Athletes from Germany have taken part in most of the modern Olympic Games held since 1896. Germany has hosted three Olympic Games, in 1936, both the Winter and Summer Games, and the 1972 Summer Olympics. In addition, Germany had been selected to host the 1916 Summer Olympics as well as the 1940 Winter Olympics, both of which had to be cancelled due to World Wars. After these wars, Germany was banned from participating in the 1920, 1924, and 1948 Olympics.

While the country was divided, each of the two German states boycotted one of the Summer Games. In 1980, West Germany was one of 66 nations which did not go to Moscow in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, and in 1984 East Germany joined the Soviet Union and several others in the boycott of the Summer Games in Los Angeles. In 1990, East Germany and West Germany would reunite, with Germany once again competing as a single full sovereign state since the 1992 Olympic year.

The IOC currently splits German results among four codes, even though only the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1968 to 1988 had sent a separate team to compete against the team of the German NOC that represented Germany (GER) since 1896.

German post-WW2 division until 1990 After German organisations had been dissolved by the Allies in 1947, in 1950 the IOC recognized the reorganized Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland for all of Germany, based in (West) Germany.

Due to the Cold War, an East German state (German Democratic Republic) was created in October 1949, and a separate National Olympic Committee (NOC) for East Germany was established in 1951. It was not immediately recognized by the IOC, which until 1965 required that athletes of the NOC of East Germany join the German team represented by the West Germany-based NOC of Germany. This team, which competed together from 1956 to 1964, is nowadays called the United Team of Germany (EUA, "Équipe Unifiée Allemande"), but it was Germany (GER) then. As a result of Germany being divided, from 1968 to 1990, two independent teams competed in each of the Games; the original designations were GER for the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and GDR for the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In 1980 the West German code was changed to FRG (which is currently also applied by the IOC in retrospect). After the GDR ceased to exist in 1990 and its states joined the Federal Republic of Germany, Germany once again was represented by a single team, designated GER.

Additionally, in the early 1950s the French-occupied Saar had its own NOC and competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics before joining the German Olympic team in 1956 and the (West) German state by 1957.

Overview of Olympic participation

Timeline of participation

Olympic Year/s Team(s) 1896–1912 German Empire 1920–1924 1928–1932 1936 1948 1952 W 1952 S East Germanydid not participate 1956–1964 (EUA) 1968–1988 (FRG) (GDR) 1992–present

Medals by Summer Games

Source:

Notes Under the current IOC's attribution policy since 2024, athletes at the early Olympic Games (1896, 1900, and 1904) are attributed according to the national affiliation of their club rather than their nationality. For the 1904 Summer Olympics, this resulted in a net change of +1 gold, −1 silver, and −1 bronze for Germany: (+) Swiss Adolf Spinnler won a gold medal and a bronze medal in gymnastics; as a representative of a German club, his results were attributed to Germany. (–) German Frank Kugler won a silver medal in wrestling and two bronze medals in weightlifting; as a representative of an American club, his results were attributed to the United States. Art competitions (1912–1948) are not included in the medal table above, as they were non-sports events formerly part of the Olympic Games. Germany won a total of 24 art competition medals (8 gold, 7 silver, and 9 bronze), across the 1912, 1928, 1932, and 1936 Summer Olympics.

Medals by Winter Games

Source:

Medals by summer sport *This table does not include two medals – one gold and one silver – awarded in the figure skating events at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Medals by winter sport *This table includes two medals – one gold and one silver – awarded in the figure skating events at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Best results in non-medaling sports Summer Sport Rank Athlete Event & Year 14th Monika Müller Women's solo in 1992Monika Müller & Margit Schreib Women's duet in 1992 5th Huaiwen Xu Women's singles in 2008Michael Fuchs & Birgit Michels Mixed doubles in 2012 4th Germany men's team Men's tournament in 2024 6th Lara Lessmann Women's freestyle in 2020 14th Nadja Pries Women's racing in 2016 5th Noah Bitsch Men's -75 kg in 2020 5th Germany men's polo national team Men's tournament in 1936 9th Lilly Stoephasius Women's park in 2020 9th Yannick Flohe Men's combined in 2020 Men's combined in 2024 17th Leon Glatzer Men's shortboard in 2020Tim Elter Men's shortboard in 2024Camilla Kemp Women's shortboard in 2024 5th Germany men's national volleyball team Men's tournament in 2012 Winter Sport Rank Athlete Event & Year 5th Natalie Nessler Sabine Belkofer Heike Wieländer Andrea Stock Karin Fischer Women's tournament in 2002 5th Tyson Heung Men's 500m in 2010 4th Tatjana Paller Women's sprint in 2026

Combined medals of all German NOCs Germany has competed at the Olympics under five different designations, including as two separate teams at several Games. Sources vary in how they present the medals won by these teams. The table below shows sourced combinations of these teams, when applied to the main table. Saar competed independently in the Summer Olympic games in 1952, but failed to win any medals. Due to most lists only listing medal counts, it's possible but not certain Saar was included as part of Germany in their calculations.

Medal counts: status after the 2026 Olympics Summer GamesWinter GamesCombined total   18214219254687141131077329332327326327980 100000000010000 32854361183865196366041137 556678120461115133911678294243 5153129127409639363511011192165162519 Total28451469498141823171164126461516226336241879

Combined IOC codesNo. GamesCombined total (GER)32327326327980 (GER) (EUA)383633863681,117 (GER) (EUA) (FRG)504304684621,360 (GER) (EUA) (FRG) (GDR)616226336241,879

Hosted Games For the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, see West Germany at the Olympics. Games Host city Dates Nations Participants Events 1936 Winter Olympics Garmisch-Partenkirchen 6 – 16 February 28 646 171936 Summer Olympics Berlin 1 – 6 August 49 3,963 129

Unsuccessful bids +GamesCityWinner of bid1908 Summer OlympicsBerlinLondon, United Kingdom2000 Summer OlympicsBerlinSydney, Australia2012 Summer OlympicsLeipzigLondon, United Kingdom2018 Winter OlympicsMunichPyeongchang, South Korea2024 Summer OlympicsHamburgParis, France

See also List of flag bearers for Germany at the Olympics :Category:Olympic competitors for Germany Germany at the Paralympics

Notes

References

External links