Do you still have a Waldi lying around somewhere at home? The striped dachshund that became the mascot of the 1972 Munich Olympics? Anyone who received such a stuffed animal in turquoise, lime green, dark blue and yellow from their grandmother or aunt or who bought it themselves back then should take good care of it. It’s really worth a lot.
Its creator Otl Aicher would have been 100 years old on May 13th. Aicher, born as Otto Aicher in Ulm in 1922, received a major commission shortly after Munich was awarded the Olympic title: he was to give the 1972 Summer Games an unmistakable appearance as the design officer. He managed to do that back then, and how – he still has an effect today.
The simple pictograms, the catchy color coding system – that was something special for the time, the appearance and the colors are immediately connected with the association “Olympia – Otl Aicher”. Back then, 50 years ago, he left nothing to chance, even the certificates, posters and admission tickets bore his handwriting. He even designed the uniforms for the hostesses. In this 1970s chic, for example, the then hostess Silvia Sommerlath got to know and love her future king, later becoming Silvia of Sweden.
Back to Otl Aicher: He was a designer, practitioner and theoretician in one, doer and thinker, graphic artist, designer, typographer, photographer, sculptor, architect, author, teacher. My colleague Gerhard Matzig created an extensive memorial to him with our art director Christian Tönsmann (SZ Plus). Matzig describes an artist who despairs of art “and a marketing genius who despairs of marketing. He not only reinvented graphic design. He also reinvented post-war modernism and a Germany that was finally fit for the future again. You first had to dig it out of the bomb craters.”
THE DAY IN MUNICH
“We are also on strike for the children” Many parents had to look for an alternative for childcare on Thursday. Hundreds of educators stopped working again.
Pasing train station is being expanded Deutsche Bahn is investing half a billion euros in one of the largest rail hubs in Bavaria. In the future, not only should more trains run there – they should also be more punctual.
More help for refugees The city is providing another 12.5 million euros for social care, offers for children and the information point at the main train station. In the arrivals center at the fair, the number of people from Ukraine has decreased significantly.
24-year-old shot in Milbertshofen on the open road The police combed the area with 30 patrol cars on Wednesday night, the perpetrator is still at large. It is not the first sensational crime that has occurred in Milbertshofen this year.
Munich gets more freedom in housing The Free State has launched a regulation long awaited by the city. That could allow for more compression.
The roof as restless as a hat at a horse race A striking office building in hybrid wood construction is to be built in the station district. The urban planning commission gives a favorable assessment of the project on the corner of Schwanthalerstrasse and Goethestrasse, but has critical comments.
MUNICH EXCELLENT
OUR CULTURE TIP
Restaurants in Munich | Bars in Munich | breakfast and brunch
To the counties: Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen | Dachau | Ebersberg | Erding | Freising | Fürstenfeldbruck | Munich | Starnberg