Original Item: Only One Available. This is a particularly complete and attractive example of the original German 1936 Olympia 1936 Band II cigarette card album, formally titled Die Olympischen Spiele 1936 in Berlin und Garmisch-Partenkirchen (The Olympic Games 1936 in Berlin and Garmisch-Partenkirchen). Published in 1936 by the Cigaretten-Bilderdienst of Altona-Bahrenfeld, this second volume concentrates on the XI Olympic Summer Games held in Berlin and is complete with all collectible photographic cards. Even more interesting, the album is accompanied by both its original pictorial dust cover and its original Cigaretten-Bilderdienst mailing carton.

These large-format albums were part of the immensely popular German cigarette-picture collecting system of the 1930s. Cigaretten-Bilderdienst, associated with the Reemtsma cigarette concern, used a system of Bilderschecks, or picture coupons, distributed through cigarette sales. Collectors accumulated the coupons and exchanged them for sets of photographs to complete specially produced albums. The resulting books combined extensive period text with hundreds of collectible photographs, turning them into substantial illustrated records of their subjects rather than simple card albums.

The title page reads:

Die Olympischen Spiele 1936
in Berlin und Garmisch-Partenkirchen

BAND 2

HERAUSGEGEBEN VOM
CIGARETTEN-BILDERDIENST ALTONA-BAHRENFELD

The album itself is bound in blue cloth and remains especially attractive. The front is marked in large gold script Olympia 1936, with the official 1936 Olympic bell emblem beneath. The bell incorporates the German eagle and Olympic rings and carries the period motto Ich rufe die Jugend der Welt, or "I call the youth of the world." Below this is:

BAND II
DIE XI. OLYMPISCHEN SPIELE
IN BERLIN 1936

The spine is likewise marked Olympia 1936. The blue cloth retains a beautiful strong color.

Especially desirable is the surviving original pictorial dust cover. Its front shows a packed Berlin Olympic Stadium beneath the large script title Olympia 1936, with the German eagle and swas. displayed above the Olympic rings. The dust cover shows expected age, handling wear, light creasing and some wear along the edges, but it remains remarkably presentable and continues to display very well over the bright blue cloth binding.

Band II contains 165 pages and was designed to accommodate 200 collectible photographs. Every one of the 200 cards is present in this example, making it a fully completed album. The interior is very well preserved, with the title page remaining clean and crisp.

The most unusual accessory with this example is the original brown mailing carton from the Cigaretten-Bilderdienst itself. The large paper label still bears the circular BILDER DIENST trademark and is printed:

CIGARETTEN-BILDERDIENST
ALTONA-BAHRENFELD · POSTFACH 18

The parcel is additionally marked PÄCKCHEN and retains its original typed mailing address:

Herrn
Josef Neubauer
Aschaffenburg/Main
Friesenstr. 17/I.

The bottom of the label bears parcel number No. 17339, and remnants of the original German postal cancellation are still visible above.

The XI Olympic Summer Games were held in Berlin from August 1 through August 16, 1936. The Games became one of the most internationally visible events staged by Third Reich Germany before WWII. Considerable effort was devoted to presenting foreign athletes, journalists and visitors with an image of a modern, prosperous and peaceful Germany, while objectionable aspects of government policy were deliberately made less visible during the event.