It is already common knowledge that Messe Duesseldorf will take charge of organising the Deutsches Haus at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City (2002) and Athens (2004). The fruitful cooperation between the National Olympic Committee of Germany, NOK, the Deutsche Sport Marketing GmbH, DSM, and Messe Duesseldorf GmbH at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 prompted the organisers to once again entrust Duesseldorf with setting up the Deutsches Haus in 2002 and 2004.

In addition, Messe Duesseldorf has the exclusive rights of use throughout the industry to the Olympic rings, the unmistakable symbol of the Olympic Games all over the globe. From 8 to 24 February 2002, Salt Lake City will be hosting the 19th Winter Olympic Games. Athletes from 80 countries will be competing in seven sports disciplines, hoping to win as many medals as possible for their country. There will be 70 competitions in all. As venue for the 2002 Winter Games, Salt Lake City lies 1,300 metres above sea level and is the capital of the US state of Utah. Around 820,000 people live in the city's catchment area.

For the first time, there will a double Deutsches Haus at the Olympic Games. The first will be located on the campus of the University of Utah. The Olympic Village will also be situated on the campus, meaning that the university will suspend operations during the Games - time out for students and lecturers which is sure to make a welcome change!

The Deutsches Haus entitled "Alumni House" will be a meeting-point for athletes, media representatives, sponsors of the German Olympic team and their guests. Architects and interior designers are currently in the process of refurbishing the building and harmonising functional and aesthetic aspects to make sure that all target groups will feel at home in Alumni House.

For example, the entire catering area needs to be remodernised, walls installed for a number of different offices, a sports bar, lounge as well as function room set up for the daily press conferences. The workstations for broadcasting the daily "live chats" must also be seamlessly equipped with all the latest in technical gadgetry.

At Alumni House wellness and relaxation will, of course, also get all the attention they deserve: reenergising in front of crackling open fires, enjoying hot drinks, tasteful interior design and an attractive array of food will make sure that guests find much needed relaxation after a day in the ice and snow.

As yet unnamed, the second Deutsches Haus is situated in Park City, directly adjacent to where the action is. Here, athletes from all over the world will compete in the disciplines of alpine skiing, slalom, ski jump, freestyle, snowboard, bobsleigh and tobogganing as well as Nordic combined.

There will be daily live broadcasts and interviews by the two major German TV stations ARD and ZDF from Deutsches Haus. As well as enjoying the professional studio setups, athletes and media representatives also need to relax: with veal sausage and German beer on tap, there's sure to be a homey après-ski atmosphere - and rightly so because, after all, this is what the Deutsches Haus is about: making every guest feel right at home.

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