital have added 20,000 residents in the past five years, enticed by cheaper real estate, the area’s forests and lakes and commuter lines built in the 25 years since the Wall’s collapse.
In Wustermark, located on the autobahn that rings Berlin, 400 people moved to the town in 2014 alone, lifting the population to 8,400. Among arrivals this year are Helena von Hutten and her husband, who works in Berlin as an auctioneer. Last month, they signed a contract to buy a two-story 1920s house with a brick barn. The train ride to Berlin’s center takes them 32 minutes.
“Normal earners like us have to look outside of Berlin where it’s cheaper,” said von Hutten, a 29-year-old stay-at- home mother with three children.
Wustermark issued 176 building permits last year, contributing to a 20 percent surge in permits in Brandenburg, according to government data. New projects in the area range from large blocks of affordable apartments to luxury villas.
Deutsche Wohnen AG, Berlin’s biggest landlord, is spending 17 million euros (USD18 million) to renovate 130 apartments in historic buildings in Wustermark constructed in the 1930s for German railway workers.
“Berlin is booming and the positive economic development is spreading to the surrounding regions,” said Stefan Degen, Deutsche Wohnen’s head of construction and facilities.
Wustermark’s expansion contrasts with population declines and economic weakness beyond the commuter rail lines.
“Brandenburg is a divided state,” said Daniel Foerste, a sociologist at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning near Berlin. “In some areas, schools are forced to close, doctors are lacking and the communities are having trouble maintaining basic services.”
Wustermark’s growth presents challenges. Retaining the rural character is key to Wustermark’s attractiveness and farming remains part of the local economy, said Mayor Schreiber. Geese, cranes and grazing roe deer are visible around the town, which is interspersed with fields and meadows with water-filled ditches. Trees have been planted along the roads.
The village is also struggling to build schools fast enough to keep up with a 50 percent rise in pupils since 2005.
“We’re at the limits of our capacity,” Christine Scharschmidt, director of the Heinz Sielmann High School, said as she greeted students walking through the immaculate halls of a modern addition to the old school building. “We’ll need more space to take in the children who will come when the Olympic Village is restored.”
The developer plans to turn the Olympic dining hall into apartments, and the athletes’ lodging into townhouses. The swimming pool and sports facilities will be renovated, and the park, with rolling hills, oaks and pines, restored.
“When you walk through the grounds you’ll be able to sense what the original Olympic Village was like,” said Erik Rossnagel, head of Terraplan, the Nuremberg-based developer. Leon Mangasarian and Dalia Fahmy, Bloomberg