Bremen bridge

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Bremen bridge
bridge
The then Osnatel-Arena in July 2007
View of the south stand in July 2007
Earlier names
  • Bremen bridge arena
  • Municipal stadium at the Bremen bridge
Sponsor name (s)
  • Piepenbrock Stadium on Bremer Brücke (1995-2004)
  • Osnatel-Arena (2004-2016)
Data
place Scharnhorststrasse 50 49084 Osnabrück , Germany
GermanyGermany
Coordinates 52 ° 16 ′ 51 ″  N , 8 ° 4 ′ 16 ″  E Coordinates: 52 ° 16 ′ 51 ″  N , 8 ° 4 ′ 16 ″  E
owner VfL Osnabrück Stadion GmbH & Co. KG
operator VfL Osnabrück GmbH & Co. KGaA
start of building November 21, 1931
opening May 22, 1933
surface Natural grass
capacity 16,100 seats
playing area 105 × 68 m
Societies)
Events

The Bremer Brücke , also known as the bridge for short , is a football stadium in the Schinkel district of the Lower Saxony city ​​of Osnabrück . The stadium is the home ground of VfL Osnabrück . The audience capacity is currently up to 16,100 seats.

Location and transport links

Site plan with the area around the stadium

The facility is located on Scharnhorststrasse and is surrounded by Schinkel's residential buildings . The closest train station is the main train station in the city ​​center , approx. 1.5 km away. The "Bremer Brücke" bus stop of the same name, which is located on Bohmter Straße, is served by the M4 bus (Hellern – Neumarkt – Belm) every 10 minutes. The regional express bus routes X273 – X276 from / to the north-eastern area also stop at the same stop. In addition, there is the 10/20 ring bus every 20 minutes (stops “Schützenstraße” and “Kreuzkirche”), which serves many outer parts of the city as well as the main train station. E-cars are also used on home game days.

The sports facility can be reached by car via Autobahn 33 and Mindener Strasse or Bremer Strasse . Due to the location in a residential area, there are no large parking spaces in the direct vicinity of the stadium; there is only one VIP parking space for around 100 vehicles in the south stand . However, the outdoor area of ​​the Gartlage hall on Schlachthofstraße can often be used for parking, which is approx. 300 meters away. The parking spaces for the coaches of the guest fans are on Buerschen Straße approx. 500 meters away.

Naming and sponsoring

Lettering on the stadium

The original name was "Kampfbahn Bremer Brücke", popularly simply the "Bremer Brücke". This name comes from the neighboring railway bridge of the railway connection to Bremen , which crosses Bremer Straße . In the meantime, the stadium was owned by the city of Osnabrück ("Städtisches Stadion an der Bremer Brücke"), but is now back in the hands of the club. In 1995 the naming rights were sold to the Piepenbrock group of companies under the direction of the long-time president and patron of VfL Osnabrück, Hartwig Piepenbrock , and the stadium was renamed “Piepenbrock-Stadion an der Bremer Brücke”.

In 2004, the naming rights were acquired by the telecommunications company Osnatel , the stadium was named "Osnatel-Arena" (own spelling: osnatel ARENA ). At the end of 2016, the naming agreement with EWE Tel , now the parent company of Osnatel, expired . The new sponsorship concept for the stadium was presented at the general meeting of VfL Osnabrück on January 16, 2017. In the future, it will bear the traditional name of "Bremer Brücke" again, for which the grandstands will be given the names of sponsors. This was implemented for the 2017/18 season: The south stand with the sponsor Stadtwerke Osnabrück was renamed Stadtwerke Südtribüne , the north stand with the sponsor Sparkasse Osnabrück was renamed GiroLive north stand .

At the end of the 2017/18 season, VfL initially announced that it would only open the west curve for certain games in the future due to insufficient capacity utilization. After fans had criticized this project, in some cases strongly, VfL announced that it would reconsider the decision and look for a solution. Shortly before the start of the 2018/19 season, Deutsche Finetrading AG announced a sponsor for the West Curve, which is why the grandstand will in future be called DFT West Curve and will continue to be open for all season games.

Ownership

The stadium at the Bremer Brücke is owned by VfL Osnabrück Stadion GmbH & Co. KG (often just called "Stadion-KG" in the club environment). This property company is in turn 95% owned by the Verein für Leibesübungen von 1899 e. V. Osnabrück (“VfL Osnabrück”) and 5% owned by Osnabrücker Beteiligungs- und Grundstücksentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (“OBG”), a subsidiary of the city of Osnabrück. The property belongs to the city of Osnabrück and is made available to the Stadion-KG by leasehold . The VfL Osnabrück GmbH & Co. KGaA , which is responsible for the operation of gambling to the first team of VfL uses the stadium on a lease and is responsible for its operation and maintenance.

history

Creation and expansion

The groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 21, 1931. SC Rapid Osnabrück built a sports facility with standing space for 9,000 on a meadow by the bridge of the railway line to Bremen. The stadium was opened on May 22, 1933 after a year and a half of construction. Since the reunification of SC Rapid with VfL Osnabrück in 1938, the stadium has been VfL's home ground. In 1939, the Bremen bridge was expanded to include a grandstand for 500 spectators. The first big game in VfL Osnabrück's new stadium is the game on November 19, 1939, when the purple-white team beat German champions FC Schalke 04 3-2 in front of 13,000 spectators. During the Second World War , the stadium was almost completely destroyed and the club had to move to the so-called Wembley Stadium , a place on Jahnstraße made available by the British soldiers , until the new building was built.

On July 27, 1946, the Bremen bridge was rebuilt and the game was resumed. In 1952 the stadium was expanded for the championship game against VfB Stuttgart . The aim was to expand the Bremen bridge to 35,000 spaces in just 18 days. After all, on April 27, 1952, there were well over 35,000 spectators in the stadium, even though official sources assumed 32,500 visitors. In those years, the transition between the west curve and the north stand could not be built for legal reasons. An allotment gardener refused to sell his property and a gap remained in the stadium for 35 years until part of the property was expropriated in the 1980s.

In 1969 the capacity of the Bremen bridge was limited to 28,500 for safety reasons. In 1968, a provisional grandstand was built for the promotion round to the Bundesliga. The topping-out ceremony for the three-sided seating and standing room was in 1974. On February 11, 1975, the floodlight system was inaugurated. These expansions were necessary to support the club's application for a place in the second division . In 2000 the grandstand was equipped with bucket seats from the old Leverkusen stadium. In the same year, the press and communication center on the south stand was completed after a year of construction. This part of the stadium, in which the office is located, was officially opened on July 23rd at an open house.

2008 to 2011: New construction of the north stand and modernization

The new north stand in 2014

On April 2, 2008, the demolition of the old north stand began, which was replaced by a modern, covered grandstand. This was used for the first time in the league game against SC Freiburg on August 22, 2008. In addition, 750 new standing spaces were created in the northeast corner, known as the “Affenfelsen”. This reduced the total capacity to 16,130 seats, but the proportion of seats increased to 5,655, around 35 percent. This enables VfL to earn more money per ticket sold. In addition, new administration rooms were created on the south stand, and the forecourt facing the city on the west curve was redesigned. Inside, a were -soil heating installed, and two each 25 square meter LED - video walls installed. The city of Osnabrück provided a connection between the outer area of ​​the north and east curve, so that you can now walk around almost the entire stadium. On January 30th, 2009 the stadium was sold out for the first time since the renovation at the home game of VfL Osnabrück against FC St. Pauli (2-2).

The last section between the north stand and the west curve could not initially be expanded because the owner of a property behind it refused to sell the property to VfL for decades due to a feud between her now deceased husband and the then VfL President Friedel Schwarze. The purchase was only completed in October 2010 after lengthy negotiations. Preparatory measures for the further expansion of the stadium began in December 2010. Two months later, work began on expanding and roofing the still uncovered section of the north stand by 503 seats.

Expansion plans for 2010/11

In the 2010/11 season there were specific plans to build a VIP tower in the still vacant north-west corner of the stadium, which could have served up twelve lounges for twelve people on a total of four floors. In addition, a fan bar was to be built behind the east curve. The association budgeted around 2 million euros for this. It was also planned to expand the west and east curves, which should increase the capacity of the stadium (again) to around 20,000 spectators. For many VfL fans, the unusual design of the VIP tower was particularly controversial. The shape of the tower was chosen because an ordinary grandstand could not have been built in this area due to the proximity to the surrounding residential buildings. The construction work was supposed to start immediately after the completion of the last section of the north stand, but not enough lounges could be rented in time, so the start of construction for the project was initially postponed. After VfL was relegated to the 3rd division at the end of the 2010/11 season, the expansion plans were abandoned until further notice.

Younger development

For the 2015/16 season , minor renovation work took place in the arena. The toilets in the east curve were renewed and the entrance to the guest block was redesigned. In 2016 it became known that the stadium will in future be equipped with LED advertising boards thanks to the cooperation between VfL and the Dutch company SportLED .

During the winter break of 2018/19, the sanitary facilities in the west curve and an electronic entry system were installed at all stadium entrances. Due to a change in the cash register system, payment by card will also be possible in future at the snack stands.

Sign of the Felix-Löwenstein-Weg behind the north stand

On April 17, 2019, the 120th anniversary of the foundation of the association, the forecourt of the office on the south stand was renamed Hannes-Haferkamp-Platz . The footpath between the north and east stands was named Felix-Löwenstein-Weg at the same time. Felix Löwenstein was a Jewish cattle dealer and butcher who was the game committee chairman at VfL. He died on April 30, 1945 in the Sandbostel concentration camp .

After VfL was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2019, the Bremen bridge had to be adapted to the current DFL requirements. Due to this, during the summer break 2019 u. a. the press seats on the north stand repositioned and expanded, the guest seats on the north stand structurally separated from the home area and the newly introduced video assistance system installed. In September / October 2019, the forecourt in front of the east curve was expanded by leveling and paving the fenced grass hill. New toilet containers were set up in this area. During the summer break of 2020, the floodlights will be upgraded from 800 to the 1200 lux required by the DFL by installing additional spotlights on the existing masts, replacing the video surveillance system and upgrading the pitch drainage .

The measures are largely financed by the city of Osnabrück, which has brought an interest-bearing reserve of 3.2 million euros into the Stadion-KG through its municipal subsidiary OBG. After the VAT has been reimbursed, Stadion-KG pays back around 600,000 euros to OBG, which means that VfL has around 2.6 million euros in public money for planning and construction work. As long as VfL is playing in the 2nd Bundesliga, the city of Osnabrück will also receive a stadium lease amounting to 20% of the ticket proceeds, which should correspond to around 600,000 euros annually. In the third division, the lease would amount to 7.5% of the income, but at least 65,000 euros.

outlook

After the promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2019, VfL wants to clarify whether and how the Bremer Brücke can meet the requirements of the DFL in the long term. A feasibility study was commissioned to find out which modernization and expansion measures would be possible at the stadium located in the middle of a residential area.

At the annual general meeting of the association on November 17, 2019, specific measures were named with which the Bremer Brücke should be made suitable for the second division. The east and west curves are to be raised and brought up to the level of the north stand, the south stand is to be given a new roof. In addition, boxes and functional buildings are to be built in the area of ​​the west curve, and a fan club is to be set up behind the east curve. For this, however, emissions reports would have to be drawn up, the development plan changed and the financing clarified. These preparatory measures were originally supposed to be completed in early 2020 in order to be able to start planning the renovation as soon as possible.

If a "complete renovation" of the existing stadium is not possible, the alternative is a new stadium building in the area around the Gartlage hall , and thus in the direct vicinity of the previous location. A fan initiative is committed to maintaining the location and the atmosphere of the stadium as part of the renovation plans.

Capacity and grandstands

After the north stand was finally completed in 2011, the stadium had 16,667 seats. These were divided into 10,475 standing places (9730 of them covered) and 6192 seats (5155 of which covered). A maximum capacity of 16,100 is specified for the 2019/20 season, 1,700 of which are in the guest area. The difference results from the renovations in the stadium interior that were carried out before the season. For risky games , the capacity is limited for security reasons. All stands of the stadium are now covered, but the roofs of the west, south and east stands are too short, so that the front rows are not considered covered.

Starting from the south, the stadium is divided counterclockwise into the following areas:

  • The Stadtwerke Südtribüne is a purely seated grandstand with a family block, the VIP grandstand, the VIP lounges and the speaker's booth. An administration building is attached to the grandstand, which houses the VfL Osnabrück office and a fan shop. One of the stadium's two video walls is attached to the roof of the south-east corner.
  • The east curve is purely a standing room with the VfL fan block, guest fans are not allowed.
  • The standing area Affenfelsen is in the north-east corner .
  • The GiroLive North Stand , which opened in 2008, is a seating stand with the press area, another family block, guest seats and so-called company boxes . These are rented from sponsors whose employees are z. B. can have food and drinks served at the seat during the game. The changing rooms and rooms for the players are also integrated into the grandstand. Since 2018, the Joe Enochs children's grandstand has also been located on the north stand, after it was previously part of the west curve. Children aged 5 to 12 can watch the game here without parents, but under supervision.
  • The north-west corner of the stadium belonged to the old north stand. In the meantime, the area is no longer used regularly for spectators, but serves as a buffer zone. The second video wall is installed here.
  • The DFT west curve is a standing room. The guest block is located in the northern part of the grandstand, while the southern part is reserved for home fans. The former changing rooms of the players are attached to the grandstand, today the rooms are used as operational buildings. The two parts of the grandstand are separated by the old players' tunnel.

Other use

In addition to the home games of VfL Osnabrück, football games were also played at the Bremer Brücke without VfL participating.

International matches

Women's internationals

So far, nine international matches of the German women's national soccer team have been played at the Bremer Brücke . The most important was the final at the European Championship in 1989 against Norway , which was won 4-1. 23,000 spectators saw the game in Osnabrück, a record valid until April 22, 2009 for a home game for the German national team.

date opponent Result Type of game
May 10, 1989 DenmarkDenmark Denmark 1-0 Friendly match
0July 2nd 1989 NorwayNorway Norway 4: 1 1989 European Championship final
Oct 27, 1994 RussiaRussia Russia 4-0 EM quarter-finals (second leg)
July 16, 2000 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 1: 3 Tournament "100 Years of the DFB"
Apr 21, 2005 CanadaCanada Canada 3: 1 Friendly match
0June 3, 2011 ItalyItaly Italy 5-0 Friendly match
0May 8, 2014 SlovakiaSlovakia Slovakia 9: 1 Qualifying game for the 2015 World Cup
Apr 12, 2016 CroatiaCroatia Croatia 2-0 Qualifier for EM 2017
Nov 10, 2018 ItalyItaly Italy 5: 2 Friendly match

Youth internationals

Games of the men's German junior national teams were played at the Bremer Brücke, most often the U-21 national team . The most important was the quarter-final first leg of the 1996 U-21 European Football Championship against France , which ended 0-0 in front of 20,000 spectators.

date team opponent Result Type of game
27 Mar 1984 Germany U-21 Soviet UnionSoviet Union Soviet Union U-21 1: 1 Friendly match
Apr 30, 1991 Germany U-21 BelgiumBelgium Belgium U-21 3: 1 Qualifier for the European Championship 1992
Dec 15, 1992 Germany U-21 SpainSpain Spain U-21 1: 2 Qualifier for the European Championship 1994
13 Mar 1996 Germany U-21 FranceFrance France U-21 0-0 EM quarter-finals (first leg)
Nov 18, 2008 Germany U-21 ItalyItaly Italy U-21 1-0 Friendly match
Feb. 29, 2012 Germany U-18 NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands U18 1-0 Friendly match
Nov 12, 2015 Germany U-20 ItalyItaly Italy U-20 0: 2 Friendly match
05th Sep 2017 Germany U-21 KosovoKosovo Kosovo U-21 1-0 Qualifier for the EM 2019

DFB Cup games

Clubs that took part in the DFB Cup , but did not have a suitable venue themselves, have switched to the Bremer Brücke several times for individual games:

date Cup season round Home team Result Away team spectator
Aug 16, 1952 1952/53 Preliminary round Eintracht Osnabrück 1: 2 Prussia Dellbrück 02,500
Aug 12, 1994 1994/95 1 round Sportfreunde Oesede 1: 6 Karlsruher SC 13,000
0Aug 5, 2013 2013/14 1 round BSV Rehden 0: 5 FC Bayern Munich 15,000
14 Mar 2017 2016/17 Quarter finals Sports fanatic Lotte 0: 3 Borussia Dortmund 15,780
30 Aug 2018 2018/19 2nd round SV Rödinghausen 1: 2 FC Bayern Munich 16,000

Other games in DFB competitions

On July 31, 1991, the only DFB Supercup semi-final game in history between the winner of the DFB Cup, Werder Bremen , and the finalist of the GDR FDGB Cup , Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl , was played on the Bremer Brücke . In front of 4,000 spectators, the Bremen team won the game 0: 1.

On July 22, 1997, the semi-final match in the 1997 DFB League Cup between VfB Stuttgart and Karlsruher SC was played at Bremer Brücke , the match in front of 10,000 spectators ended 3-0. Two years later, the preliminary round match in the DFB League Cup 1999 between Hertha BSC and Borussia Dortmund took place there on July 11th, and it went 1: 2 in front of 11,000 spectators.

gallery

  • Outdoor area

  • Entrance to the office and the VIP area behind the south stand

  • Guest entrance

  • Entrance to the west curve

  • Fan shop on the south side

  • Entrance to the east curve

  • Area in front of the east curve

  • North entrance 1

  • North entrance 2

  • The north stand opened in 2008

  • Indoor

  • Ostkurve, the area of ​​the fan clubs; top right one of the video walls

  • The new covered north stand, in the curve at the back right the so-called monkey rock

  • West curve, the right part houses the guest block, lower left the children's grandstand

  • South stand with speaker booth and VIP area, in front the children's stand, behind with red seats the family area

  • Boxes, speaker booths, VIP area and camera stages

  • The Bremen Bridge in the game between Sportfreunde Lotte and Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup 2016/2017

  • The Bremen Bridge in the game between Sportfreunde Lotte and Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup 2016/2017

See also

Web links

Commons : Bremer Brücke  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Comment by VfL Osnabrück, facebook.com, September 9, 2019, accessed on September 11, 2019.
  2. ↑ History of the Bremer Brücke , vfl.de, accessed on April 20, 2018.
  3. ^ The "Bremer Brücke" stadium in Osnabrück , radiobremen.de, April 19, 2017, accessed on November 21, 2017.
  4. ↑ liga3-online.de: Osnabrück: “Osnatel-Arena” becomes “Bremer Brücke” again. Article from January 16, 2017
  5. ↑ Stadtwerke and Sparkasse Osnabrück new grandstand partners at the Bremer Brücke , vfl.de, July 28, 2017.
  6. ↑ After fan dialogue: VfL Osnabrück does not close Westkurve after all , liga3-online.de, June 1, 2018, accessed on July 26, 2018.
  7. ↑ DFT ensures continuity of the west curve , vfl.de, July 26, 2018
  8. ↑ a b Local politics supports VfL Osnabrück on their way to the 2nd Bundesliga , hasepost.de, May 28, 2019, accessed on May 29, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Our VfL Group" - organization chart of VfL Osnabrück, created by the VfL fan department.
  10. ↑ Lilaweiss.de Stadium
  11. ↑ a b After almost 60 years, the dispute over a garden property ends. In: noz.de. October 1, 2010, accessed May 29, 2019 .
  12. ↑ In Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung from July 20, 2000: "After almost a year of construction, the press and communication center was completed"
  13. ↑  Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung: VfL plans VIP tower in grandma’s garden. Edition of February 16, 2011, accessed December 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ The VIP Tower: Last chance for a quick buck? , noz.de, February 22, 2011, accessed on May 29, 2019.
  15. ↑ VfL is fighting for the VIP Tower , noz.de, March 1, 2011, accessed on May 29, 2019.
  16. ↑ VfL Osnabrück renovates toilets in the fan curve. In: noz.de. July 10, 2015, accessed June 29, 2016 .
  17. ↑ SportLED and VfL Osnabrück enter into a long-term partnership. In: vfl.de. June 14, 2016, accessed June 29, 2016 .
  18. ↑ Information on electronic admission control , vfl.de, accessed on May 31, 2019.
  19. ↑ New payment option at the Bremer Brücke.html , vfl.de, January 21, 2019, accessed on January 23, 2019.
  20. ^ In Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung of April 17, 2019: "Haferkamp-Platz and Löwenstein-Weg for the 120th VfL birthday" ; accessed on April 20, 2019
  21. ↑ Stadium renovation at VfL: Two million euros from the city? , liga3-online.de, May 9, 2019, accessed on July 31, 2020.
  22. ↑ Reconstruction measures at the Bremer Brücke , vfl.de, July 30, 2020, accessed on July 31, 2020.
  23. ↑ City of Osnabrück decides to invest in infrastructure , vfl.de, May 29, 2019.
  24. ↑ City council paves the way for VfL Osnabrück to the 2nd Bundesliga , noz.de, May 28, 2019, accessed on May 29, 2019.
  25. ↑ City of Osnabrück and VfL sign declaration of intent for the stadium , noz.de, May 29, 2019.
  26. ↑ Annual financial statements of VfL Osnabrück GmbH & Co. KGaA for the 2017–2018 financial year, available at bundesanzeiger.de .
  27. ↑ This is how VfL wants to make the Bremen bridge suitable for the second division , noz.de, April 26, 2019, accessed on May 29, 2019.
  28. ↑ Project “VfL 2024” with big plans: VfL promises: New training center 2020 at the Bremer Brücke. Accessed December 1, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Plan B by the city and VfL: Neue Bremer Brücke in the Gartlage , noz.de, January 3, 2020, accessed on January 4, 2020.
  30. ↑ mythos-bremer-bruecke.de , accessed on February 24, 2020.
  31. ↑ Stadion an der Bremer Brücke on stadionwelt.de, accessed on January 17, 2018.
  32. ^ VfL stadium. In: vfl.de. Retrieved June 29, 2016 .