© DAI Athen // Hakon Rückemann
150 Years of German Excavations at Olympia
© DAI Athen // S. Gesafidis
150th anniversary of the German excavations in the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia
Since 1875, German archaeology has been dedicated to exploring this unique site. In antiquity, the Olympic Games were held here on the occasion of the festival celebrated every four years in summer in honour of the god Zeus. This was a focal point for visitors from across the Greek world and a site of symbolic political representation. With the colossal statue of Zeus by Phidias, the sanctuary also housed one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
© DAI Athen // Ulrike Schulz
To this day, Olympia – as the birthplace of the Olympic idea – continues to exert a special fascination. Each year, the archaeological site of Olympia, which has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the globe.
In close cooperation with the Greek authorities, the DAI Athens continues to investigate the sanctuary's history, which spans more than 1,500 years, while actively involved in conservation and heritage management on site.
© Geographisches Institut der Universität Mainz // A. Vött
When German excavations first began at Olympia in 1875, the work carried out at the sanctuary already stood for innovation: although excavation methods were still in their infancy, photography was already systematically used for documentation purposes. This spirit continues to this day: Olympia is home to a wide range of research projects that make use of cutting-edge technologies such as LiDAR, geoarchaeological and geophysical prospections, and artificial intelligence. In recent years, one major focus has been the digitisation of excavation documentation – some of which has been carried out as part of citizen science initiatives.
The excavation at Olympia is no longer an exclusively German project: today, international researchers work alongside German scholars to evaluate and publish finds and to carry out new research. The most recent fieldwork in areas adjacent to zones excavated in the past reveals that the sanctuary of Olympia was considerably larger than previously thought – and in some parts remains completely unexplored.
Starting in 2026, a multi-year research project is planned to investigate aspects of infrastructure and resource use within the sanctuary, focusing in particular on water management and the use of stone as a building material.
Invitation to the anniversary event
The event will include welcome addresses – including by the German Ambassador to Greece, Andreas Kindl – and lectures by Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Friederike Fless and Apl. Prof. Dr Oliver Pilz, offering insights into the latest research findings and future perspectives of the excavation.
Invitation
[Translate to English:] UNESCO-Welterbestätte Olympia
