Borussia Stadium (Dortmund): history and photos

81 359 people - this is the capacity of the stadium "Borussia" (Dortmund), the largest football arena in Germany and the seventh in Europe.

If the inhabitants of Dortmund were told 40 years ago that in the center of the city there will be a football "temple" for more than 80 thousand spectators, equipped with a glass facade, heating the lawn and the largest tribune in Europe, they would only politely smile at such a bizarre idea. Today, the stadium "Borussia" (Dortmund), a photo of which is given further in the article, is Germany's largest football arena, capable of hosting a huge number of fans. In the 2004-05 season. He set a record average attendance, taking 1.354 million people. In the season 2011-12, the stadium beat him, placing a total of 1.37 million spectators.

The costs of the huge construction almost knocked down the football club financially, but this is another story, which, fortunately, was solved at the end of May 2006.

Permanent modernization

The structure is located on the Strobel alley and is known as a "temple" among the fans. It is regularly called the press, professionals and VIP-persons the most beautiful stadium in the country. This is one of the largest and most comfortable football arenas in Europe after the third phase of its expansion.

The long process of construction and transformation reached its peak when the home stadium of Borussia (Dortmund) was reconstructed before the 2006 World Cup.

Works were conducted every summer, and the BVB club invested several tens of millions of euros in the reconstruction of the old arena in 2012: grass and drainage of the southern half of the field were replaced; The southern tribune is strengthened; In the northern part, serious sanitary measures have been taken; In the part of the eastern stand where there was a corner for the press, several new VIP lodges were added; The new cameras, armed with impressive digital technologies, provided a higher degree of protection, and the exit area and the lower tier of the southern tribune received a strengthened surveillance system. And the year before, three new placards measuring 48 square meters were decorated with the stadium Borussia (Dortmund).

History of the football "temple"

"Westfalenstadion" counts from 05/04/1965. After a four-year discussion on the modernization of the somewhat outdated Rote Erde arena (the former Borussia stadium, Dortmund, whose name translates as "red earth"), the central and financial committees of the city decided not to expand it, but instead to build a new one at the expense of two western training Fields and a small area. So the first step was taken towards the creation of a completely new structure, which was nicknamed the "Twin Stadium", as it was built parallel to Rote Erde.

Official opening

The project did not gain much momentum until in the early 1970s Cologne decided not to build a new stadium, thereby allowing Dortmund to become the capital of the 1974 World Cup and to erect a new football arena. Without federal and state funding, the appearance of Westfalenstadion would have been impossible.

02.04.1974, nine years after the official decision, Westfalenstadion was officially opened with 54 thousand mostly standing places. The grand opening was accompanied by a friendly match against the team "Schalke 04". And the stadium "Borussia" (Dortmund) after that did not lose its aura. On the contrary. Radio commentators, speaking of this unique arena, called it "the temple of German football." The proximity to the field, the acoustics created by the full roof, and the unique passion of the Ruhr fans to the beautiful game created a magical atmosphere that bewitched spectators and instilled fear into the opponents.

A public opinion poll in May 2006 showed that professional football players from 18 Bundesliga clubs named their arena in Hamburg and Borussia Stadium (Dortmund) as their favorite field.

Decision of the Sports Committee

To be precise, the history of Signal Iduna Park dates back to 1961. It was then that the Sports Committee first discussed the expansion of Rote Erde Arena. In those days, which were characterized by structural changes in the Ruhr and the beginning of the crisis in the coal and steel industries, money was no less a problem than today. This makes it possible to explain why it took ten years before 04.10.71 the city council decided to build Westfalenstadion. But there was no money even then.

In 1966, the German Football Association claimed the right to host the 1974 World Cup, but Dortmund's plans to build a new stadium for a standard project worth thirty million euros were threatened to be torn down. Despite the council's decision, in an attempt to cut costs, the executive bodies continued to study the possibility of expanding the existing arena.

Canadian sample

The head of the sports department Erich Ryuttel succeeded in his proposal to build a stadium on the model of the Canadian Olympic village in Montreal using prefabricated construction techniques. It was a decisive breakthrough. Expenditures were halved, while costs for initial negotiations were estimated at 27 million marks (almost 14 million euros). By the end of construction, the costs increased by seven million marks.

Just five months later, on 19.10.70, the city council gave the plans a green light and decided to start building Westfalenstadion next year. More than 80% of 17 million euros were financed by the state, lottery and donations. The city has allocated three million marks, understanding that in 1974 the World Cup will give him an unprecedented chance to build a suitable arena - without the World Cup there would be no financing. Eventually, the temporary tribune in the southern part of Rote Erde began to collapse, and, according to the internal planning committee document, after its dismantling, the overall capacity of the structure was to be reduced to 25,000 seats.

The stadium "Borussia" (Dortmund), on the other hand, was supposed to host 56,000 fans. In fact, there were about 54 thousand of which only 17 000 seats had seats. The fact that the majority of spectators (47,000) will be protected by a roof, received a special praise from the then president of the BVB club Heinz Günther. The stadium offered the "average inhabitant" a roof over his head, which at that time was not in the order of things.

On the wave of success

Scotland, Zaire, Brazil, Holland and Sweden played the matches of the group stage of the 1974 World Cup at Westfalenstadion, and a football fever swept through Dortmund.

During these international competitions, the enthusiasm that was present during the 1950s and 1960s returned to the city, and soon it could be felt at the meetings of the teams of the second echelon of the Bundesliga. Regular attendance reached 45,000 fans - three times more than before on Rote Erde. The stream of spectators greatly contributed to the development of the club. Two years later, in June 1976, "Borussia" returned to the upper division of the Bundesliga. In 1983, the club celebrated its return to European tournaments after a 15-year hiatus. Black and yellow in 1989 won the German Cup, in 1995, 1996 and 2002 - the German Championship, and three times went to the European finals, winning one of them - the most important meeting in the 1997 UEFA Champions League match against the Italian "Juventus".

Big changes

For the entire 18-year period until 1992, the Borussia stadium (Dortmund) remained largely in its original state. However, the 14 years that followed this were marked by cardinal changes, of which there were a total of five. The capacity of the stadium in 1992 was reduced to 42,800 spectators, when seats on the North Stand were equipped with seats. In addition, the capacity of the Western and Eastern stands was increased by 6,000 seats thanks to the addition of the upper tier three years later.

The second stage of expansion allowed in 1999 to increase the capacity of the stadium to 68600 seats, when the South Stand, the base for local football fans in Dortmund, was increased to 24,454 seats, making it the largest in Europe. Standing places can be transformed into seats for the time of international meetings.

On May 6, 2002, finally, work began to cover and expand the angular zones of the stadium. First, in the north and south at the corners in the ground were clogged 15-meter piles, which later became stairs and redirected the huge load of 3,000 tons that the roof had to the platform. Another complicated engineering task was the construction of the roof. As part of this process, the corner pylons that supported the roof and, therefore, interfered with viewers sitting in new places in the extended area, were replaced by eight outer steel pylons, painted in yellow.

The third stage of modernization was completed on September 13, 2003 and not only increased the capacity of the sports facility by 14 thousand seats. The new stadium "Borussia" (Dortmund) has raised the standards of hospitality. With 3450 places in public catering establishments Signal Iduna Park on this indicator left in leaders in German Bundesliga. Despite this, the share of such institutions was a modest percentage of the total capacity of the football arena.

What is the name of the Borussia Stadium (Dortmund)?

Eight yellow pylons became an important sight of the city skyline. In December 2005, they were joined by letters with the name of the football arena, each of which - 3.5 m in height. The inscription is visible from the main avtobanov B54 and B1, black in the afternoon and glowing white at night. Borussia Stadium (Dortmund) the name in English Signal Iduna Park was acquired as a result of the sale of rights to it from 2005 to 2021 by the insurance company Signal Iduna Group. Prior to this, the football arena was named Westfalenstadion in honor of the former Prussian province of Westphalia, which became part of the land of the Federal Republic of Germany North Rhine-Westphalia.

The fruits of reconstruction

After the expansion, fans of the BVB club took their "temple of football" with great pride. And record numbers of attendance in recent years confirm this. Breathtaking construction work and phenomenal fans have made the largest arena in the Bundesliga an optimal venue for many great football performances. To be precise, after reconstruction, the capacity of the Borussia stadium (Dortmund) was 81359 spectators. And this is taking into account the dismantling of the last seats in 1974 and the demolition of the front sections, as well as modernization work carried out before the 2012-13 season.

Over the years only one football player has had a negative experience in the "temple" on the Strobel alley. 04/23/1977 Team player "Braunschweig" Danilo Popivoda, finding himself barefaced only six meters from the gate, "Borussia", brought his foot to hit the ball, and slipped on a piece of turf, generously fertilized by earthworms. He landed on the nose, and the ball stopped in front of the goal line. Then the meeting ended in a draw.

How to get to Signal Iduna Park?

The stadium is located in the southern part of Dortmund, near the Westfalenhallen conference center. The city center and the main railway station are about 3 km away. You can get to Signal Iduna Park from the B1 (north, east and west) or B54 (from the south). If you go to B1, then you should move to the street Im-Rabenleh. The stadium is located several hundred meters to the south. If you get on the road B54, then you need to turn to An-der-Busmühle and go to the east, turn to Strobel-alley, then go straight to the football arena.

It is also easily accessible by train from the main railway station. At the stadium "Borussia" (Dortmund), the composition will reach in just 5 minutes: you need to get to the station Signal Iduna Park, where you can walk to the football arena in a few minutes. Trains, as a rule, go 3-4 times per hour.

In addition, you can take the metro in the city center and get off at Westfalenhallen station, a 5-minute walk from the sports facility. The route is served by the 45th and 46th lines. In days of matches it is possible to reach the station "Stadium", which is even closer to the destination. In addition, Signal Iduna Park is within walking distance of the Theodor-Flidner-Heim station, located on the 42nd metro line.

Meal and overnight next to Signal Iduna Park

The stadium is located next to the conference center "Westfalenhallen", so there are quite a few hotels around it. "Mercure Dortmund Messe" is located directly opposite Signal Iguna Park, and it has a good reputation. The Grand Hotel Arcadia and Steinberger are also good options. The estimated fee is within 100 euros per night. And the hotel "Gildenhof" can offer cheaper options.

The stadium is located near the center of Dortmund. This is not the most interesting city, but there is more entertainment than in the vicinity of the football arena, and there you can find cheaper hotels.

How to buy tickets?

Tickets for the stadium "Borussia" (Dortmund) reviews of fans are advised to buy online, by phone, at the Signal Iguna Park ticket offices or at any of the city points of sale. The success of the club allowed him to sell almost all the seats for the matches immediately after they went on sale. Therefore, it is recommended that all carefully plan and make a purchase immediately, after the announcement of the beginning of the implementation. In rare cases, when tickets remain unsold, they can be purchased at the stadium ticket offices 4.5 hours before the start of the match. Their cost varies from 31.20 € for a place in the upper corners to 54.40 euros for the central places on the main rostrum. A ticket to the south side, where you have to stand the whole game, will cost 16.70 €. The price increases by 20% for games against Schalke and Bayern.

Excursions by Signal Iduna Park

The award-winning football club organizes hiking tours that cover dressing rooms, a tunnel for players, VIP and mixed zones - they allow you to make your own opinion about what the Borussia stadium is like (Dortmund).

The history of the club and its trophies will appear before the visitors in the museum Borusseum. The tour lasts about 90 minutes or 120 in the extended version, which includes a visit to the South Stand. Tours are usually held 2-3 times a day, usually at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00, but the schedule varies depending on the season. There are additional excursions on the weekends, including one English-speaking tour. In the days of the matches, tours are not held.

Borusseum operates daily from 10 am to 6 pm. Tickets can be purchased online, in a museum or at any other point of sale in the Dortmund area, as well as just before the start of the tour. The size of the group is limited to 40 people, and therefore it is recommended to come early. The tour costs 12.00 €, including a visit to the museum.