A memorial service was held in 1972 for the murdered Israelis ©Getty Images

The Jewish Museum in Munich has launched "Twelve months, Twelve names", a project to remember the victims of an attack on the Athletes' Village at the Olympic Games 50 years ago.

Every month this year, it will tell the story of one of the victims.

Eleven members of the Israeli team and a policeman from Munich died in the terror attack.

"In 2022 Munich will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Games, which began brightly and ended bleakly," the Jewish Museum said.

"The commemoration of the victims of the attack should play a major role."

The project has been designed by the museum in conjunction with the Israeli Consulate in the city and the documentation centre which records the Nazi era.

The memorial in the Olympic Park tells the story of the 11 Israelis and the Munich policeman Anton Fliegerbauer who also died.

"When preparing the memorial site, it was very important for the families of the victims to also remember the policeman," Jewish Museum director Bernhard Purin said.

Sessions at the police academy in the city are to be held to explain what happened to current members of the police force.

During the month of February, an image of Fliegerbauer will be projected onto the police headquarters.

The facade of the Amerikahaus in the city currently features a light installation in memory of  Israeli weightlifter David Berger who was born in the United States. 

On September 5 1972, members of the Israeli team were taken hostage by a group from the Black September movement who burst into their rooms in the Olympic Village.

Many events are planned to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Games which were overshadowed by tragedy ©Getty Images
Many events are planned to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Games which were overshadowed by tragedy ©Getty Images

Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg and weightlifter Yossef Romano died in the initial assault.

The attackers demanded that the Israeli Government release members of their group from prison in Israel.

After a tense standoff lasting a day, the group were taken to the Fürstenfeldbruck airport where all the hostages died in a firefight.

The Games briefly stopped for a service of remembrance in the Olympic Stadium.

"The Games must go," International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage famously declared.

He was later widely criticised for insensitivity after a speech compared the killing of the hostages with a political dispute over the participation of the Rhodesian team in the days before the Games.