Ernst Thälmann Stadium (Potsdam)
| Ernst Thälmann Stadium | |
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| Main stand of the Thälmannstadion | |
| Data | |
| place | Potsdam , Germany |
| Coordinates | 52 ° 23 '34 " N , 13 ° 3' 35" E |
| owner | City of Potsdam |
| opening | July 3, 1949 |
| demolition | 1999 |
| surface | Natural grass |
| capacity | 15,000 seats |
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The Ernst-Thälmann-Stadion was a central sports facility in Potsdam . It was a combined soccer and athletics stadium . The stadium was built in 1948/1949, existed for about 50 years and was demolished in 1999.
history
During the Second World War , the air raid on Potsdam caused extensive destruction in the city center. The Lustgarten and the neighboring Potsdam City Palace suffered severe damage. In the discussion that began after the war about the question of “demolition or reconstruction?” Supporters of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) advocated demolition. During the conflict, the SED-controlled German People's Police initiated the “beginning of the end of the palace area” in 1948 with the construction of the Ernst-Thälmann Stadium. From October 1948, people's police, volunteers and members of the SG Volkspolizei Potsdam built the stadium on the area of the destroyed pleasure garden. Rubble from downtown Potsdam formed the basis for spectator walls and superstructures. The namesake was Ernst Thälmann , the chairman of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) who was murdered in Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944 . Guests at the opening ceremony on July 3, 1949 were Thälmann's successor in the KPD chairmanship, SED chairman Wilhelm Pieck , who later became President of the GDR , and Rosa Thälmann , Thälmann's widow. The facility is said to have been the first major stadium to be built in Germany after the war. 20,000 spectators attended the opening. The sports complex had spectator stands, technical facilities, a lawn and a 400-meter cinder track . It had a capacity of 15,000 people.
As a result, the stadium was mainly used by Potsdam sports clubs, including SG Dynamo Potsdam (renamed PSV Potsdam in 1990) and Turbine Potsdam . The facility has served as a venue for national and international competitions several times. On May 19, 1957, Manfred Preußger set a European record in the pole vault at this point with 4.52 m. In 1966, 1970 and 1973 the Thälmannstadion was the stage destination of the Friedensfahrt , the world's most important amateur cycling race. In the 1980s, the sports facility was last modernized for around 2 million marks . The stadium has also repeatedly hosted non-sporting events such as concerts and public festivals. In the run-up to the 2001 Federal Horticultural Show in Potsdam and the planned redesign of the pleasure garden, the Thälmann Stadium was demolished after 50 years in 1999 without replacement.
Individual evidence
- ^ Hans-Joachim Giersberg : The Potsdam City Palace . Potsdamer Verlagbuchhandlung , Potsdam 1998, ISBN 3-910196-01-2 , p. 108
- ↑ A stadium was built . In: Neues Deutschland , June 30, 1949, p. 6
- ^ Photo: “The grandstand at the inauguration of the Ernst-Thälmann-Stadium in Potsdam”, information from the object database of the German Historical Museum
- ↑ Gerhard Pohl: 60 years ago, on July 3, 1949, the Ernst-Thälmann-Stadion was inaugurated - for Potsdam it was much more than just a sports facility - a brief outline . Accessed December 29, 2014.