The city of Cologne is moving into the center of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Olympic bid concept. “We are applying for the Olympic and Paralympic Games with Cologne as the leading city,” said Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) in Düsseldorf. The 50-year-old met there with representatives of the municipalities involved in the application.
“We are making Germany and the world an offer for the most compact, sustainable and spectacular Olympic Games,” said Wüst. “The strongest offer for the Olympic Games comes from us, comes from North Rhine-Westphalia.”
Athletics and Olympic Village in Cologne
Among other things, the athletics stadium is to be built in Cologne – and not, as once seemed possible, in Essen. It is to be built in the north of the Rhenish metropolis as a temporary facility, parts of which will later be used for other purposes. The Olympic Village is also planned there. “Around 95 percent of the athletes will be able to be accommodated in the central Olympic Village,” said Wüst.
As was planned from the start, other sports facilities are spread across other municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia. For example, the swimming competitions will take place in Gelsenkirchen, football will be played in Dortmund and hockey will be played in Mönchengladbach. “This application is supported by many strong shoulders,” said Wüst.
Wüst: Around 14 million tickets
NRW wants to use the existing stadium infrastructure and score points as the most populous federal state with many visitors. “We are currently assuming that we can offer around 14 million tickets. An absolute record,” said Wüst. This also means that more affordable tickets can be offered.
So far, the application for the Olympic Games has been under the name “Rhine-Ruhr”. There had recently been speculation that Cologne could play a more important role.
North Rhine-Westphalia, like Munich, Berlin and Hamburg, would like to enter the race as a German candidate for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Referendums on the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the participating cities and municipalities are planned for April 19, 2026 in North Rhine-Westphalia. The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) wants to decide by autumn 2026 which of the German applicants will be.