Germany will submit a bid for the 2024 Olympics, the nation's Olympic Sports Confederation have decided, with either Berlin or Hamburg to be put forward.
The federation's executive board said on Tuesday that a later bid for 2028 has also not been ruled out.
The bid for the 2024 edition is being made despite a planned attempt by the German Football Federation to host the European Championships in the same year.
Berlin and Hamburg submitted proposals to the DOSB in September, with a decision set for March 21, 2015.
Berlin hosted the Olympics in 1936 while Hamburg is yet to host the Games. The last Games in Germany were the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Since then, Berlin (2000) and Leipzig (2012) failed to land Summer Olympics, while Berchtesgaden (1992) and Munich (2018) were not elected Winter Games hosts by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In addition, another planned Munich bid for 2022 was stopped via a referendum.
The 2024 host city will be elected by the IOC in 2017.
Berlin or Hamburg are expected to face major rivals, as the United States (which has not hosted the summer edition since Atlanta 1996) is set to bid with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington or Boston.
Istanbul, Doha, Paris and Rome are other likely candidates.
The 2016 games will be staged in Rio de Janeiro and in Tokyo in 2020.
