The EURO 2024 stadiums  From a Yellow Wall to a Christening

Which stadium can serve as a wedding venue, which stadium has remote control like a child’s toy and which is home to women’s football? Let us introduce you to the ten stadiums in Germany that will host the men’s European Football Championship.

Munich

EURO 2024 will kick off at Munich’s Arena stadium. It is famous for its bubble-wrap facade of nearly 3,000 inflatable foil cushions that can be illuminated. It lights up in red when FC Bayern is playing and in the colours of the German flag for international fixtures. It’s one of the biggest LED facades in the world. For the previous men’s EURO in 2021, the Arena was supposed to light up in rainbow colours for Germany’s match against Hungary in protest at that country’s anti-queer policy. However, UEFA – the Union of European Football Associations – prohibited this with the argument of political neutrality. The Arena in Munich is the home ground for the men of FC Bayern, as well as for the club’s women when highlight matches are played.
 

Berlin

The Olympic Stadium in Berlin will host the EURO final in 2024, among other fixtures. The stadium was built in Nazi Germany for the 1936 Summer Olympics. Today, the listed building is highly controversial: many critics call for a different approach to the Nazi edifice and want for example the sculptures from the Nazi era to be removed or information boards to be installed that explain the building’s history more clearly. When the European Football Championship doesn’t happen to be underway, the Hertha BSC men’s team plays at the Olympic Stadium.
 

Dortmund

One of the most famous stadiums in Europe, the stadium in Dortmund is also Germany’s biggest, with capacity for 81,000 spectators. It is known all over the world for its south stand which offers standing room only for 25,000 fans. During matches of Borussia Dortmund’s men’s team, the terraces are transformed into a “yellow wall” – hordes of football tourists from abroad travel to the city just to witness this spectacle for themselves.
 

Gelsenkirchen

The multifunctional arena in Gelsenkirchen features a retractable roof, and even the turf of the pitch can be pushed out of the stadium on rails. The events staged here include biathlon competitions, concerts and boxing matches, and even the opening match of the men’s 2010 Ice Hockey World Championship took place at Schalke’s stadium. What is more, it is one of the few stadiums in Germany to boast its own chapel: church weddings and christenings can be celebrated here. In the Bundesliga, the arena is home to the Schalke 04 men’s team.

 

Köln

A record was set at Cologne’s stadium in the spring of 2023: the match played by 1. FC Köln against Eintracht Frankfurt attracted 38,000 spectators – the biggest crowd in the history of the women’s Bundesliga. This is because the stadium in Cologne is not only the home ground for the men, but also for highlight matches played by FC Köln’s women. The DFB Women’s Cup Final has also been played in Cologne since 2010. In 2023, the final between Wolfsburg and Freiburg was the first time that the stadium had been sold out – with a crowd of 44,808 – for a women’s match.

 

Hamburg

Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion had to be renovated for EURO 2024 in order to meet UEFA’s requirements. This led to a scandal, however, as the home club Hamburger SV spent the 23.5 million euros it had received for this purpose from the city on other things. In the end, the investor Klaus-Michael Kühne and other backers lent the club millions of euros so that the renovation could go ahead after all.
 

Leipzig

The Arena in Leipzig is the smallest EURO 2024 stadium and the only one in the former East Germany. It was built so that the men’s 2006 World Cup would also have a venue in the country’s east. Since there was no professional football in Leipzig at the time, however, the stadium chalked up losses. In the end, the drinks manufacturer Red Bull stepped in and established the football club RasenBallsport Leipzig, or RB Leipzig for short, which achieved a meteoric rise thanks to generous funding and has played in the Bundesliga since 2016.
 

Stuttgart

The Arena in Stuttgart was converted at a cost of around 130 million euros – significantly more than planned – for the European Championship. Stuttgart was the only stadium in Germany to have already hosted the finals of all three major European men’s club competitions. Matches in two World Cups and two European Championships have also been played at the Arena. Many German fans still remember the 2006 World Cup, when the DFB team took third place in Stuttgart. When no international championships are being played, the Arena is home to the men’s team of VfB Stuttgart.
 

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf’s Arena is a true multipurpose stadium. It regularly hosts concerts and events, including the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. In January 2024, the opening game of the men’s European Handball Championship set a world record by attracting the biggest crowd for a handball match. In the Bundesliga, it is the home ground of the Fortuna Düsseldorf men’s team.
 

Frankfurt

The final of the last world championship to be played in Germany – the 2011 Women’s World Cup – was played at the stadium in Frankfurt. For EURO 2024, the city of Frankfurt spent around 30 million euros, nearly twice the planned sum, on modernizing the stadium. The rapid approval of these additional costs was criticized by some politicians. The stadium is the home ground for the Eintracht Frankfurt men, and for highlight matches played by the club’s women.
 

 

06/2024