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a globe-trotting friend of mine sends this e-mail:
<<Two years ago, I went to the small meeting (the final stop of the 'DKB-Cup') in Elstal, which is just west of the Berlin city line. This is the 1936 Olympic Village, and I kick myself for not having arrived there earlier in the day. The entire area is quite fascinating to anyone at all interested in track history. The old cinder training track is there, as are a number of the living buildings--highlighted by the 'Jesse Owens' room, which is a refurbished area in one of the buildings. The large 'mess hall' is still there, and the grounds themselves are quite an ideal place to relax on a competition-free afternoon before going to the Olympic stadium for an evening session.
Conveniently, both Elstal and the stadium are in the western parts of the city. I would guess that a bus ride from Elstal to the stadium would take--in the absence of heavy traffic--about 20 minutes on the Heerstrasse.
I, of course, traveled there by car. But according to the Elstal website (http://www.historia-elstal.de/), you can get there by train from the Spandau Station in the extreme west part of Berlin. (No, Rudolf Hess will NOT punch your ticket.)
If you click deeper into the Elstal website, you can see a large description (leider nur auf deutsch) of the historic grounds, which were scrubbed well in the 1990s after four decades of occupation by the Russian army. >>
<<Two years ago, I went to the small meeting (the final stop of the 'DKB-Cup') in Elstal, which is just west of the Berlin city line. This is the 1936 Olympic Village, and I kick myself for not having arrived there earlier in the day. The entire area is quite fascinating to anyone at all interested in track history. The old cinder training track is there, as are a number of the living buildings--highlighted by the 'Jesse Owens' room, which is a refurbished area in one of the buildings. The large 'mess hall' is still there, and the grounds themselves are quite an ideal place to relax on a competition-free afternoon before going to the Olympic stadium for an evening session.
Conveniently, both Elstal and the stadium are in the western parts of the city. I would guess that a bus ride from Elstal to the stadium would take--in the absence of heavy traffic--about 20 minutes on the Heerstrasse.
I, of course, traveled there by car. But according to the Elstal website (http://www.historia-elstal.de/), you can get there by train from the Spandau Station in the extreme west part of Berlin. (No, Rudolf Hess will NOT punch your ticket.)
If you click deeper into the Elstal website, you can see a large description (leider nur auf deutsch) of the historic grounds, which were scrubbed well in the 1990s after four decades of occupation by the Russian army. >>
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