Germany has not staged the Olympic Games since its reunification in 1990, with six failed attempts following the 1972 Summer edition in Munich.

Most recently, Hamburg and Munich had bids to land hosting rights for the 2024 Summer and 2022 Winter Olympics respectively scuppered by referendums.

German officials complained about a lack of transparency in the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics bidding process, the first under the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) new approach whereby its Future Host Commission identifies and proposes its preferred candidate to the Executive Board, which can then enter targeted dialogue.

As insidethegames exclusively revealed at the time, Brisbane was installed as the IOC's preferred bidder in February 2021 before its candidature was rubber stamped at the Session later that year, dooming Rhine-Ruhr's proposal.

Germany did last year's multi-sport European Championships in Munich and the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin last month, and is also due to host next year's men's UEFA European Championship.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has long made known its ambition to stage a future edition of the Games.

It has launched a process to "work with the public to define framework conditions on the basis of which an innovative bid concept will be developed - one that will be accepted by a majority of the population".

Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Leipzig and the region of North Rhine-Westphalia are under consideration for a bid, and the DOSB insists it would use only existing or temporarily upgraded sports facilities and could feature more than one host city.

A potential Olympic and Paralympic Games bid is supported by the German Federal Government, whose State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior and Community Juliane Seifert claimed "Germany is capable of hosting major sporting events" which are "beneficial to our country".

The DOSB plans 10 talks from specialists in sports, business, sustainability and society broadcast live from mid-August, followed by public dialogue forums in the five cities and regions.

The results of the dialogue are set to be presented at the DOSB General Assembly on December 2.

The DOSB is targeting either the 2036 or 2040 Summer or the 2038 or 2042 Winter Games.

In 2019, then-German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer claimed it would be "unthinkable" for Berlin to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games 100 years on from the 1936 edition in the city, considered one of the mots controversial sporting events of all-time after being used as a propaganda opportunity by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

At least 10 countries are reported to be interested in the 2036 Olympics, while the IOC has mooted moving to a rotational host system for its Winter Games because of difficulties securing hosts for winter sport events and challenges posed by climate change.

DOSB President Thomas Weikert, elected in December 2021, claimed this bid would differ from previous attempts through its gauging of public opinion.

"'Your Ideas. Your Games'," Weikert said.

"Basically, everything that we want to achieve along this long road is reflected in that statement.

"We are not interested in simply engaging in a conversation with the public.

"We would like to discuss issues together and find out whether or not people are in favour of hosting the Games, and why.

"We would also like feedback regarding what they should look like and what would have to be changed.

"Our goal is to work together with the public in order to lay the foundation for a bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"The bid will be 'Made by Germany'.

"We want to educate, inform, and eliminate the reservations that are often attached to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and not without good reason.

"We are also intent on involving everyone, especially those who may not care about the Olympics or elite sports at all.

"After all, we are convinced that the Olympic and Paralympic Games can generate added value for society as a whole."

Weikart also said he was in "regular contact" with IOC President Thomas Bach, who drove a bid from Munich for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics which lost out to Pyeongchang in South Korea, and he and the DOSB Executive Board enjoyed "a very good relationship with the IOC".