1936 BERLIN OLYMPIC GAMES STEREOSCOPIC PHOTO BOOK BY HEINRICH HOFFMANN WITH 3-D GLASSES - TEXT IN GERMAN (NEWPORT SPORTS MUSEUM)

Presented here is a vintage 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Games stereoscopic photo album booklet with 3-D glasses. Published in 1936 by Raumbild-Verlag Schönstein, the album book contains 62 pages of German text and 100 numbered stereoscopic prints by Heinrich Hoffmann, who served as Adolf Hitler’s official photographer during the Nazi movement. It features thick cloth board covers, with the colorful Olympic rings and title “Die Olympischen Spiele” (“The Olympic Games” in German) embossed into the front. The backside of the front cover houses the stereoscopic picture viewing glasses.

Each of the 100 stereoscopic prints measure 5” by 2¼” and come in pairs. 22 are attached to the pages as issued, with the remaining 78 held in pockets on the inside of the back cover. Event results with times and medal winners are listed near the end on pages 56 and 57. The prints and stereoscope remain in outstanding condition for being over 80 years old. The front and back covers exhibit significant brown toning and spotting. The spine has slightly separated, but all pages are intact and it holds the album together firmly without loose pages. A very nice example of a rare and highly collectible early Olympic Games booklet.

Footnotes: A Raumbild-Verlag stereoscopic image is a picture that conveys a 3D-like spatial effect when viewed through the stereoscopic glasses. Heinrich Hoffmann was a German photographer and publisher. He joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and served as Adolf Hitler's official photographer after he took over the party in 1921. He remained in Hitler's inner circle until the end of the war. The United States Army arrested Hoffmann on May 1945 and he was sentenced to four years in prison for war profiteering.