# Germany at the Olympics

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 at 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, "Equipe Unifiée Allemande"), but 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 | team | team | team | team |
| 1896–1912 | | | Germany (GER) | Germany (GER) |
| 1920–1924 | denied participation after WWI | denied participation after WWI | denied participation after WWI | denied participation after WWI |
| 1928–1932 | | | Germany (GER) | Germany (GER) |
| 1936 | | | | Germany (GER) | Germany (GER) |
| 1948 | occupied country after WWII: former German Olympic Committee was dissolved | occupied country after WWII: former German Olympic Committee was dissolved | occupied country after WWII: former German Olympic Committee was dissolved | occupied country after WWII: former German Olympic Committee was dissolved |
| 1952 | | | Germany (GER) | Germany (GER) |
| 1952 | Saar (SAA) | Saar (SAA) | Saar (SAA) | East Germany did not participate |
| 1956–1964 | United Team of Germany (EUA) | United Team of Germany (EUA) | United Team of Germany (EUA) | United Team of Germany (EUA) |
| 1968–1988 | Germany | Germany | (FRG) | East Germany (GDR) |
| since 1992 | Germany | Germany | (GER) | (GER) |

### Germany at the Summer Olympics

Host country
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
| 1896 Athens | 19 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 3 |
| 1900 Paris | 78 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
| 1904 St. Louis | 18 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 2 |
| 1908 London | 81 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 5 |
| 1912 Stockholm | 185 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 25 | 6 |
| 1920 Antwerp | did not participate |
| 1924 Paris | did not participate |
| 1928 Amsterdam | 296 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 31 | 2 |
| 1932 Los Angeles | 143 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 20 | 9 |
| 1936 Berlin | 433 | 38 | 26 | 30 | 94 | 1 |
| 1948 London | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| 1952 Helsinki | 205 | 0 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 28 |
| 1956 Melbourne | as the United Team of Germany (EUA) |
| 1960 Rome | as the United Team of Germany (EUA) |
| 1964 Tokyo | as the United Team of Germany (EUA) |
| 1968 Mexico City | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1972 Munich | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1976 Montreal | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1980 Moscow | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1984 Los Angeles | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1988 Seoul | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1992 Barcelona | 463 | 33 | 21 | 28 | 82 | 3 |
| 1996 Atlanta | 465 | 20 | 18 | 27 | 65 | 3 |
| 2000 Sydney | 422 | 13 | 17 | 26 | 56 | 5 |
| 2004 Athens | 441 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 49 | 6 |
| 2008 Beijing | 463 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 41 | 5 |
| 2012 London | 392 | 11 | 20 | 13 | 44 | 6 |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 425 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 42 | 5 |
| 2020 Tokyo | 425 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 37 | 9 |
| 2024 Paris | 428 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 33 | 10 |
| 2028 Los Angeles | future event |
| 2032 Brisbane | future event |
| Total | Total | 218 | 220 | 255 | 693 | 7 |

### Germany at the Winter Olympics

Host country
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
| 1924 Chamonix | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| 1928 St. Moritz | 44 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 1932 Lake Placid | 20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen | 55 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 1948 St. Moritz | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| 1952 Oslo | 53 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo | as the United Team of Germany (EUA) |
| 1960 Squaw Valley | as the United Team of Germany (EUA) |
| 1964 Innsbruck | as the United Team of Germany (EUA) |
| 1968 Grenoble | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1972 Sapporo | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1976 Innsbruck | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1980 Lake Placid | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1984 Sarajevo | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1988 Calgary | as West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) |
| 1992 Albertville | 111 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 1 |
| 1994 Lillehammer | 112 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 24 | 3 |
| 1998 Nagano | 125 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 29 | 1 |
| 2002 Salt Lake City | 157 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 36 | 2 |
| 2006 Turin | 162 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 29 | 1 |
| 2010 Vancouver | 152 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 30 | 2 |
| 2014 Sochi | 153 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 6 |
| 2018 Pyeongchang | 153 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 31 | 2 |
| 2022 Beijing | 149 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 27 | 2 |
| 2026 Milano Cortina | future event | future event | future event | future event | future event | future event |
| 2030 French Alps | future event | future event | future event | future event | future event | future event |
| 2034 Salt Lake City | future event | future event | future event | future event | future event | future event |
| Total | Total | 104 | 98 | 65 | 267 | 3 |

### 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.
| Medals won by Germany at the Summer Olympic Games between 1896 and 2012 (between 1956 and 1964 as the United Team of Germany and between 1968 and 1988 as a sum of medals of West and East Germany) | Medals won by Germany at the Winter Olympic Games between 1928 and 2014 (between 1956 and 1964 as the United Team of Germany and between 1968 and 1988 as sum of medals of West and East Germany) |
Medal counts: status after the 2024 Olympics, as of August 13, 2024
| | Summer Games | Summer Games | Summer Games | Summer Games | Summer Games | Winter Games | Winter Games | Winter Games | Winter Games | Winter Games | Combined total | Combined total | Combined total | Combined total | Combined total |
| Team (IOC code) | No. | | | | | No. | | | | | No. | | | | |
| Germany (GER) | 18 | 218 | 220 | 255 | 693 | 13 | 104 | 98 | 65 | 267 | 31 | 322 | 318 | 320 | 960 |
| Saar (SAA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| United Team of Germany (EUA) | 3 | 28 | 54 | 36 | 118 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 6 | 36 | 60 | 41 | 137 |
| East Germany (GDR) | 5 | 153 | 129 | 127 | 409 | 6 | 39 | 36 | 35 | 110 | 11 | 192 | 165 | 162 | 519 |
| West Germany (FRG) | 5 | 56 | 67 | 81 | 204 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 39 | 11 | 67 | 82 | 94 | 243 |
| Total | 27 | 455 | 470 | 499 | 1424 | 22 | 162 | 155 | 118 | 435 | 49 | 617 | 625 | 617 | 1859 |
| Combined IOC codes | No. Games | | | | Combined total |
| Germany (GER) | 30 | 322 | 318 | 320 | 960 |
| Germany (GER) (EUA) | 37 | 358 | 378 | 361 | 1097 |
| Germany (GER) (EUA) (FRG) | 48 | 425 | 460 | 455 | 1340 |
| Germany (GER) (EUA) (FRG) (GDR) | 59 | 617 | 625 | 617 | 1859 |

## 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 | 17 |
| 1936 Summer Olympics | Berlin | 1 – 6 August | 49 | 3,963 | 129 |

### Unsuccessful bids

| Games | City | Winner of bid |
| 1908 Summer Olympics | Berlin | London, United Kingdom |
| 2000 Summer Olympics | Berlin | Sydney, Australia |
| 2012 Summer Olympics | Leipzig | London, United Kingdom |
| 2018 Winter Olympics | Munich | Pyeongchang, South Korea |
| 2024 Summer Olympics | Hamburg | Paris, France |
* ↑ Not shortlisted into candidate stage