Curt Frenzel Stadium

Curt Frenzel Stadium
	CFS
	Curt Frenzel Stadium
Earlier names
	Ice rink Augsburg
Data
place	Senkelbachstrasse 2 86153 Augsburg , Germany;
Coordinates	48 ° 22 '26 " N , 10 ° 53' 11" E Coordinates: 48 ° 22 '26 " N , 10 ° 53' 11" E
operator	City of Augsburg
start of building	1936
opening	January 5, 1938
Renovations	1978
surface	Ice surface
capacity	6,179 seats
playing area	60 × 30 m (ice hockey)
Societies)
	Augsburger Panther ( DEL , since 1936);
Events
	Ice Hockey World Championship of the U20 Juniors 1981; Germany Cup (2015-2017);

The Curt Frenzel Stadium is an ice rink in the Bavarian city of Augsburg , Swabia , where the Augsburg Panther ( DEL ) ice hockey club plays its home games. The fans often just call the system CFS for short . It has been named after Curt Frenzel since 1971 . He was the publisher of the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, long-time chairman of the Augsburg ice skating club and promoter of ice hockey in Augsburg.

description

The operator of the ice rink is the city of Augsburg. For a long time, the stadium was the only professional ice hockey stadium in Germany that was not closed. The Curt Frenzel Stadium has been closed to the hall since the 2013/14 DEL season . Next to the arena there is a second, uncovered ice surface, which cannot be used during the renovation work. However, it is planned to roof this runway by 2016 as well. Ice rink 1 (hall) is 60 × 30 m and ice rink 2 (open space) is 58 × 28 m.

history

In 1878 swimming ice rinks were built by the Augsburger EV ice-skating club in the so-called "grinding ditch". From 1936, the city of Augsburg expanded the ice rinks into a natural ice rink and finally opened on January 5, 1938. At that time, the spectator tiers consisted of earth walls, the standing steps of which were secured by wooden planks and offered space for up to 3,000 spectators.

During the Second World War , the stadium was almost completely destroyed by bombs, so that the game had to be stopped in 1944. In 1945 it was restarted by HC Augsburg , HCA "Yellow Tigers". Initially, the games were played away from home. In 1947 the stadium at Schleifgraben was back in operation, now with wooden boards. The venue was still operated with natural ice, the durability of which posed a weather-related risk for a complete game.

In 1962 the cooling pipes were installed for operation with artificial ice. On November 2, 1963, the stadium was reopened as an artificial ice stadium. On January 1, 1966, the "artificial ice rink 2" was finally opened.

In 1971, after long discussions, the roofing of artificial ice rink 1 was completed. The sponsor was the Augsburg publisher Curt Frenzel , after whom the stadium was finally named in 1971. The mandatory roofing made it possible for games to continue in the 1st Bundesliga . In 1978 the Curt Frenzel Stadium was completely refurbished and in 1998 modern VIP rooms were created, so that a total of 7,774 spectators, 1,574 of them seated, 6,036 standing and 164 in the VIP boxes , found space in the stadium.

Reconstruction and modernization

The Curt Frenzel Stadium was originally supposed to be completely closed and converted into a hall by 2012. The three open sides of the building are closed by means of a steel structure. After a feasibility study, the exact construction details are determined, the building is examined for damage that is not visible from the outside, and the statics are checked. The cabin wing was modernized in 2008. The total renovation costs were estimated at around 15 million euros.

In October 2010, after one of the new grandstands went into operation, it turned out that the spectators' view of the ice surface was severely restricted. The grandstand was torn down and rebuilt steeper, which resulted in additional costs of 2.7 million euros.

In September 2013 the conversion of the stadium into a hall was completed after the responsible architectural office changed. In addition to the construction errors, the incorrect involvement of the city council in planning changes and other irregularities also caused local political unrest.

International matches

On December 18, 1964, an international match between Germany and Switzerland took place as part of the first round of qualifying for the men's A World Cup . The final score was 2: 8 (1: 2.0: 2.1: 4). Until 1999, the national team played more international matches in the Curt Frenzel Stadium, including against the United States , Czechoslovakia , Austria and Switzerland .

From December 27, 1980 to January 2, 1981, Augsburg was one of the venues for the 5th U20 Ice Hockey World Championship .

From 2015 to 2017 the Germany Cup took place in the Curt-Frenzel-Stadion.

Audience capacity

When it opened, the stadium held 8,300 spectators, later the capacity was reduced to around 7,000 for safety reasons. Since the general renovation in 1978, there has been room for 7,774 spectators in the Curt Frenzel Stadium, 1,562 of them seated and 6,172 standing.

Due to the conversion to a closed hall, the audience capacity has changed constantly since 2010. In the 2011/12 season, the CFS offered space for around 5,000 fans due to the renovation; since the 2013/14 season, 6,139 spectators have been able to watch the Panther games. For the 2019/20 season, the audience capacity was increased to 6,179. .