Hertha Berlin - The Stadium – Olympiastadion - Capacity:      74,400 All Seater

The Stadium – Olympiastadion
Olympischer Platz 3, Berlin 14053
The stadium itself appears almost monumental from the outside – a perfect elliptical structure of finest German limestone.  In fact some of the original inspiration of the design was taken from Rome’s Coliseum.  The original architect, Werner March designed the stadium, with clear input from both Adolf Hitler, and his chief architect Albert Speer.  It was meant to be a showpiece arena, where Hitler could show the world the power of the German state, both in terms of athletics and in edifices during the 1936 games.

After the Berlin wall fell in 1989, and unification gathered pace, the stadium was granted funds to begin to update its facilities.  The host club, Hertha Berlin, were invited to join the inaugural German Bundesliga, and redevelopment was necessary to bring the standard of the ground up to those in the west.  However, funds were not available to add probably the most important thing for a spectator – a roof.  Berlin is not known for its warm barmy winter’s evenings, and so their loyal fans had to endure the elements whilst watching their team.  In 1998 a decision was taken to begin the complete modernisation of the stadium by the local state government.  The work, which took over four years to complete, saw the whole of the inside of the stadium demolished and replaced, piece by piece as well as the much needed roof being added.  All of this construction took place with events continuing to take place in the stadium, albeit with a reduced capacity.  The redevelopment work included the removal of every limestone block to be cleaned, and then replaced – a job akin to completing a huge jigsaw puzzle. 

The reconstructed stadium was finally finished in time for Hertha’s first game of the 2004/05 season with VfL Bochum and underlined the venue as one of the most modern stadiums in the world, and a venue fit for the World Cup Final in 2006.  The stadium also hosted matches five other matches, including the quarter final penalties victory for Germany over Argentina. Hertha 2 Stuttagrt 0.AVI

Who Plays There?
Berlin has never been a one team city.  Whilst the majority of football fans in Europe can quite easily recognise that Hertha Berlin are the only team from the old East Germany now playing in the Bundesliga, there is much more to the history of football in the city than just Hertha.  After merging with local rivals Berliner Sport Club the team went on to reach an unprecedented six consecutive championship finals, losing the first four before beating Holstein Kiel in 1930, then Munich 1860 in 1931.  

After the Second World War, the club became homeless as their “Plumpe” ground had to be demolished due to war damage, and the Allied Forces prevented them from playing in the newly formed East German championships until 1950.  However, the club kept fighting and were asked to represent Berlin when Germany launched its first professional league in 1963.  This in itself caused significant controversy as the winner of the previous three championships had actually been Tasmania Berlin and not Hertha.  However, Hertha were deemed to be the best team to represent the city, and the invite to take part in the league was too much of a temptation for the West German government to resist.  In order to show the strength and power of “their team”, they made the Olympiastadion available for Hertha’s home matches.  With a young Otto Rehagel (later to coach Greece to their famous and improbable 2004 European Championship win), Hertha kicked off the league campaign in front of over 50,000 against Nuremberg in August 1963.

However, due to the restrictions in place on Berlin, Hertha found it very hard to attract the players needed to compete as this level.  When given the choice between the free market economy in the West and the East’s communist ways, what player would chose Hertha?  The club tried to entice players through bribes, but an investigation in early 1965 found the tell tale financial irregularities and Hertha were expelled from the league.  Hertha soon bounced back though, and were promoted back to the top division in 1968. Meanwhile, the East German championship saw the teams from East Berlin go from strength to strength.  Vorwärts Berlin won the championship four times during the 1960’s, and Bertha’s traditional neighbours of Union Berlin also managed a cup win in 1968.  In the late 1970’s there was only one team from Berlin that people were talking about – Dynamo Berlin.  As with traditions in Russia, Dynamo was seen as the team of the Stasi, the secret police.  Dynamo became the team to beat almost overnight.  They won the East German league for the 1st time in 1979, and then went on to hold the title for the next 8 years, adding the East German cup to the collection in 1988 and 1989.  

Come unification in 1989, and the fall in power of the Stasi, then Dynamo’s influence over the league faded as quickly as it had appeared.  The fall of the wall was also a start of a new period for Hertha Berlin.  They bounced between the top two divisions for a number of years, although one interesting highpoint was the cup final of 1993, when Hertha’s amateur team reached the German Cup Final before losing 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen.  In the last years of the century, the team managed a 3rd place finish and qualified for the Champions League where wins over Chelsea and AC Milan almost saw then qualify for the Quarter Finals.  Hertha’s 6th place finish in 2006 meant a 6th successive year in Europe for the club. 

How to get a ticket for the Olympiastadion
Tickets for any event that is being played at the stadium can be booked in advanced via the website http://www.olympiastadion-berlin.de.  This includes concerts, American Football as well as Hertha matches.  Hertha also have their own ticket website at http://www.hertha.de.  Last season the average attendance at the stadium was only 47,000, meaning that for the majority of matches tickets were available on the day of the game.  Tickets range in price from €13 Euros behind the goal to €45 for one of the best seats in the house in the Sud Tribune.  The hardcore Hertha fans are found in the East Curve.

How to get to the Olympiastadion
The easiest way to reach the stadium is by either U-Bahn on line U2, or by S-Bahn on lines S5/S75.  Both of these stations are called Olympiastadion, although they are geographically separate.  The U-Bahn station is located to the east of the stadium on Rominter Allee – which will bring fans out onto the huge Olympischer Platz and the view of the famous Olympic towers.  A journey from Zoo Station in the west of Berlin is 8 stops and will take around 15 minutes.  From the east of the city, you can jump on the U-Bahn line at either Alexanderplatz or Potsdamer Platz – allow 35 from the former and 25 from the latter.

The S-Bahn station is located to the south of the stadium, and is around 200 yards from the Sudtor entrance.  Trains run from Zoo Station, Alexanderplatz and the newly constructed Hauptbahnhof.  The journey time from Zoo should be around 10 minutes. 

Finally, you can get a taxi to the stadium.  Normally they will drop you off at the end of the Olympischer Platz close to the Osttor.  A journey from Potsdamer Platz will take around 20 minutes and cost €20, from Zoo around 15 minutes and €17.  Taxi’s can be hailed in the street, found around most big hotels or by ringing 0800 2222255. 

Go to Footiemap.com for a detailed view of Football in Berlin.

Nearest Airport –Berlin Schönefeld (SXF)
Telephone:              +49 180 5000
Website:                  http://www.berlin-airport.de

Berlin Schönefeld airport is located 18km south east of the city centre, in the old East German part of the city.  The airport is used by Easyjet from Bristol, Liverpool, London Gatwick, London Luton, and Newcastle and Ryanair from London Stansted. The airport is linked directly to the city centre on S-Bahn lines 9 and 45.  Air Berlin currently use Tegel airport to the north of the city. 

The railway station is a 5 minute walk from the terminal building – the walkway is clearly signposted.  S45 runs to Westkreuz in the west of the city, whilst S9 (the “Airport Express”) runs to Zoo Station via Alexanderplatz, taking around 30 minutes. The single fare is €2.40.  A taxi to the city centre would take around 30 minutes, depending on traffic and cost upwards of €40.

Click here to see a short video of the OlympiaStadion in action.

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