Mercedes-Benz Arena (Berlin)

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Mercedes-Benz Arena
Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin
View from Mühlenstrasse, August 2015
Earlier names

Berlin National Arena (planning phase)
O 2 World Berlin (2006–2015)

Data
place GermanyGermany Berlin , Germany
Coordinates 52 ° 30 '22.8 "  N , 13 ° 26' 37"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 30 '22.8 "  N , 13 ° 26' 37"  E
owner Anschutz Entertainment Group
operator ASM Global
start of building September 13, 2006
opening September 10, 2008
surface Parquet
PVC - Flooring
ice
costs 165 million
architect JSK
capacity 14,200 seats ( ice hockey )
14,500 seats ( basketball )
17,000 seats ( concerts )
playing area 60 m × 30 m (ice hockey)
Societies)
Events

The Mercedes-Benz Arena (until 1 July 2015: O 2 World Berlin ) is a multi-purpose hall in Berlin district of Friedrichshain the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg .

Sports events such as ice hockey and basketball take place in the hall, as well as concerts and other events. With up to 17,000 seats and standing room, 59 spectator suites and around 2000 parking spaces, the Mercedes-Benz Arena is the largest multifunctional arena in Germany after the Lanxess Arena in Cologne . The Daimler AG since 2015 for 20 years title sponsor .

Environment and use

The hall was built on the site of the former Ostgüterbahnhof on Mühlenstrasse and is part of the Mediaspree development plan, an investor project that is intended to locate communications and media companies along part of the banks of the Spree as part of the Senate's Urban Redevelopment West program . Cinemas, a casino, a hotel, restaurants and other facilities are to be built in the spacious area around the hall.

The hall is well connected to the local public transport network via the nearby train stations or stops Ostbahnhof ( S-Bahn , regional trains, long-distance trains, bus , night bus) and Warschauer Straße (S-Bahn and U-Bahn , tram , bus) . There is also a separate landing stage on the Spree .

The client and investor was the Anschutz Entertainment Group , which operates and advertises stadiums, halls and theaters around the world. The company Telefónica Germany ( O 2 ) acquired the initial naming rights to the arena, which was still listed as the Berlin National Arena in an urban planning concept from 2001 , even before the foundation stone was laid in 2006. Over the term (10-15 years) there were different information, also about the purchase price, which should have been between 15 million euros and a three-digit million amount.

The hall is home to the ice hockey club Eisbären Berlin and the basketball club Alba Berlin . In 2009 and 2016, the Final Four of the ULEB Euroleague was held in the O 2 World Berlin and the Mercedes-Benz Arena . It is also used for other events, for example as a stage for sports events or concerts and as a meeting room. The MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 took place in the O 2 World Berlin.

In the worldwide Pollstar ranking of visitor numbers, the hall was in 13th place with 230,857 visitors in the first half of 2010, behind the former namesake O 2 World Hamburg operated by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (8th place with 296,025 guests, today: Barclaycard Arena ) Compared to 2008 (94th place) and 2009 (46th place) again considerably. The Mannheim SAP Arena (116,442 visitors), in 58th place, the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf (93,498), in 62nd place the Lanxess Arena in Cologne (89,222), and in 71st place the Munich Olympiahalle (82,272) follow at a considerable distance The Hanoverian TUI Arena (81.268) and the Oberhausen König-Pilsener-Arena (58.225) in 97th place.

Best Buddies Friendship Bear by Romero Britto

In 2011, a Best Buddies Friendship Bear by Brazilian artist Romero Britto was set up on the site to commemorate people with intellectual disabilities who inspire society. Since the opening in September 2008, all outstanding artists and athletes who are guests in the hall - so far among others Eric Clapton , Madonna , Beyoncé , Helene Fischer , Thirty Seconds to Mars as well as Dirk Nowitzki or Wladimir Klitschko , have received an individual for the 35 cm Berlin Buddy Bears made by the artist or athlete and designed by the painter Klio Karadim .

On the occasion of the Berlin Leuchtet 2013 campaign   , the artist Jakob Kupfer transformed the O 2 World into a temporary art installation. With 300,000 LED clusters and a size of 116 meters × 12 meters, the glazed main facade was one of the largest LED outdoor installations in the world.

As part of the renaming, the appearance of the hall was redesigned in summer 2015. In addition to replacing the lettering, it included changed colors in the interior and exterior as well as a conversion of the escape staircases.

Technical specifications

  • Arena area: 60,000 m²
  • Gross volume: 500,000 m³
  • Height: 35 m
  • Width: 130 m
  • Length: 160 m
  • Ice hockey rink: 60 m × 30 m
  • Up to 17,000 seats and standing places

criticism

The construction project was criticized several times even before it was completed. The laying of the foundation stone was accompanied by a demonstration by several hundred opponents of the Mediaspree project. The facility was accused of being largely responsible for the ongoing gentrification of the surrounding neighborhoods , of creating precarious working conditions and devaluing the environment with oversized advertising monitors.

While the project proponents emphasized the economic upgrading of the area and the up to 2000 new jobs created according to the operator, the critics referred to the subsidies with which the project is funded from public funds, while at the same time the grants for the already existing city event halls are increasing because they will be less busy in the future.

Another annoyance was that part of the listed remains of the rear wall East Side Gallery was removed in order to be able to realize a direct jetty on the Spree for the event hall.

The fans of the Eisbären Berlin, who come to the home games in the hall - mostly equipped with season tickets - complained for months about the high prices and the poor quality of the food and drinks. The discussion about this took place increasingly in public and culminated in a demonstration in January 2009.

Web links

Commons : Mercedes-Benz Arena  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Concert list of the O 2 World Berlin and the Mercedes-Benz Arena (English)
  2. Mercedes-Benz and the Anschutz Entertainment Group expand their partnership website Mercedes-Benz Arena, January 21, 2015.
  3. ^ Spree area Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. Guiding principles and concepts , published by the Senate Department for Urban Development, Berlin 2001, p. 27.
  4. 'Pollstar' ranking: O 2 World Hamburg in top position. ( Memento from August 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) At: musikmarkt.de
  5. presseportal.de: 2009 - O 2 World draws a positive balance
  6. Best Buddies Friendship Bear ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Britto's website, accessed March 3, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.britto.com
  7. Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin - Eric Clapton - Artists - Past Dates . Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  8. Guest gift from O2 World Berlin - the Berlin Buddy Bear .
  9. www.berlin-leuchtet.de .
  10. Homepage of Jakob Kupfer .
  11. Schedule: Redesign of the Mercedes-Benz Arena from July 1, 2015. Mercedes-Benz Arena website, June 30, 2015, accessed on July 3, 2015 .
  12. Data & facts
  13. 1000 demonstrators at the opening of O 2 World
  14. Disneyland on the Spree. In: Junge Welt from September 10, 2008
  15. a b Explanation of the points of criticism. In: Junge Welt from September 10, 2008
  16. Mediaspree - what now? In: Deutschlandradio on September 2, 2008
  17. The O 2 World opens on September 10th. In: Berliner Morgenpost , July 10, 2008
  18. Berlin is divided again. In: Kölnische Rundschau , July 10, 2008
  19. Fan protests for a better O 2 World. In: BZ of January 19, 2009