Album photo stadium of world cup 2006

 

Berlin	Dortmund
Frankfurt	Gelsenkirchen
Hamburg	Hanover
Kaiserslautern	Cologne
Leipzig	Munich
Nuremberg	Stuttgart

The Frankenstadion was inaugurated in 1928 in Nuremberg as home stadium to the Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg. It is located next to the Zeppelinfeld. In 1991 it recived its current name, before that it was known simply as the, Urban Stadium. It also neighbors the new Arena Nuernberg. The Stadium is planned to host five games of the 2006 World Cup.

Facilities

The available facilities at the stadium include two changing rooms for players, changing rooms for coaches, referees. Also physician and treatment rooms are available. A 300 square meter press area, an area for press conferences, and three TV studios make the Frankenstadion a truly modern stadium. 1200 square meters makes up the VIP area with place for 800 guests. To compensate for the large amount of seats there are 15,000 parking spaces with 205 for VIPs. The stadium also has track and field facilities that follow international regulation. A full sprinkler system, that feeds the grass with rain water. The pitch is also heated, and lit with a floodlight system. There are two 60 square meter video walls that provide video to the fans. There is also a full power back up system, powered by diesel generators.

History

Beginning in 1933 the National Socialists began to use the stadium as a marching area for the Hitler Youth. Following 1963 the Stadium was reconditioned multiple times so that it could meet the requirements for the soccer Federal League.

Renovations

The Frankenstadion has been renovated two times, once in 1988 to 1991, and then again renovation began again in 2002 to be ready in time for the 2006 World Cup. The 2002 renovation cost €56.2 million; the cost is split between the city of Nürnberg, The State of Bavaria and the building society which is to manage the stadium. The Stadium has had its capacity increased to 48,000. This is achieved by extending the southwest and northwest grandstand. The playing field was lowered by 1.30 meters in order to provide all seats a unrestricted view of the field. The Max Morlock place was developed as a place for fans to meet and enjoy something to eat; the total area of this place is 1,000 meters.

Getting there

The Frankenstadion is serviced by several lines of the metro. On the U-Bahn take line U1, on the S-Bahn take line S2 To get there by bus simply take the 65 line.

The Zentralstadion, located in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany is the home of FC Sachsen Leipzig. The club is currently playing in the Upper League-South.

History

In 1956 the first Zentralstadion opened, at the time it was the biggest stadium in Germany being able to hold 100,000 spectators. However, over the years it fell in to disuse and was costing the city too much to maintain. In 1997 the city of Leipzig decided to build a new stadium within the old stadium, a modern state of the art stadium only for football. The new stadium was built from December 2000 till March of 2004.

Facilities

There are bridges built over the old stadium to connect with the new stadium. The roof has an integrated floodlight design and is designed to provide supierior acoustics. The lawn size is 80x120, the actual playing field is 68x105. It has been integrated into the area surronding the stadium by large amounts of trees and other greenery.

External Dimensions

• North to South: 230 m
• East to West: 210 m
• Height to Roof: 46.5 m

Roof Area: 28,100 sq. m

The Fritz Walter Stadion is the home to the Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and is located in the city of Kaiserslautern. It is also one of the stadiums to be used in the 2006 World Cup. Named after Fritz Walter, the captain of the West German side who won the 1954 World Cup. The Stadium was built on the Betzenberg Mountain, and henced is nicknamed Betzenberg, it was inaugurated in 1926.

Renovation

In 2002 and 2003 renovation of the stadium took place. Before its 2002 renovation the stadium had a capactity of 46,600, 18,600 of those were standing. After the renovation the capactity was increased to 48,500. The Expansion also included a new floodlight system and a media center. The estimated cost of the expansion is 48.3 million Euros.

Getting There

A new railway station is being completed in preparation for the 2006 World Cup. There is also a free shuttle from the Messeplatz car park.

AOL Arena is the main stadium of Hamburg, Germany. The arena is one of the 12 stadiums to be used in the 2006 World Cup. It will host four group games and a quarterfinal. The arena was known as the Volksparkstadion until 2001 when AOL Time Warner bought the naming rights.

History

HSV actually have nothing to do with the origins of the stadium, even though they own the current arena. Before the club moved to the current site they played at Sportplatz am Rothenbaum. Bahrenfelder Stadion was the first stadium to built on the site of the Volksparkstadion and the AOL Arena. It was inagurated on September 13th 1925 with a match between FC Altona 93 and HSV, In front of a 25,000 strong crowd, HSV lost 2-3. At the time the stadium was also known as Altonaer Stadion however it was not the home ground of FC Altona 93 (it was Adolf-Jäger-Kampfbahn). Altona was a large club of Germany that has long been surpased by HSV.

After a long break the stadium was finally renovated. Between 1951 and 1953 the stadium was rebuilt. On July 12th the stadium was opened under its new name Volksparkstadion (Peoples Park Stadium). Most of the building materials came from the ruins of Elmsbüttel, a district of Hamburg destroyed under Allied bombing. The new stadium could hold up to 75,000 and was continued to be used for the various sporting events of the city.

In 1963 HSV qualified for the newly created Bundesliga, with this they moved into the Volksparkstadion, a stadium that was both larger and more modern then Rothenbaum. At this time FC Altona missed out and has struggled since. HSV begin to see some success in the Bundesliga and manage to maintain their status for years to come. HSV took titles in 1979, 1982, and 1983.

In May of 1998 HSV decided to replace the unpopular Volksparkstadion with a brand new stadium. Not only to help Germany get ready to host the World Cup but also because it was getting harder and harder to meet the safety standards with such an old stadium. The old stadium was totally demolished and the new arena was rotated 90° to provide an equal viewing experiece for all the stands and to take advantage of sunlight. The estimated cost of the new stadium was anywhere from 90-100 million Euros. The new arena serves both as a football ground and a concert hall. The capacity of the stadium during club matches is 55,000 and 50,000 during international matches when the standing sections in the north grandstand are converted into seated areas. The building permit for the new arena was issued on the 30 April 1998.The new stadium got rid of the track and field facilities that increases the distance between the pitch and the stands. The stadium was inagurated in 2000 when Germany played Greece, the home team won 2-0. With the new stadium HSV has managed to attain a 50,000 average attendance. In 2004 a museum dedicated to the history of HSV was opened.

In 2001 AOL bought the naming rights to the Volksparkstadion for 30 million marks or 15.3 million euros. This contract, with HSV, runs out in 2006 but has a provision to be renewed. However, as in many cases when naming rights are sold to corporate giants, many locals still refer to the stadium with its former name.

1974 World Cup

The 1974 World Cup was held in West Germany and the Volksparkstadion was one of the stadiums used in the tournament. In combination with the Berlin Olympic Stadium the two stadiums held all of the group A games of the first phase. Three of those were played at the Volksparkstadion. The first game played was the match between East Germany and Australia where attendance dipped to a low of only 17,000. The next game saw a bounceback with 53,300 in attendance. This was the natural result of home side West Germany playing Australia. The attendance grew for the next match coming to 60,200 as home side West Germany played neighbors East Germany, East Germany won the close game 1-0 with an 80th minute goal.

Euro 88

In 1988 the European Football Championship came to West Germany. The Volksparkstadion was chosen to be one of the host stadiums. At the time the stadium could hold 61,200 spectators. The only game of the tournament that was played at the stadium was a semi-final that saw hosts West Germany go down to the Netherlands 1-2.

Recent Matches of Importance

A record attendance was attained when HSV lost to Borussia Dortmund (2-3) on the 16th of September 2000, 55,989 people were counted.

Awards

The AOL Arena is one of UEFA's 5 star stadiums which enables it to host the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League Final.

Facilities

The pitch is heated via undersoil heaters. There are 22 positions for cameras to provide quite a few angles for TV viewers. This makes it one of the most modern stadiums in the world.

The CommerzBank Arena(in the past known as Waldstadion but is still called Waldstadion) is a 52,000 seat stadium in Frankfurt, Germany that is primarily used for soccer and American football. It is the home of the Eintracht Frankfurt and Frankfurt Galaxy. It's named "Commerzbank-Arena" since July 2005. During the 2006 World Cup, the stadium will be called "FIFA WM Stadion Frankfurt" (in English, "Frankfurt World Cup Stadium"). It was first opened in 1925 and there were already some big events in this year, for example the finale of the German Football Championship. During World War II the Waldstadion was also used for political events. For the 2006 World Cup there were carried out big modifications, the stadium was nearly completely rebuilt and modernized. Now it is one of Germany's biggest stadiums.

The Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium) is a sports stadium in Berlin. There have been two stadia on the site: the present facility, and one that was built for the aborted 1916 Summer Olympics. Both were designed by members of the same family, the first by Otto March and the second by his son Werner March.

For the 1936 Summer Olympics, and to satisfy his own political plans, Hitler's National-Socialist (Nazi) Party built the Olympiastadion surrounded by the massive Olympischer Platz. During World War II these buildings suffered little damage. After the war, the United Kingdom military occupation used it as its headquarters until 1994.

Aside from its use as an Olympic stadium, the Olympiastadion has a strong footballing tradition. Historically, it's the ground of club Hertha BSC of Berlin. It was also used for 3 matches in the 1974 Football World Cup. It will host six matches in the 2006 Football World Cup and was renovated for that reason.

The stadium is sometimes seen as controversial, as it was constructed under the Third Reich, and is a concrete, historical manifestation of Adolf Hitler's personal political dreams in 1936.

1916 to 1934. Deutsches Stadion, old Olympiastadion.

In 1912 during the 1912 Summer Olympics the city of Berlin was designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 1916 Summer Olympics. Germany's proposed stadium for this event was to be located in lands located in Charlottenburg, in Grunewald Forest, to the west of Berlin -- thus the stadium was also known as Grunewaldstadion. A horse racing-course already existed there which belonged to the Berliner Rennverein, and even today the old ticket booths survive, on Jesse-Owens-Allee street .) The government of Germany decided to keep the nearby Grunewald forest as it was, as well as the exisiting built environment. With all this in mind they hired the same architect who originally had built the "Rennverein", Otto March.

March decided to bury the stadium in the ground ("Erdstadion", in German). The project became the biggest sports stadium in the world to date with a capacity of 40,000 spectators.

Eventually, however, the Olympic Games of 1916 were cancelled due to the First World War. After this conflict, a school was founded in the vicinity of the Stadium, dedicated to the instruction of physical education professors and to do sports research. From 1926 to 1929, Otto March's sons (Werner and Walter) were assigned to build an annex for these institutions: the "Deutsches Sportforum" (German Sportforum), though the construction was intermittent because the project had little financial support.

1936. Olympischer Platz, sportfield of the Reich.

In 1931 the International Olympic Committee made Berlin the host city of the 11th Summer Olympics.

Originally, the German government decided merely to restore the earlier Olympiastadion (German Stadium) of 1916, with Werner March being again ordered to do this.

However, when the Nazis came to power in Germany (1933), they decided to use the Olympic Games as one of their global propaganda projects (headed by Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels), to promote theories of Aryan racial superiority. While Berlin would become the monumental capital of Greater Germany (Welthauptstadt Germania), according to Albert Speer it was Hitler's plan that the complex would be used to host the Olympics for all time. With these plans in mind, Hitler ordered the construction of a great sports complex in Grunewald named the "Olympischer Platz," with a totally new Olympiastadion. Architect Werner March remained in charge of the project, assisted by his brother Walter March.

Construction took place from 1934 to 1936. When the Olympischer Platz was finished, it was 132 hectares (326 acres) and had a symmetrical layout. It consisted of (east to west): Olympiastadion, Maifeld (Mayfield) (capacity of 500,000) and Waldbühne amphitheater (capacity of 25,000), in addition to 150 buildings for different sports such as swimming, equestrian events, and field hockey).

Olympiastadion

Over the original Deutsches Stadion, Werner March built the new Olympiastadion, once again buried 12 meters underground. The lower half of the structure is buried.

The capacity of the Olympiastadion reached 110,000 spectators. It also possessed a VIP stand for Adolf Hitler and his political associates. At its end, aligned with the symmetrically-designed layout of the buildings of the Olympischer Platz and toward the Maifeld, was the "Marathontor" (Marathon Arch) with a big receptacle for the Olympic Flame.

Maifeld

Maifeld (Mayfield) was created as a huge lawn (112,000 square meters, 28 acres) for gymnastic demonstrations, specifically annual May Day celebrations by Hitler's government.

Maifeld was surrounded by land elevations of 19 meters (62 feet). Although the Olympiastadion (at the east) was only 17 meters (55 feet) high.

The total capacity was 250,000 people, with 60,000 in the large stands that extended at the west end. Also located there were the Langemarck-Halle (below) and the Glockenturm (rising high).

The walls were built with sturdy stone from the area of the Lower Alps, and also feature equine sculptures (work of Josef Wackerle).

During the 1936 Olympics the Maifeld was used for polo events and several allegorical Nazi gymnastic demonstrations.

Glockenturm, the Bell Tower

This tower crowned the western end of the Reichs Sportfield planted amid the tiers of the Maifeld stands. It was very high: 77 meters (247 feet). From its peak could be observed the whole city of Berlin. During the games it was used as observation post by administrators and police officials, doctors and the media.

In the tower as well was the Olympic Bell. On its surface, the Nazi regime engraved the five Olympic Rings, a motto ("I summon the youth of the world Olympic Games 1936"), the Brandenburg Gate and an Eagle. [1]

The Langemarck-Halle

Consisted of huge halls built under the stands of the Maifeld. Pillars were raised on which hung flags and shields commemorating all the forces that participated in a battle fought in Langemarck (West Flanders, Belgium) on November 10, 1914, during the First World War.

Waldbühne, the Forest Theatre

The Waldbühne was built by using the glacial river banks of the Berlín Urstromtal. Reproduction of the old theater of Epidaurus (3rd century BC). The theater was then named "Dietrich-Eckart-Bühne" in homage to Dietrich Eckart.

Seating for 22,000 spectators goes down to a depth of 30 meters (97 feet); in the middle section was once Adolf Hitler's box. The surroundings were decorated with statues by Adolf Wamper.

During the Olympics gymnastics competitions and a myriad of cultural programs were staged in the Waldbühne.

Berlin, 1936 Summer Olympics.

In August 1 of 1936 the Olympics were officially inaugurated by Chancellor Adolf Hitler, and the Olympic Flame was lit by the athlete Fritz Schilgen.

While the Olympic Flame had been used for the first time in Amsterdam 1928, in Berlin 1936 a marathon-like tour of the Olympic Torch was introduced, from Olympia in Greece, crossing six frontiers with a journey of 3000 km to Berlin, through Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany. The original idea of this Olympic torch relay belonged to Carl Diem, who was a notorious political advisor in Germany specializing in Olympic affairs.

Four million tickets were sold for all the events of the 1936 Summer Olympics. This was also the first Olympics with television transmission (25 giant screens were scattered all over Berlin) and radio transmissions in 28 languages (with 20 radio vans and 300 microphones).

Among the sport competitions the most remembered event was the great performance of the African-American track and field athlete Jesse Owens, representating the United States of America. Owens was awarded the gold medal in 4 categories: 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, long jump and 4X100 meter relays. Comically, an angered Adolf Hitler hurriedly left the stadium after at least one of Owens' victories [2]. Complicating things even more, after the long jump events Luz Long himself (one of the athletes most publicized by the Nazi regime) celebrated Owens's victory [3]. Historically, however, the most important thing was the humiliation of Nazi dreams of racial superiority.

1939 to 1945. Second World War.

The Olympiastadion was one of the few buildings that survived not just recognizable, but almost untouched after the Second World War. It only suffered impacts of machine gun shots.

The most notorious battle around the Olympiastadion was in April 1945 when the Russian army fought to capture it. This was when the great final battle of the Second World War, with the total invasion of Berlin as the Allies' target.

In one of his last moves Adolf Hitler called for a "Volkssturm" (Popular Storm): the recruitment of all German males from 16 to 60 years old in order to add six million more combatants. This resulted in a ill-prepared army of what could almost be called "irregulars" (though they were not this by definition because they wore a military armlet).

One of the components of the Volkssturm was the Hitler Youth, led politically by Carl Diem (one of Hitler's sports advisors) and Arthur Axmann. When the Soviet army had already taken the Olympitzer Platz and knowing the terrain because his political activities, Diem called for the reconquest of the facilities offering them to Hitler's honor [4]. Eventually, the Hitler Youth suffered 2000 deaths in this futile attempt.

The only part of the Olympischer Platz that was destroyed was the Glockenturm Tower. The Third Reich used this structure to store archives (such as films). When the Soviet troops entered Berlin, all the contents were set on fire turning the tower into a makeshift chimney. The structure emerged from the fire severely damaged and weakened. In 1947 British engineers demolished the tower once and for all. The Olympic Bell (which had survived the fire and remained in its place in the tower), fell 77 meters and cracked. In 1956 the bell was rescued in order to be used as a practice target for shooting with anti-tank ammunition and was unable to sound since then. The cracked bell survives to this day.[5]

1945 to 1994. Occupied Berlin

After the war the Olympischer Platz was used as headquarters by the military ocupation forces of the UK.

The British forces settled in the places built by the March siblings (back in the 1920s). That the Third Reich had used for official sport organisms (like the Reichs Academy of Physical Training and the House of German Sports).

Soon the Occupation started a careful reconstruction of the general facilities to quickly use these again.

Since then, up to 1994, the British forces celebrated annually in the Maifeld the British Sovereign day with thousands of spectators from Berlin.

During these years in the Olympiastadion were played Bundesliga (football) matches with the Hertha Berlin as local team. In the Maifeld, also several competitions of football, rugby and polowere staged.

In the summers the Waldbühne resumed its concerts of classical music, as well the projection of movies. The theatre was also famous since was used as an improvised ring for boxing matches.

The restoration of the "Glockenturm" was carried out among 1960 to 1962, once again by the architect Werner March. The new tower became an important tourist destination with a magnificent panorama in the height of Berlin, Spandau, the Havel Valley, Potsdam, Nauen, and Henningsdorf.

Hertha Berlin

In 1963 started the Bundesliga and Hertha participated by direct invitation. Leaving it's old stadium (called the "Plumpe") to use the Olympiastadion. In August 24 played the first local match against the FC Nuremberg, ending tied 1:1.

But in 1965 the German Football Association DFB declared Hertha guilty of bribery and because of that was relegated to the lower divisions (Regional Leagues). Hertha had illegally bribed several fooball players in the attempt that they were added to the team, due their lack of interest of playing in Berlin because the construction of the Berlin Wall (1963).

In 1968 Hertha returned to the first division, and to the Olympiastadion. And in 1971 sold it's old "Plumpe".

The second half of 1970s was quite successful for the Hertha Berlin. In 1979 were disputed the semifinals of the UEFA Cup, defeated by the Red Star of Belgrade. And reached two times the finals of the German FA Cup (1977 & 1979).

In 1980s the Hertha had a declining role in the Bundesliga. Falling down to the Regional Leagues in 1986, although it later recovered reaching the Second Division (1988-1989).

In the days of the definitive demolition of the Berlin Wall (November 9 1989), arose a spontaneous feeling of sympathy between Hertha and the club FC Union from Eastern Berlin. Culminating with a friendly match at the Olympiastadion with 50.000 spectators (January 27, 1990).

In 1990 Hertha returned to the first division. Although it fell again to the Second League in 1991, until 1997.

Since 1997 Hertha averages advanced from the last places of the Bundesliga table to the firsts ones. Also participating in the UEFA Champions League since 1999. Increasing the international prestige of the club with matches against teams like Chelsea FC and A.C. Milan.