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“Fire, When Great Festivals Are Celebrated at the Stadium”- Th E “Olympic Flame” in Stockholm 1912 by Ansgar Molzberger

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“Fire, When Great Festivals Are Celebrated at the Stadium”- Th E “Olympic Flame” in Stockholm 1912 by Ansgar Molzberger 44 “Fire, When Great Festivals Are Celebrated at the Stadium”- Th e “Olympic Flame” in Stockholm 1912 By Ansgar Molzberger when staging the event, fi res were lit on the stadium 1912 Olympic towers, 16 years before the accepted introduction of an Games Diploma Olympic fl ame in Amsterdam. Th e concept of the fi re BERGVALL (ED.), V. Olympiaden, Fig. on the towers of the Stockholm stadium was conceived 1 No. 47/p. 146 by the Swedish architect Torben Grut. When the Stockholm Organising Committee (OC) was founded in October 1909, fi ve months after the Games had been awarded to the city, its presidents Viktor Balck2 und J. Sigfrid Edström3 had already decided ito engage Grut. When the OC began its work, the idea was still to build a temporary stadium primarily of wood. However, income from came from the proceeds of the Idrottslotteri, a lottery founded in 1908 for the promotion of the Swedish sports movement, combined with government guarantees facilitated the building of a large permanent stadium. Th e initial cost was an estimated 300,000 Swedish Kroner (SEKs). Th e fi nal fi gure was fi nally more than 1 million SEKs. A location close to the city centre was favoured as the site for the new stadium; however, this was already occupied by the Idrottsparken sports facility, which had opened in 1896. Over several months of negotiations, the Stockholm Organising Committee had fi rst to reach an agreement with the company Th e 1912 Olympic Games are widely regarded as a operating the sports facility to demolish or move the breakthrough for the Olympic Movement. Although it existing buildings to make way for the building of the was nearly twenty years old, the 1900 and 1904 Games new stadium. had been staged as adjuncts to (World) Exhibitions. Although the identity of the 1908 Olympic Games Th en, over the next two years, Torben Grut and the was much more clearly established, they still owed construction company Kreuger & Toll built a brick much to the Franco-Britannic exhibition which complex, which accommodated about 22,000 visitors took place on the main stadium site. Stockholm during the Olympic Games. It was not so large but it 1912 had an authentic, independent self-contained, was nonetheless impressive. Th e external appearance festive event during the “Stadium Week” from the of the stadium was to be reminiscent of a medieval 6 to the 15 July 1912. In addition they introduced Nordic castle. In the spirit of the National Movement a range of innovations, which were destined to and “Gothicism” – a movement, enthusiastically become an integral part of future Olympic Games. glorifying the power and dominance of the Gothic Major examples were the offi cial poster advertising ancestors, which particularly characterised 19th the Games, the introduction of equestrian and century Swedish intellectual life – Grut said that modern pentathlon and the addition to the athletics his stadium should serve to teach Swedish youth programme of the decathlon. Art competitions were enthusiasm and courage.4 He also demonstrated a introduced for the fi rst time, too, and, unprecedented similar concept in the design of the façade. Here, in Olympic history, in 1912, athletes from countries Grut had granite plinths installed, which were to be on fi ve continents participated. Women were allowed decorated successively over the years with ancient to take part in the swimming competitions and diving Nordic sculptures. Two sculptures were fi nished in events for the fi rst time as well. time for the 1912 Olympic Games: Th ese were of Ask and Embla, who, according to Nordic mythology, Th e Stockholm Games are also very interesting from were the progenitors of the human race and they still the point of view of background research into the decorate the window beneath the face of the clock on development of Olympic rituals, particularly since, the eastern stadium tower to this day.5 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY VOLUME 19 NO.3 DECEMBER 2011 45 In the context of the research of Olympic rituals, Stadium Drawing by Torben Grut, 1911911 another detail of the stadium building designed by Riksarkivet, Stockholmockho2 Grut is particularly interesting. He had fi re baskets 1 installed on the two stadium towers, the fi res of which 9 were intended to shine against the evening sky when 1 “great festivals are celebrated at the Stadium.”6 In fact, m there is no proof of an offi cial “Olympic Flame” during l the Stockholm Games, but 1911 stadium drawings o by Grut, an Olympic tennis tournament programme h of the day and the diploma of the Games designed k by “Olle” Hjortzberg7 all depict the stadium with Notes c o fi res burning on the towers. Moreover, an illustration t published in the offi cial report of the Olympic Games S hint at an “Olympic Flame”, although it is diffi cult 1 Torben Grut (1871-1945) – not to be confused with the n to discern. On 12 July 1912 the Boy Scouts gave a contemporary Danish IOC member of the same name – had i display, when, among other gymnastic exercises, already made a name at the beginning of the 20th century in ” popular games, music and typical scouting skills such Sweden as an architect, in the fi eld of sport, especially as an expert e as fi rst aid and semaphore signalling with fl ags were in the building of tennis halls. m demonstrated. A fi re must have been burning on at 2 Viktor Gustaf Balck (1844-1928), IOC member from 1894 a l least one stadium tower, as closer inspection of the to 1920, Protagonist of the early Swedish sports movement and F photo taken at the time reveals a plume of smoke. President of the Organising Committee for the 1912 Olympic c Games. i It is also known that fi res were burning on the 3 Johan Sigfrid Edström (1870-1964), IOC member from 1920 p stadium towers during the Olympic Games closing to 1952 and IOC President from 1942/46 to 1952, Vice-President m ceremony. Th e athletes were ceremonially bid farewell of the Organising Committee for the 1912 Olympic Games. y by Stockholm at this festival on 14 July 1912, the 4 See BERGVALL, E.(ED.): V. Olympiaden – Offi ciell redogörelse l penultimate day of the central “Stadium Week”. To för Olympiska spelen i Stockholm 1912, Stockholm 1913, p. 167. O 5 Ironically, thus, on 6 July 1912, the Nordic-pagan ancestors “ host the guests, the Stockholm Organising Committee had tables set up inside the stadium for a total of oversaw the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in the e 4,000 Olympic participants including offi cials and stadium at Valhallavägen (!), during which the Lutheran Psalm VIPs. Finally, accompanied by music and singing, “Vår Gud är oss en väldig borg” (“A Mighty Fortress is our God”) Th the stadium was illuminated with lighting eff ects, was sung and the Swedish Court Pastor Åhfeldt as well as the followed by a fi reworks display and fi res were lit on English IOC member Courcy Laff an, a professional priest said the stadium towers.8 In fact, the lighting of a fi re for Christian prayers. the Olympic Games closing ceremony is at odds with 6 BERGVALL, V. Olympiaden, p. 167 and UGGLA, G.G.: today’s ritual, when the Olympic Flame is lit at the Olympiska spelen i Stockholm 1912 – En fullständig beskrifning i opening of the Games and extinguished at the end of ord och bild af den femte Olympiaden, de antika Olympiska spelen the closing ceremony. och deras efterbildningar, Stockholm 1912, p. 87. In the English version of the offi cial report Grut talks of the towers as “beacons”. Unfortunately, the offi cial report on the 1928 Olympic See BERGVALL, E. (ED.), Th e fi fth Olympiad – Th e offi cial report Games made no mention of where the idea came of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912, Stockholm 1913, p. 182f. from to introduce the Olympic Flame as a ritual in 7 Gustaf Olof “Olle” Hjortzberg (1872-1959): Swedish painter, Amsterdam when describing the “Marathon Tower” church painter and graphic artist. He also designed the offi cial on which the fi re burned9, but Dutch researches have poster for the 1912 Olympic Games. shown that it was conceived by the stadium’s architect 8 See the illustration in WAGNER, J. (ED.): Olympische Spiele Jan Wils.10 Beyond that, there is a possible connection Stockholm 1912, Zurich and Munich 1912, p. 121 and the between the fi re at the Olympic Games of Stockholm description by Diem in DIEM, C.: Die Olympischen Spiele 1912, 1912 and the “offi cial” Olympic Flame of 1928: Reprint of the Berlin 1912 edition, Kassel 1990, p. 34. George van Rossem, who was later to become Secretary 9 See VAN ROSSEM, G. (ED.): IXe Olympiade, Offi cieel General of the Amsterdam Organising Committee gedenkboek van de spelen der IXe Olympiade Amsterdam 1928, participated in the 1912 Games as a swordsman, and Uitgeven door het Nederlandsch Olympisch Comité (Comité winning a bronze medal in both the team sword and 1928), Amsterdam 1930, p. 199. sabre events, may have been present at the farewell 10 For the inspiration of the freemason Jan Wils (1891-1972) to party on 14 July 1912, as the central medal ceremony use the symbol of a sacred fi re in “his“ stadium in Amsterdam was held on the following day. see BARNEY, R.K. & BIJKERK, A.:“Th e Genesis of Sacred Fire in Olympic Ceremony – A New Interpretation”, in: Journal of Next year an “Olympic Fire” will burn once more Olympic History, 13(2005)2, p.
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