Olympia, Cradle of Greek Civilisation

Greco-Roman Antiquity being one of the key parts of our shared heritage, here's a few postcards from the Peloponnese

Among the more awesome postcard themes are, without any doubt, those that show the remains of ancient civilisations. They all compare rather favourably with what passes for “contemporary architecture”, and, no, this statement shall not be misconstrued as a consideration of “European” (whatever that means, geographically speaking) architecture as being inherently “better” than that of others. If anything, it’s an indictment of “contemporary architecture” (just consider Olympia’s Railway Station, if you need convincing).

Let’s turn to the matter at-hand, the ancient town of Olympia, Greece, specifically

The sacred precinct, named the Altis, was primarily dedicated to Zeus, although other gods were worshipped there. The games conducted in his name drew visitors from all over the Greek world as one of a group of such “Panhellenic” centres, which helped to build the identity of the ancient Greeks as a nation. Despite the name, it is nowhere near Mount Olympus in northern Greece, where the Twelve Olympians, the major deities of Ancient Greek religion, were believed to live…

The archaeological site held over 760 significant buildings, and ruins of many of these survive.

Erich Sonntag’s collection contains several postcards from Olympia, and in keeping with the shout-out to

Aneta Pavlenko

in the last posting, let’s do another one as I found this wonderful specimen with yet more multi-lingual captions:

That Temple of Hera being among the most important sites in Olympia, here’s a bit more information (emphasis mine)

It was the oldest temple at Olympia and one of the most venerable in all Greece. It was originally a joint temple of Hera and Zeus, chief of the gods, until a separate temple was built for him. It is at the altar of this temple, which is oriented east-west, that the Olympic flame is lit and carried to all parts of the world. The torch of the Olympic flame is lit in its ruins to this day. The temple was built in ca. 580 BC, but was destroyed by an earthquake in the early 4th century AD.

Needless to say, I also have two postcards showing precisely this ceremony:

Both postcards were mailed, but only the above one bears an identifiable date: 1961.

EDIT/UPDATE: shout-out and big thanks to reader and commenter

York Luethje

who suggested inclusion of the following fact about this ceremony (via Time magazine):

It dates back to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, at a time when dictator Adolf Hitler was trying to boost the image of the Nazi Party. At the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, flames were lit to mark the beginning of the Games and extinguished to signal the end of the Games. But the first torch relay was the brainchild of Carl Diem, the organizer of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. That year the torch was transported to seven countries over 12 days. When it arrived at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Hitler himself declared that the Games had officially begun, according to the book Total Olympics by Jeremy Fuchs.

So, there we go—we already knew that postcards convey several messages, all public, but we might need to consider the subtext in this particular case, too, as Carl Diem’s dedicated entry also reminds us of yet another oft-omitted bunch of facts:

In April 1931, again largely due to the reputation and lobbying efforts of Diem and Lewald, Berlin was selected to host the 1936 summer games, and Diem was named Secretary General of the Organizing Committee. He attended the 1932 games in Los Angeles, carefully observing the host city’s preparations and facilities, committed to meeting or outdoing the American accomplishment in Berlin four years later.

So, let’s briefly summarise: the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games were awarded prior to Hitler becoming Chancellor of the German Reich.

Moreover, let’s not blame Mr. Diem, for this would also be way too simple:

Diem’s position as organizer was at risk, mostly because his Hochschule employed Jewish teachers and because Diem’s wife, Liselott, came from a Jewish family. He himself was classified, for these reasons, as a “white Jew”, but even so, Diem managed to hold on to his job and solidify his position with his Nazi patrons.

All the above does not change the (ab)use of the 1936 Olympics for political purposes, i.e., an aspect of these venues that, much like Carl Diem’s torch ceremony, endured the end of National Socialism…

Needless to say, that lady wasn’t there all by herself, as a third postcard showing what happened right after the lighting of the torch indicates:

Of course, I do have postcards showing “other” sights—behold Olympia’s Gymnasion (mailed in 1982)

Then, there’s this postcard mailed in 1963 showing several otherwise not indicated (on the reverse) sites of Olympia:

Looking at these images makes me ponder what, if anything, will remain of our civilisation. Given that “we” have apparently un-learned how to build enduring roads, I doubt that much of our roads will survive longer than a few centuries…

All Hail the "Queen of the Roads"