Olympic Decoration

The German Olympic Decoration (German: Deutsche Olympia-Ehrenzeichen or Deutsches Olympiaehrenzeichen) was a civil decoration of Nazi Germany awarded to administrators of the IV Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Games of the XI Olympiad in Berlin 1936. The award was not intended for actual participants in the Olympic Games, but rather in recognition of those who had orchestrated the "behind the scenes" preparations and work for the events.

Several members of the SS, including Reinhard Heydrich, Karl Wolff and Heinrich Himmler were awarded the Olympic Games decoration for providing security during the event. Hermann Fegelein was awarded the decoration for overseeing the preparation of the courses and facilities for the equestrian events. The decoration was presented to Leni Riefenstahl for her work in filming the various sports events. It was also presented in the 2nd Class to Hiroshi Ōshima, the Japanese Ambassador to Nazi Germany.

The German Olympic Decoration was awarded in three classes:

1st Class

2nd Class

German Olympic Commemorative Medal

Of the three classes, the First Class was presented as a neck order. A total of 767 were presented.