Overview
- A representative Civey survey for the Tagesspiegel found 67% of Berliners oppose an Olympic bid for 2036, 2040 or 2044, with 27% in favor and 6% undecided.
- The NOlympia coalition says it will file a Volksbegehren against the bid, with signature gathering to start on 1 January 2026.
- Any Berlin referendum would come no earlier than 2027, creating the risk the city could be named Germany’s candidate before voters weigh in.
- Unlike Munich, Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin lacks a legal mechanism for a government-run preselection referendum, a disadvantage the Senate has not remedied.
- Berlin’s Olympic planners Kaweh Niroomand and Thomas Härtel downplayed the poll and announced new public participation efforts calibrated to the DOSB’s autumn 2026 decision.