Hamburg has formally submitted its bid to host the 2024 Olympics.
The letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was signed by German Olympics sports organisation DOSB president Alfons Hoermann and Hamburg mayor Olaf Scholz.
"This is a German candidature. We in Hamburg are carrying the torch but it is a festival for the whole of Germany," Scholz said.
Hoermann said: "We are inviting the international sport family to get to know our clearly colourful and increasingly diverse country."
Following the signing, the letter to the IOC was placed by German athletes' spokesperson Claudio Bokel into a specially-installed letter box in Hamburg's port area after being carried by a relay of seven active and former athletes.
"This is a moving moment. Especially now when we see how many people are coming to Germany, the Olympic Games are a signal in the right direction," Scholz said, referring to the country's efforts to house refugees.
Hamburg's bid still has to go to a referendum in the city on November 29. At the same time residents of Kiel are voting in a referendum on holding the Olympic sailing events.
Scholz said he was confident there would be "a large majority" in favour of the Olympics.
The IOC will decide on the hosts in a vote in September 2017. The deadline for formal bid submission is September 15.
Los Angeles, Paris, Rome and Budapest have also declared their intentions to bid.
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