City planners call historic buildings from Third Reich times as “diabolic buildings “. Many of them have been forgotten and are in decay because they are hidden from the public eye like bunkers. Others, such as the Olympiastadion Berlin, are much more present to the people, as the German television station ZDF will show in its documentary on October 3, 2013 at 1 p.m.

The Olympiastadion Berlin is arguably one of the prime examples of a responsible and future-oriented approach in dealing with its history. The Olympiastadion Berlin was carefully renovated and modernized to become a multifunctional, state of the art stadium. It has moved into the center of attention of the public eye and has hosted world class sporting events ranging from football and soccer games to world championships in Athletics. International pop and rock stars have performed in front of sold out seats, two popes have celebrated services here. One cannot speak of the Olympiastadion Berlin as one of the diabolic monuments of a time past. 

300,000 visitors annually come to the Olympiastadion Berlin on non-event days to catch a glimpse of history and architecture. Stelae spread around the stadium and audio guides give a detailed tour and historic information on the stadium.

The keen interest young people and many students show in the history of the Olympiastadion Berlin proves that an open-minded approach to dealing with the dark periods in German history can work. It is a positive example of integration of a monument into present day history.