Olympics 2024: Berlin vs. Hamburg

Elbe or Spree, herring or currywurst: who will win the race between Hamburg and Berlin, in the race to become Germany's candidate city for the 2024 Olympics? Both cities have the infrastructure and the venues to put it on, but which metropolis wants it more? We compare the two cities' strengths and weaknesses.

These school kids want the Olympics to come to their city, but not all Berliners feel the same way. The city is still struggling financially and other problems have more priority, they say. Would the Olympics just make things worse? Former Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit managed to gather 100,000 signatures to support the Games coming to the German capital.

In north Germany's most famous city, the Olympics are also pretty controversial. But, Hamburg is better off financially than Berlin so the reluctance to host the Games should, in theory, be less. In February of this year thousands of Olympic supporters celebrated with a fireworks event on the Hamburg Alster.

First built for the infamous Summer Olympics of 1936, the Berlin Olympic stadium is still standing in the city's aging Olympic complex. There are other sports facilities there as well: a hockey stadium, horse riding complex and a swimming stadium. At the moment, the Olympic Stadium is used mainly by Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin. The stadium is one of Germany's biggest.

In contrast, Hamburg's Olympic stadium is just an architectural model at the moment. It's planned to be the center of a new Olympic area for the city, on an island in the Elbe river. 70,000 fans are meant to fit into the stadium. In the future, no-one would need it. The city's Bundesliga team Hamburger SV already plays at the Volkspark stadium.

Germany's capital has experience of hosting big sports events: in 2006 it put on six games at the World Cup and it also hosted the World Athletics Championships in 2009. Each year it also hosts the German Cup final and this year it will host the European Champions League final too. The Berlin marathon is also one of the most famous in the world.

Hamburg is a sport-loving city, as was shown by the huge reception for the returning Germany Olympic team in August 2012. Tens of thousands of city residents celebrated the athletes like rockstars down at the harbor and at the city hall. The city also has a famous marathon, tennis tournaments at Rothenbaum and equestrian and sailing have long traditions here too.

Just like the Olympic stadium, the Olympic village could be situated on the "Kleiner Grasbrook" island in the Elbe river. If developers get their way, a new suburb would be formed on the island, which would also mean a new bridge too.

The Olympic village in Berlin could be built on the ground of Tegel Airport, which is due to shut down before 2024. Berlin's Olympic planners want to use existing sports venues, both inside and outside the city, especially for events like football, sailing or equestrian.

Scepticism in Berlin about the Olympics is understandable after the debacle surrounding the delayed opening date of the city's new airport. Originally planned for 2012, the airport is now said to start operating in 2016, maybe. The German Taxpayer's Federation has also joined the discussion saying that Berlin's failed candidacy for the 2000 Olympics was a "waste of public money."

Hamburg's airport is the oldest in Germany, and the country's fifth biggest. It is also key to Hamburg's Olympic bid because of its international connectivity: 60 different airlines already fly to 115 destinations. Public transport means that the airport is easy to reach from the city center too.

If they get the Games, Hamburg aims to host most of their events as centrally as possible. 31 of the required 35 event venues are already in place and organizers say that the inner city locations all lie within a 15 kilometer (9.32 mile) radius.