Ostalb Arena
| Ostalb Arena | |
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| View of the playing field and grandstands from the west standing grandstand | |
| Earlier names | |
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VfR-Stadion im Rohrwang (1949–1988) |
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| Data | |
| place | Stadionweg 5 73430 Aalen , Germany
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| Coordinates | 48 ° 50 '26 " N , 10 ° 4' 19.9" E |
| owner | City of Aalen |
| start of building | 1948 |
| opening | September 4, 1949 |
| First game | September 4, 1949 VfR Aalen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 3: 5 |
| Renovations | 1964-1966 2001-2003 |
| Extensions | 1964–1966 1998–2003 2012 2014 |
| surface | Natural grass |
| capacity | 14,500 seats |
| Societies) | |
| Events | |
The Ostalb Arena (occasionally also Ostalb-Arena , proper spelling OSTALB ARENA ) is a football stadium in the East Württemberg city of Aalen and the venue for the home games of the VfR Aalen football club . It offers 14,500 places.
history
The area in the Rohrwang forest to the west of Aalen city center was assigned by the forest administration to VfR Aalen, which was looking for a new home ground, in 1947. After the surveying work was completed, the earthmoving work began in early 1948, moving a total of around 16,000 cubic meters of earth. Due to the lack of work machines, this work was done almost exclusively by hand by the club members. The completed stadium with a wooden stand and standing wall as the opposite stand was inaugurated on September 4, 1949 under the name VfR Stadium in Rohrwang with a game against the zone division club 1. FSV Mainz 05 (3: 5). The 18 m long, 9 m deep and at the front 5.20 m high grandstand had 300 seats, with 8 standing steps of 40 cm each, the stadium offered a total of 15,000 spectators.
The stadium in Rohrwang was closed for two and a half years from the spring of 1964 due to renovation and expansion work for a total of around DM 300,000 . Back in the renovated stadium, VfR Aalen played its promotion games to the second division there in the 1970s in front of up to 9,000 spectators, sometimes supplemented by additional stands. In the normal league day-to-day life of the major leagues and the lower leagues in the 1980s and 1990s, around 1,000 spectators came to the games.
In 1988 VfR Aalen sold the VfR stadium in Rohrwang for 550,000 DM to the city of Aalen because of its high debt level , whereupon the stadium was renamed the Städtisches Waldstadion Aalen .
After the south grandstand was built in 1998, the club house was rebuilt in 1999, the press and police booths were built on the south grandstand and a sanitary kiosk building was built in the northeastern stadium area in 2000, it was decided when VfR Aalen was promoted to the 2nd rank at the beginning of the millennium . The goal of the Bundesliga was to convert the stadium into a second division. It was renovated and modernized from 2001 to 2003. For this purpose, the north stand was rebuilt, a standing room was built on the west side and the standing steps on the east side were expanded. In addition, the playing field was widened by 4 m and a new sound system, a video wall and a floodlight system suitable for broadcasting on television were installed. The total costs for the expansion, which was completed in 2003, amounted to around 12.87 million euros. Also due to the intended promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga, the city of Aalen installed a turf heating system in the summer of 2008 as required by the DFL regulations. The stadium was renamed for cost reasons and the naming rights were secured by the metal recycling company Scholz AG and Scholz Edelstahl for five years.
After the promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2012, the DFL issued the license with the condition that at least 12,000 places were temporarily offered (instead of the 15,000 places actually required). Therefore, in June 2012, a temporary solution in the form of a mobile grandstand with 2,088 covered standing places was built. With the licensing for the 2014/15 season, the DFL made the expansion of the stadium to 15,000 seats in two expansion phases a requirement. According to the decision of the Aalen municipal council, the east stand was expanded from 2,088 to 3,335 standing places for the 2014/15 season, so that at the beginning of the season there were 14,500 standing and seating places available. For the 2015/16 season, the main grandstand was to be expanded by a further 500 seats.
When the League Cup match of VfB Stuttgart against Borussia Dortmund on 21 July 2003, at the same time the opening match after the reconstruction, the former Waldstadion was first sold. The record number of spectators at a game played by VfR Aalen itself was the league game against local rivals 1. FC Heidenheim on May 17, 2015. Thanks to several thousand guest fans with 14,500 spectators, the stadium was sold out for the first time in a league game. The derby ended 2: 4, and at the same time sealed the descent of VfR Aalen to the 3rd division.
The stadium has already hosted games of the 2001 European Women's Football Championship and international matches for the German women's national team , as well as games for various German junior national teams and the DFB League Cup.
The Ostalb Arena is also the venue for concerts; the number of spectators at a concert by Herbert Grönemeyer in 2003 was almost 30,000. Then the lawn had to be replaced. The city of Aalen gained national fame when it, as the owner of the stadium, turned down a concert offer by the English pop star Elton John in 2007 despite violent protests from the citizens. On May 30, 2008 Herbert Grönemeyer performed again in the Waldstadion, around 24,000 visitors came. With the appearance of the German rapper Cro on June 27, 2015 in front of around 18,000 spectators, a concert took place for the first time since 2008.
In October 2012, the name sponsor withdrew the option to stay the home of the VfR Aalen for another five years. In May 2017, Berndt-Ulrich Scholz terminated the advertising contract for the naming rights of the sports facility without notice. Accordingly, the Scholz Arena was renamed the Ostalb Arena on July 14, 2017 . Various companies from the East Wuerttemberg region will be behind the new name.
After the relegation from the 3rd football league , the capacity of the Ostalb Arena will be reduced. The city wants to terminate the lease for the mobile east grandstand and let the rank go down, since the city and VfR Aalen are expecting significantly less audience interest in the Southwest Regionalliga . The east stand holds 3,335 spectators.
Audience capacity
| Area | Number of places |
|---|---|
| Seats (north / south stand) | 4,685 (covered) |
| Standing room (east / west stand) | 9,815 (of which: 3,335 covered) |
| total | 14,500 seats |
literature
- Achim Pfeifer: The history of VfR Aalen. The long way up. Verlag Sport und Historie, Bielefeld / Aalen 2008, ISBN 978-3-9807905-5-0 .
Web links
- Stadium on the website of the city of Aalen
- Stadium on the VfR Aalen website
- Stadium guide at Stadionwelt
Individual evidence
- ↑ The OSTALB ARENA. In: vfr-aalen.de. VfR Aalen , accessed on May 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Achim Pfeifer: The history of VfR Aalen. (see section Literature), page 43.
- ^ Waldstadion becomes Scholz-Arena , schwaebische.de, June 23, 2008
- ↑ Promotion to the second football league costs the city almost 600,000 euros , schwaebische.de, May 24, 2012
- ↑ VfR: Stadium expansion in two steps? kicker.de, accessed on June 25, 2014
- ^ Mobile grandstand Stadionwelt, July 18, 2014.
- ^ Stadium expansion for VfR Aalen , nussli.com (builder of the grandstand), accessed on June 25, 2014
- ↑ Stadium expansion in two steps ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), schwaebische-post.de, accessed on June 25, 2014
- ↑ Panda mask for everyone , schwaebische.de, accessed on June 30, 2015.
- ^ Agreement on naming rights until 2018 , stadionwelt.de, October 22, 2012
- ↑ Third division soccer team VfR Aalen loses stadium sponsor Scholz. In: schwaebische.de. Schwäbische Zeitung , April 5, 2017, accessed on May 8, 2019 .
- ↑ VfR is now playing in the OSTALB ARENA. In: vfr-aalen.de. VfR Aalen , July 14, 2017, accessed on May 8, 2019 .
- ↑ VfR Aalen downsizes stadium after relegation. In: stadionwelt.de. May 8, 2019, accessed May 8, 2019 .