by Laurentz Jonker

Journal of Sports Philately Spring 2011 3

by Laurentz Jonkeredited by Mark Maestrone

For nearly the first three decades of theModern Olympic Games, the participatingathletes and their supporting team officialswere at the mercy of local innkeepers

when it came to finding a comfortable and afford-able pillow upon which to rest at night. Athletesfrom less affluent nations certainly must have beenat a disadvantage arriving at the starting line lesswell-rested than other competitors.

That all finally changed when the OrganizingCommittee of the Paris Olympic Games of 1924decided to house the athletes in a centralized villageat Colombes. With three athletes per cabin, theaccommodations weren’t plush, but at least every-one was on an equal footing. The cost for eachcompetitor was 30 francs per day. Full pension (3meals per day) plus showers, electricity, linens and

service was an additional 25 francs per day. In 2010US Dollars, that came to about $60/day/person – notan insignificant amount. Interestingly, the lastGames at which athletes were charged a fee to stayat the Olympic Village was at Seoul in 1988. The feethen? $60.96/athlete/day (in 2000 US Dollars)!

The Organizing Committee for the 1928 Amster-dam Olympic Games, hereafter referred to simplyas “the Comité,” had every intention of continuingthis benefit.

Initial plans by the 1928 Olympic Games archi-tect, Jan Wils, included the provision of an OlympicVillage for the athletes. The concept centeredaround a rebuilding of the Old Stadium, includinga new cycling track, along with a centralized“Olympic Town.” To be included were a fencinghall, exhibition hall, pavilions for wrestling andboxing, a post office and additional outbuildings.Situated between the proposed tennis stadium andswimming stadium there was an Olympic Village.

Figure 1. In the final facilities design for the 1928 Olympic Games, a new Stadium complex (at left) replaced the muchsmaller Old Stadium (center). Unfortunately, the Olympic Village was eliminated from the final plan.

4 Spring 2011 Journal of Sports Philately

The Comité foresaw a big problem: how totransport the many Olympic spectators. Without asolution, paralyzing traffic jams would certainlyensue.

Coming to the rescue, the Amsterdam TownCouncil made available – at no cost – land adjacentto the Old Stadium to build a brand new OlympicStadium. Sufficient parking would be provided infront of and behind the Old Stadium. This offer wastoo good to pass up; the Comité quickly changedtheir plans (Figure 1).

In the end, the idea for an Olympic Villageproved to be unworkable, as much for financialreasons as logistical. It was determined that a villagewith appropriate amenities could not be providedat a reasonable per-head cost to teams. The areaoriginally projected for the village was eventuallyrelegated to use as a motorcar park.

Olympic HousingDepartment

The Comité, created a special housing depart-ment within the organizing committee. The head ofthe department, Mr. L.F. Verwoerd, was instructedto assess the number of beds available for accom-modating the Olympic family and spectators. Takinginto account hotels, boarding houses and otherlodgings there were only 2000 beds in Amsterdam.

With a need for accommodations for anestimated 5000 athletes and officialsalone, not to mention the Olympicvisitors and normal tourists on summervacation, it was clear that there werenot enough rooms.

Another important question washow and where to accommodate largeOlympic delegations together under oneroof. Ideas included utilizing ships andschools. With state-run schools emptyfor the summer holidays, this optionwas possible. Additionally, there werelarge hotels outside Amsterdam yet stillwithin a 60 km. radius of the OlympicCity.

While the organizing committee’shousing department was responsible foraccommodations for the athletes andOlympic officials, a bureau needed tobe created to assist Olympic visitors insecuring lodging. The Comité turned tothe Town Council of Amsterdam forassistance. They arranged for a Housing

Bureau to be operated by the Touring Association“ ‘t Koggeschip” funded by a subsidy of 35,000 guil-ders. The Housing Bureau operated out of officeslocated at Reguliersgracht 109 (Figure 2).

Mr. H. D. van Dellen was placed in charge of the‘t Koggeschip Housing Bureau. A registry of some35,000 beds in Amsterdam and an additional 15,000in the outskirts was compiled. Of these, most ofwhich were located in private homes, fully a thirdwere rejected as not up to the standards necessaryfor Olympic visitors, demonstrating how seriouslythe comfort of the Dutch and foreign spectators wastaken.

More than 10,000 applications/requests forvisitors housing were submitted and honored. Thatwas far fewer than the Comité had expected.

Preliminary information suggested that largegroups of spectators from Germany – especiallyfootball enthusiasts – would visit en masse andrequire accommodations. This was not to be thecase. In the end, Germany spectators for the footballmatches arrived by train in the morning and re-turned home at night, so there was never a housingproblem.

Nevertheless, a total of some 4,200 Germanspectators did request accommodations, constitut-ing the largest group. Visitors from the United States(923) were the second largest group for whichlodging was found by ‘t Koggeschip.

Figure 2. Cover with corner card from the ‘t Koggeschip Housing Bureauresponsible for helping find lodging for Olympic visitors. Mailed to Toulouse,France with roller cancel of “Amsterdam Centraal Station, 19.4.28.


During the period of the OlympicGames, the ‘t Koggeschip offices wererelocated to the Central Train Station tobe convenient for arriving visitors.

Amsterdam’s tourism office, work-ing closely with ‘t Koggeschip, pub-lished a special directory (125 mm x 240mm in size) with addresses of all thehotels, boarding houses and otherlodgings (see front cover of JSP).

Athletes Housing

The housing for the Olympic ath-letes was extensive and varied. In thisarticle I will limit discussion to the mostimportant facilities used to lodge theteams.

It should be noted that there wereactually two waves of athletes. TheOlympic field hockey and football play-ers arrived early. Their competitions actually tookplace from 17-26 May and 27 May - 13 June, respec-tively. The remaining sportsmen weren’t scheduledto compete until between 28 July (opening day) and12 August. Olympic planners were thus able toallocate rooms twice, thereby reducing the numberof rooms needed for athletes.

Country Living

It was clear from the start of planning that thecity of Amsterdam could not possibly accommodateall the teams. Fortunately, there were plenty of

options for housing athletes within a reasonabledistance from the main Stadium complex.

The German Olympic teams were assigned tofacilities in the beach city of Zandvoort, about 30km. west of the Olympic Stadium. The primaryvenue was the luxurious Hotel d’Orange right on theseashore (Figures 4-8). It was here during the pre-Olympic period that the German field hockey teamand later the German rowing team resided (Figure10). Later in the Games it housed a large delegationof Argentine athletes, rowers, fencers and weight-lifters. No doubt they used the local post office tosend postcards and letters home (see front cover).

The Grand Hotel (Figure 9), also located alongthe Zandvoort beach, hosted the German footballplayers followed by the German athletics team.

Figure 3. Some teams were housed in facilities an easy driving distancefrom the city center (distances in kilometers).

Figure 4. Olympic series on cover of Hotel d’Orange toBerlin. Postmarked with double ring cancel Amsterdam2.VIII.1928.

Figure 5. The luxurious Hotel d’Orange on the beach atZandvoort was the headquarters for part of the Germanteam. Later, members of the Argentine team resided there.


Uruguay’s famous football team, winners inParis in 1924 and again in Amsterdam, resided inVelsen, also on the coast and roughly 31 km.northwest of the stadium. They were lodged at theHuize Velserbeek (Figure 11). This mansion on theVelserbeek country estate has an interestingOlympic connection. The Dutch InternationalOlympic Committee member, Baron Frederik vanTuyll van Serooskerken, a good friend of Baron deCoubertin, was raised there. Baron van Tuyll wasalso the person most responsible for bringing the1928 Olympic Games to Amsterdam. Unfortunatelyhe died in early 1924.

Following the departure of the Uruguayanfootball team, the Australian delegation took upresidence at the mansion.

Figure 10. The German rowers were also at Zandvoort. AnOlympic Weenenk & Snel postcard #88 with Olympicstamps cancelled by a Zandvoort 10.VIII.1928 postmark.While the text is not entirely clear, the name of GermanOlympic rower, Erick Hoffstätter, can be made out.

Figure 9. Because the German Olympic team was so large,it had to be split into two parts. The football players stayedat the Grand Hotel in Zandvoort.

Figure 8. Another postcard from Zandvoort, probably froma journalist to the editor of his magazine or newspaper. Thedate of 7.VI.1928 coincides with the Uruguay-Italy footballmatch.

Figure 7. The writer of this card remarks about what a goodtime he had at the beer-evening party with the Olympic(presumably German) Team. Card franked with 10cOlympic runner stamp and mailed to Bergdorf, Germanyfrom Zandvoort on 6.VIII.1928.

Figure 6. When not competing, the teams no doubt foundplenty do. Those at the seaside likely took advantage of thebeach. The inscription on the picture side of this card reads“Quartier der deutschen Olympia Mannschaft” (Quarter ofGerman Olympic Team).


The Uruguayan’s big rival were the Argentinefootball team who were well taken care of amongthe beautiful coastal dunes and park land ofBloemendaal (23 km. northwest of the stadium)where the Dutch millionaires and jet set maintaingrand homes. The footballers were lodged at theprosaically-named Hotel Duin en Daal (Hotel Duneand Valley). As at Velserbeek, the hotel was situatedon a large country estate (Figures 12-14).

The first Olympic inhabitants were the Swissfield hockey team. Also housed here later in theGames were the Swiss fencers and the athleticsteam from Sweden.

The Olympic delegation from Japan occupiedtwo hotels in Zaandam, a nice industrial towndotted with windmills about 21 km. north of thestadium on the North Sea Canal.

Figure 12. Uruguayan arch football rival, Argentina, weresurrounded by beautiful countryside at the Hotel Duin enDaal (Dune & Valley) in Bloemendaal.

Figure 13. Lovely cover from the Hotel Duin en Daalbearing the full set of Olympic stamps and postmarked withthe Amsterdam N1 Olympic cancel on 24.V.1928 (a fieldhockey day) and mailed to Burgdorf, Switzerland.

Figure 11. The Huize Velserbeek, ancestral home of Baronvan Tuyll who was instrumental in winning the 1928 Gamesfor Amsterdam. The Uruguayan football team and later theAustralians, luxuriated in this genteel manor house.

Figure 15. Registered letter to Belgium from Hilversum thehub for equestrian activity during the Olympics.

Figure 14. Postcard from the Hotel Duin en Daal with theOlympic series, canceled at Bloemendaal, 4.VIII.1928 (Day2 of the Decathlon) to Karlskrona, Sweden. The senderwas runner Björn Kugelberg of Sweden (semi-finalist in the200m and 4th in the 4 x 400m relay).


The equestrian teams found housing in the areaof Hilversum, about 37 km. southeast of the stadium(Figure 15). The area had long been a hub forequestrian activity with ideal stabling facilities forhorses. Today, this is Holland’s center for the mediaand broadcast industries.

Some of the Olympic equestrian events, particu-larly the “Grand Prix de Concours d’Hippique” onthe closing day of the Games (12 August 1928) wereheld in the Olympic Stadium. The horses weretransported by railway from the Hilversum Stationto the Amsterdam-Willemsparkweg Station near thestadium.

Urban Chic

Back to Amsterdam. A part of the British teamwas accommodated at the new Centraal Hotel derAMVJ (AMVJ: Amsterdam Society for Young Men).Some IOC members including Georges Averoff ofGreece and Comte Clary of France chose to stayhere, as did André Chevalier of the Haïtian OlympicCommittee (Figures 16 & 17).

Another portion of the British team was housedat the Hotel Lloyd in Amsterdam’s harbor (see frontcover of JSP). The building was owned by theKoninklijke Hollandsche Lloyd (Royal Dutch Lloyd)shipping company. Also staying here were theOlympic teams of New Zealand and South Africa.

The American Hotel, renowned as a meetingplace for everyone from Dutch artists to aristocrats,served as an Olympic hotel (Figures 18 &19).

Figure 16. The Centraal Hotel der AMVJ (now the GoldenTulip Amsterdam Centre Hotel) housed some of the Britishteam as well as other IOC notables during the Games.

Figure 19. Postcard of the Amsterdam-Leidscheplein withthe American Hotel at left. Olympic stamps and AmsterdamCentraal Station machine cancel, 6.VIII.1928.

Figure 17. Cover from the Hotel AMVJ with Olympic frank-ing and Amsterdam pentagonal cancel N3 on 9.VIII.1928mailed to England.

Figure 18. Cover with corner card of the American Hoteland set of Olympic stamps canceled with Olympic penta-gonal cancel N2 on 30.V.1928, U (hour) 17. This was 2hours before the football match Uruguay-Holland 2-0. Asthe Dutch football team was housed at the American Hotel,perhaps a member of the Dutch team made this cover?


The British women lived there during theGames. In the pre-Olympic period, this was thehome to the Swiss team’s hockey and footballsquads. The Dutch football team and French fieldhockey team were also housed here.

Early on in the Olympic period, the AmericanHotel was the domicile for a large delegation ofFrench participants. They also had the company ofsome Swiss Olympic Committee members: Hirschy,Wagner and Messerli.

Built in 1867, the grande dame of Amsterdam’shotels was (and still is) the Amstel Hotel at 1Professor Tulpplein (Figure 20 and front cover ofJSP). On the square facing the hotel was the postoffice where the Comité posted its mail. The headoffice of the Dutch Olympic Organizing Committeewas on the Weesperzijde, a mere 100 meters away.

As one might imagine, this hotel was reservedprimarily for the more distinguished members of theInternational Olympic Committee: IOC PresidentBaillet-Latour of Belgium, General Sherrill (USA),Lord Rochdale (England), Godefroy de Bloney(Switzerland), Marquis de Polignac (France), ComteClarence de Rosen (Sweden), etc.

Also finding space here was the French footballteam

The Hotel Schiller on Rembrandt Square was theplace for the Italian footballers to congregate (Figure21). Later it housed the Olympic delegation fromNorway (except for the yachtsmen) and IOCmember Guth-Jarkovsky of Czechoslovakia.

Those yachtsmen from Norway were ensconcedat the Hotel L’Europe along with members of theteam from Argentina (Figure 22).

Other “Olympic” hotels included the HotelSuisse, Hotel Polen, Hotel Holland, Hotel Krasna-posky, and Hotel Doelen (Figure 23).

Figure 21. Cover with corner card of the Hotel Schiller,headquarters of the Italian football. Later, it housed muchof the Norwegian team.

Figure 22. Another fine old hotel in Amsterdam – the Hotelde l’Europe – lodged the yachtsmen from Norway andsome members of the Argentine Olympic team.

Figure 20. The Amstel Hotel where most of the IOC mem-bers stayed during the Olympic Games.


Alternative Lodging

It was thought area public schools would playan important role in housing teams, yet only 18% ofathletes were assigned such accommodations. Partof the Dutch team was lodged in a school as werethe teams from France, Hungary, Poland andSweden.

Other Olympic delegations arrived in Amster-dam by ship which also served as a “hotel” for themduring the Games. The ships were moored in theharbor behind the Amsterdam Central Station. TheS.S. President Roosevelt provided both transporta-tion and a residence for the U.S. team (Figure 24).

This arrangement had its up and downs. ErnestCarter, the U.S. team’s 1,500-meter man, remem-bers living on the S.S. Roosevelt this way:

When we arrived they docked the ship by thepier, they had planned to leave it there. Of course,everybody got off the boat as quick as they could towalk around. Everybody had “sea legs” from beingon that boat for 7 days, rocking all the way across.

In this country (the U.S.) we had Prohibition anda lot of us had never seen a bar. [When teamofficials] caught two or three athletes in one of[Amsterdam’s] bars or saloons ... they got scaredand the administrators on board ship panicked.They decided to pull the ship out in the middle of theharbor. It must have been a mile away from thepier. We had to go back and forth by launch. Youcouldn't go whenever you wanted, you had to waitfor a group. You had to be chaperoned.

The boat rocked the whole time we were there.So, we never got rid of our “sea legs.” We only wonone running race outside of the two relays ... Ialways felt that it was caused by staying on boardthat ship and having it rock all the time.

Even some European teams availed themselvesof using their own transport ships as floating hotels:the Italian team onboard the S.S. Solunto, and theFinns on the S.S. Oihonna. The S.S. Oranje Nassauhosted the Irish team and part of the Belgian team.

Although the German and Polish teams arrivedby ship – the S.S. Ubena and S.S. Polonia, respec-tively – both stayed on dry land with the Germansin various hotels and the Polish athletes in a school.

In conclusion, the Housing Department, man-aged to find accommodations for all its Olympicfamily members with the vast majority in hotels(20% in Amsterdam and 28% within a short drivingdistance of the city). The remainder were assignedto schools (18%), boarding houses (9% in Amster-dam and 3% outside the city), or private lodging(4%). Shipboard accommodations provided roomfor the remaining 18%. È

References

* Official Report of the IXe Olympiade Amsterdam1928.* Model for the future, Amsterdam Olympic Games1928, Ruud Paauw.* De Olympiade, official newspaper of the Comité1928.* The economics of staging the Olympics: acomparison of the Games 1972-2008, Holger Preuss.* “News from Amsterdam,” Dale Lilljedahl,Journal of Sports Philately, Volume 40, #4 (March-April 2002).* Interview of Ernest “Nick” Carter, June 1987, byGeorge A. Hodak for the Amateur Athletic Founda-tion of Los Angeles.

Figure 24. The S.S. President Roosevelt served as notonly the transport vessel for the U.S. Olympic team, butalso the team’s floating hotel during the Games.

Figure 23. A recent photograph of the Doelen Hotel whichwas also used during the Games.

by Laurentz Jonker

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