Sport in Frankfurt am Main

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Frankfurt am Main is important for sport as the home of well-known sports clubs , as a venue for important competitions , as a location for large sports facilities and as the seat of national sports associations .

Major sports competitions

In Frankfurt am Main there are currently three important one-day events: the classic bike race around the Henninger Tower (May 1, today: around the financial center Eschborn-Frankfurt ), the Ironman Germany (July) and the Frankfurt Marathon (October) of the professionals.

Down athletes festival

The Down Sportsman Festival has been held annually in Frankfurt am Main since 2003, and since 2005 there has been an annual continuation of the festival in Magdeburg . Several hundred people with Down syndrome (trisomy 21) can compete in various competitive sports at these events.

Sports and clubs

American football

The now defunct club Frankfurt Galaxy played from 1991 to 2007 in the NFL Europe and won four times the World Bowl : 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2006. Unofficial successor of the Galaxy is the AFC Universe Frankfurt , these occur in the German top flight GFL at .

The Frankfurt Pirates (first season 1998) have been playing in the Regionalliga Mitte since 2015, and in 2019 they were promoted to the GFL2 .

Bandy

The Rhein-Main Eissport Club , founded in 2014, was the first German bandy club in Germany.

basketball

The Fraport Skyliners (formerly: Skyliners , OPEL Skyliners Frankfurt , Deutsche Bank Skyliners Frankfurt ) have played in the basketball league since they were founded in 1999 . In 2004 they became German champions , in 2000 they won the DBB Cup and in 2014 the FIBA Europe Cup . The home venue is the Fraport Arena , a ball sports hall in Frankfurt-Höchst .

ice Hockey

The Frankfurt Lions played in the German Ice Hockey League . In 2004 they became German champions . After the Lions went bankrupt, the Löwen Frankfurt team was founded in 2010 and was again outsourced from the Frankfurt Lions' parent club - it takes part in the DEL2 .

The ice rink on Ratsweg is the team's home ground . In addition to the lions as main users, the teams of the former Bundesliga ice hockey club Eintracht Frankfurt and the EC Eisteufel Frankfurt team also play there. The youth department of the Löwen Frankfurt (former name Young Lions Frankfurt) also plays its home games here.

Soccer

German champion 1959
DFB Cup winners 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988, 2018
1980 UEFA Cup winner
German champion 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008
DFB Cup winners 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008
UEFA Cup winner 2002, 2006, 2008
The women's team of FSV Frankfurt played in the 1st Bundesliga until the division was dissolved in 2006.
German champion 1986, 1995 and 1998
DFB Cup winners 1985, 1990, 1992, 1995 and 1996

Inline hockey

The inline hockey teams of the Frankfurt Roll- und Eissport-Club (FREC) operate under the name Mainprimaten . The home games are played at the Römerhof.

in-line skating

Under the name Tuesday Night Skating , the fastest night skating in Germany takes place every Tuesday evening from April to October. Several thousand athletes ride inline skates between 8:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. accompanied by police on various distances between 34 and 48 km on public roads.

lacrosse

Lacrosse is played in Frankfurt by the lacrosse department of SC 1880 Frankfurt . The men's team - formerly Frankfurt Cosmos - became German champions in 2005 and runner-up in 2006. The women's team, founded in 2003, was third in the German championship and first in the Bundesliga South in 2006.

Running

Start of the run for more time in 2006

Several running events take place in Frankfurt am Main every year, some of which have a nationwide appeal:

  • The Frankfurt Marathon on the last weekend in October has been taking place since 1981. It is the oldest city marathon in Germany and, in terms of the number of finishers, the second largest marathon in Germany.
  • The Frankfurter Firmenlauf (official name JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge , also called Chase-Lauf for short ) is the running event with the largest number of participants in the world and takes place every summer in downtown Frankfurt .
  • Every Sunday in September, the run for more time takes place in Frankfurt am Main under the patronage of the Lord Mayor to raise money to support AIDS sufferers . The organizer is the Friends of AIDS Help Frankfurt am Main e. V., The model for this fun run were comparable “Walk for Life” events in the USA. The distances of 5000 meters and 10,000 meters are aligned one after the other. The run traditionally starts and ends at the Alte Oper , the main sponsor is the Frankfurt am Main transport company . Both groups, e.g. B. schools, parties or companies as well as individual runners and walkers . All runners have their time recorded electronically . From noon until evening on the day of the run on the square in front of the Alte Oper there will be a festival with food stalls and music performances.
Start of the Race for Survival 2016
  • "Together against breast cancer" is the motto of the organizers of the Race for Survival (until 2015: Race for the Cure ), which since 2000 has been going on the last Sunday in September on the banks of the Main for walkers over 2000 meters or as a fun run over 5000 meters . The organizer has been the non-profit Aktion Pink Deutschland eV since 2016 , the predecessor of which, the KOMEN Germany association , split from the US foundation Susan G. Komen for the Cure and renamed it. The organizers want to work towards improving the early detection and medical follow-up for breast cancer patients. Women (and men) who participate after breast cancer in this event can, as survivors do to encourage other their "Next life despite cancer" by a pink-colored T-shirt and a pink cap also clear. The first Komen Race for the Cure took place in Dallas in 1983 , and now more than 1.5 million people in over 100 cities in the United States as well as Italy and Puerto Rico take part in this largest series of 5,000-meter running events.
Run against forgetting 2010: The then city councilor Lilli Pölt (with microphone) welcomes the participants
  • Since 2004, the run against forgetting in favor of Alzheimer's patients has been held on October 3rd . Since 2008, the athletics association has been recognized as a fun run. The running route is an almost ground-level circuit in the Niddapark not far from the Ginnheimer grove and leads - for runners, walkers and wheelchair users - optionally over 5 km, 10 km or 15 km. Start and finish is in the morning at the sports club Blau-Gelb Frankfurt e. V., Am Ginnheimer Wäldchen 4. Organizers are the Ginnheimer Lauftreff and the social association VdK Germany Hesse-Thuringia .

Wheelchair dance

There are wheelchair dancers from Frankfurt and in a wheelchair Trek Club Frankfurt eV a department wheelchair dance .

rugby

The 1st team of SC 1880 Frankfurt has played in the 1st Bundesliga since the 2006/07 season. The 2nd team is active in the 2nd Bundesliga South.

Trampoline exercise

The Frankfurt Flyers , founded in 2003 , became German club champions in 2005. In 2006 they won bronze.

Turf

Several major international races are held every year on Hesse's only larger horse racing track in Niederrad .

volleyball

The United Volleys have been playing in the 1st Bundesliga volleyball division in the Fraport Arena since 2015, and training takes place in the winter sports hall next to the Commerzbank Arena . With two bronze medals in the German championship, as many semi-finals in the DVV Cup and the semi-finals in the European CEV Cup 2017, the team is already one of the most successful Frankfurt teams in this short period of time.

Historical

Ice skating and tennis

Ice skating and tennis were the favorite sports of the Frankfurters until the 20th century. In 1861 the "Frankfurter Schlittschuhclub" was founded as the first ice sports club in Germany, which merged with the "Lawn Tennis Association Palmengarten" founded in 1898 to form SC SAFO Frankfurt, which still exists today . In 1892 the second German championship in figure skating took place, the winner was Georg Zachariades .

Ice skating and tennis were preferred in the palm garden until the 20th century. After one of the first ice rinks in the world temporarily existed in Frankfurt in the 1880s, a permanent ice rink was installed in the northern area of ​​the Palmengarten in the 1890s , which required a separate ticket and became a popular meeting place for the upper class, and was one of the regular visitors Clara Schumann . In summer the track was converted into tennis courts. In addition to the palm garden, there was an ice rink in the Badeschiff on the Main, and the FREC facilities were also located on the Main.

Workers' Olympics 1925

The first major international event in Frankfurt was the 1st Workers' Olympiad in 1925. On this occasion, the new Waldstadion was built in the Frankfurt city forest and inaugurated on May 21, 1925. 3000 active athletes from twelve countries took part in the games.

In addition to the competitions in football, water sports and gymnastics, the Workers 'Olympics included a “Day of the Masses”, at which representatives of the various groups of workers' sport presented themselves. Mass free exercises were also part of it. A total of 100,000 worker athletes were probably involved. A total of 450,000 spectators attended this event. In the same year the cycling track and artificial ice rink in Frankfurt was inaugurated.

Football World Cup 1974

Besides Munich, the Waldstadion was the most important venue for the 1974 World Cup . The drawing of the preliminary round groups on January 5, 1974 in the large broadcasting hall of the Hessischer Rundfunk was already an event televised worldwide. On June 13, 1974, the opening ceremony of the World Cup took place in the Waldstadion, which had been modernized and converted for the World Cup .

Including the subsequent opening game, five matches took place there, three group II group games in the first final round and two group B games in the second final round, which replaced the semifinals at the time . The (West) German national team reached the final with a 1-0 win in the last group game against Poland . The game on July 3, 1974 went down in sports history as the water battle of Frankfurt due to the irregular space available from today's perspective .

Tour de France - place where the tour started in 1980 and stage finish

On June 26, 1980, the Tour de France 1980 (cycling race) started in Frankfurt am Main . An individual time trial over 7.6 km was held as a prologue, which the future overall winner (Tour de France 1980) Bernard Hinault won. On June 27, 1980, the city was the start and finish point of the first stage of this most famous cycling race in the world. On June 28, 1980, the second stage was started in Frankfurt, which then ran over 276 km to Metz .

European Football Championship 1988

At the European Football Championship in 1988 , the Waldstadion was one of eight venues. Since there were only 15 games in total at this European Championship, Frankfurt was also involved with only two preliminary round matches. On June 14, Italy won Group A against Spain 1-0, on June 18 England lost 3-1 to the Soviet Union.

Confederations Cup 2005

In preparation for the World Cup in the following year, the tournament for the Confederations Cup 2005 took place in Germany. Since Frankfurt was not planned as a prominent venue for the World Cup, unlike in 1974, it was given the main role among the five venues in the “Mini World Cup”, which was, among other things, a dress rehearsal for the mostly newly built stadiums. The tournament was equally strong with eight participants and with a total of 16 matches more extensive than the European Championship in 1988. The opening ceremony, the opening game (Germany against Australia), two further group games and the final took place in Frankfurt. During the final between Brazil and Argentina on June 29, 2005, the new stadium roof could not withstand the heavy rain, which then fell on the stands in a waterfall, giving Frankfurt the second time after the "Water Battle" in an important international tournament game Heavy rain impressed.

Football World Cup 2006

At the 2006 soccer World Cup , Frankfurt was one of twelve venues. In contrast to the 1974 World Cup, the city and stadium no longer played a special role; the opening and final, both semi-finals and the “home games” of the German team took place in Munich, Berlin and Dortmund, the draw on December 9, 2005 in Leipzig. Frankfurt belonged to the “middle class” of the venues, as apart from the usual four (of a total of 48) preliminary round matches, a quarter-finals were also played here. On July 1, 2006, Brazil lost 1-0 to eventual finalists France. The MainArena , where the games could be watched from both banks of the Main on a large screen anchored in the middle of the river, and the SkyArena light and sound installation were part of the extensive supporting program of the World Cup .

Football Women's World Cup 2011

At the 2011 Women's World Cup , Frankfurt was the most important of the nine venues. Two group matches and a semi-final took place here, as well as, on July 17, 2011, the final of the World Cup. There Japan was able to prevail on penalties against the USA and won the women's world championship for the first time. During the tournament, the Commerzbank-Arena was called the FIFA Women's World Cup Stadium in Frankfurt.

European football cup finals

So far, a European football cup has been presented five times in Frankfurt. On May 21, 1980, Eintracht Frankfurt won the UEFA Cup in their own stadium . In 2002 , 2004 , 2006 and 2008 the finals of the European Women's Cup took place in Frankfurt, three of which were won by 1. FFC Frankfurt . The 2004 and 2006 finals took place in the stadium on Bornheimer Hang, the rest in the Waldstadion.

DFB Cup final and German soccer championship

The DFB Cup final has been held regularly in Berlin since 1985. Until then, the final location changed almost every year. Five cup finals (1966, 1969, 1976, 1982 and 1984) took place in Frankfurt, four of which were won by FC Bayern Munich . The game on May 31, 1984 was the last German cup final that was not played in Berlin.

Before the Bundesliga was founded in 1963, the German soccer champions were also determined in a knockout system that culminated in a final. These finals also took place in Berlin during the Nazi era, but before and afterwards at different locations . Frankfurt was the venue for the championship finals in 1920, 1925, 1926 and 1960. 1. FC Nuremberg won two of its championship titles at finals in Frankfurt. The final of 1920 took place on the field of FC Germania 1894 in the Sandhöfer Wiesen , which of 1925 was the first major event in the Waldstadion, which was inaugurated two weeks earlier.

The first two "finals" for the DFB Supercup (1987 and 1988) were also held in Frankfurt, the second even with the participation of the stadium's main tenant and then DFB Cup winner Eintracht Frankfurt, who scored 0 against the German champions Werder Bremen : 2 lost.

German gymnastics festival

Gymnastics was the most popular sport in the Second Empire. Although football has now taken this rank, the German Gymnastics Festival , which has been held since 1860, is a major sporting event. Frankfurt has hosted the gymnastics festival five times: in 1880, 1908, 1948, 1983 and 2009.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ down-sportlerfestival.de >: Festival websites.
  2. ↑ 1st German Rinkbandy Cup 2014
  3. ^ Frankfurt Marathon website
  4. ↑ Lauf's website for more time
  5. ↑ Run for More Time 2014. raceresult.com, accessed September 14, 2014 .
  6. ^ Website of the Race for Survival
  7. ^ Ginnheim running club.
  8. ^ Wheelchair dancers from Frankfurt
  9. ^ Wheelchair Sport Club Frankfurt eV: RSC Dancing Department. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  10. ↑ Frankfurt.de: Home games United Volleys
  11. ↑ FNP: United Volleys miss the final of the CEV Cup
  12. ↑ A short tennis history of the Main metropolis: The triumph of the small felt ball. ( Memento from January 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ Clara Schumann: My dear Julchen: Briefe, p. 63, 1990.