Olympic Gala in Berlin, 1936

The Reich Government hosted a Gala Reception for a ‘Celebration of Joy and Peace’ at the Berlin State Opera on this day in 1936, during the Berlin Olympic Games, with Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, Crown Prince Umberto of Italy, Crown Prince Paul of Greece, Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylla of Sweden, Princess Mafalda, Landgravine of Hesse (wearing the Hesse Ears of Wheat Tiara), and Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy among a host of prominent Royal Dignitaries.

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Tsar Boris III and Crown Prince Umberto of Italy were among the dignitaries who sat with Hitler as he opened the 1936 Olympic Games. Tsar Boris was the brother-in-law of Crown Prince Umberto, Princess Mafalda, and Princess Maria Francesca, and the Tsar was allegedly poisoned by Hitler while Princess Mafalda died in a Nazi Concentration Camp less than a decade later.

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3 thoughts on “Olympic Gala in Berlin, 1936

  1. Such a great post. Again, this is a completely new photograph to me and I enjoyed studying it. Could the Olympic gala be a tradition to be revived perhaps?

  2. Yes, a suite and tie (or at most a black-tie but without grand jewels – of course) reception is not quite the same. It doesn’t give the same glamour and is less elegant – at least to my eyes. I must say that the “theme” of the gala in Berlin was rather ironic though.

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