Wankdorf Stadium (2005)

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Wankdorf Stadium
Inside the Stade de Suisse (July 2005)
Inside the Stade de Suisse (July 2005)
Earlier names

Stade de Suisse (2005-2020)

Data
place Papiermühlestrasse 71 3000 Bern , Switzerland
SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Coordinates 602007  /  201300 coordinates: 46 ° 57 '46 "  N , 7 ° 27' 54"  O ; CH1903:  602007  /  201300
classification 4th
owner Stade de Suisse AG
start of building 2001
First game July 16, 2005
BSC Young Boys - Olympique Marseille 2-3
surface artificial grass
costs 123.4 million CHF
capacity 32,000 seats (football)
44,500 seats (concert, maximum)
playing area 105 m × 68 m
Societies)
Events

The Wankdorf Stadium (until June 2020 Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern ) is a football stadium that is located in the Wankdorffeld district of the Swiss city ​​of Bern in the canton of the same name . It is the home ground of the BSC Young Boys football club and is the second largest stadium in the country after St. Jakob Park in Basel . It was built after the demolition of the old Wankdorf stadium in 2001, officially completed in 2005 and, in addition to its function as a football stadium, also includes a shopping center , a school, some apartments and a solar power plant. As a UEFA category 4 stadium, it belongs to the highest classification of the European Football Association. In 2008, three group matches took place here during the European Football Championship .

General

There is space for up to 32,000 spectators for football matches (up to 44,500 for other events), with the fan sector having standing space from sectors D4 to D10 since October 10, 2009. The chairs were removed at the request of fans for national games. This makes the Stade de Suisse the second largest stadium in Switzerland. It is located about two kilometers north of the city center in the Wankdorf district. The stadium is part of a shopping and leisure complex (Wankdorf Center), which, among other things, houses one of the largest shopping centers in Switzerland. The cost of the entire structure amounted to CHF 350 million, of which CHF 123.4 million was for the stadium construction alone.

Exterior view from above (2011)

The new stadium was built by the Marazzi general contractor . The construction took over three years, with over 100,000 cubic meters of concrete being used, making the stadium heavier than the Eiffel Tower . The stadium belongs entirely to a group of investors from Lucerne; The co-owners include Hans-Ueli Rihs and his late brother Andy Rihs , the former CEO and owner of the hearing aid manufacturer Sonova .

Surname

The structure was initially called "Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern" ( German  Stadium of Switzerland Wankdorf Bern ). The name goes back to the fact that it should be the national stadium of Switzerland. The naming rights were with BKW Energie until 2014, when they reverted to the stadium operator. After a long search for a new name sponsor , a "stadium patronage" for five years was agreed with CSL Behring AG . The sponsor decided not to designate the stadium with his company name and thus made it possible to rename it with the name of the previous structure “Stadion Wankdorf” on July 1, 2020. This had been demanded by fans for many years.

location

Stade de Suisse from the outside at night

The stadium is located around two kilometers from the city center. The Wankdorf district has excellent public transport connections. There is a train station almost next to the stadium, which is only a three-minute drive from Bern's main train station. This was built and opened together with the Stade de Suisse in 2005. The stadium can also be accessed by a Bernmobil bus line and a tram line .

The SBB offer trains every match day that exceptionally stop in Wankdorf due to the game. These mostly drive in the direction of the visiting team and the more distant places in the canton of Bern for their own fans.

Solar power plant

One innovation is the solar power plant integrated into the stadium roof; it was the largest of its kind in the world in 2008. The solar cells have a maximum output of 850 kW. The annual production is around 700,000 kWh. The solar power plant is currently being expanded so that it will later have a peak output of 1.3 MW.

Stadium lawn

In spring 2006, the lawn was replaced by an artificial turf field , thanks to which the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf can also be used as a concert stadium. The new lawn was inaugurated that same year with a concert by Bon Jovi and later by Robbie Williams . This allowed bands like Genesis , Bon Jovi and Herbert Grönemeyer to play in the stadium without damaging the lawn. As for EURO finals one but natural grass is prescribed, the artificial turf for the three games was UEFA Euro 2008 covered with a natural grass. After the end of the European Football Championship in 2008, the natural grass was removed immediately.

In December 2011, the Stade de Suisse was again equipped with natural turf, so that both the cup finals and the national team's games could be held in Bern again.

Since the 2014/15 season , the Young Boys have been competing on artificial turf in the Stade de Suisse instead of natural green. The reasons for returning to artificial turf are the lower maintenance costs and the better training conditions. It is currently unclear whether international matches or the cup final will continue to be played in the Bern stadium.

The Longines Stadium Clock

The old stadium clock of the Wankdorf Stadium in April 2008

The symbol of the old Wankdorf was the Longines stadium clock . As this part of the stadium in particular was world famous, this clock was put back on the square in front of the stadium at the beginning of December 2007. All preserved and renovated original parts are used. The ad first showed the result of the 1954 World Cup final : Hungary 2-3 Germany. Since April 28, 2018, however, the clock has been showing the result of the game with which the Bernese Young Boys secured the championship title for the first time in 32 years. That evening they won 2-1 against FC Luzern in front of a sold-out stadium and were thus Swiss champions in 2018. Guillaume Hoarau and Jean-Pierre Nsame scored one goal each for the Bernese. After the final whistle, the spectators stormed enthusiastically onto the field to celebrate their successful team.

Events

Concerts

Two to three concerts take place in the Stade de Suisse every year. For concerts, the Stade de Suisse offers up to 44,500 seats, depending on the stage. So far, Robbie Williams , Bon Jovi , Bruce Springsteen , Pink , Muse , Herbert Grönemeyer , AC / DC , One Direction , Foo Fighters , the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rammstein have performed.

The Energy Air of the NRJ radio stations in Bern , Basel and Zurich has been held annually in the Stade de Suisse since 2014 .

The "paw derby"

Ice hockey in the Stade de Suisse

On January 14, 2007 an ice hockey championship game took place in the Stade de Suisse in front of 30,076 spectators (European record for club games up to 2009) , the 100th derby between the SCL Tigers and SC Bern - the so-called «paw derby». For this purpose, the artificial turf surface was covered with an insulating layer and 300 kilometers of hoses with cooling liquid and then a layer of ice about five centimeters thick was applied. The game, which was sold out after three days, ended with a 5-2 win for SC Bern.

Oddities

In 2006 it was only in the sixth Super League game played here by referee Martin Salm that it was determined during game preparation that the penalty point was not around 11 meters, but 10 meters.

Web links

Commons : Stadion Wankdorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New construction of the Stade de Suisse football stadium , stadium information on the construction company's website (capacity 31,100)
  2. ↑ Stade de Suisse Wankdorf , information on the stadium at stadionwelt.de (capacity 31,873)
  3. ↑ Football EM 2008: EM stadiums , presentation of the eight stadiums for EM 2008, on fussball-em-info.de (capacity 32,000)
  4. ↑ The event location in the heart of Switzerland , information for event organizers, on the official website bscyb.ch
  5. ↑ Blick am Abend: Bern issue, 29 September 2009
  6. ^ Wankdorf Shopping Center , shopping center in the Wankdorf Center
  7. ↑ Cost comparisons in stadium construction , from the Building Construction Department of the City of Zurich (Stade de Suisse costs on page 4)
  8. ^ Christian Zürcher Emil Bischofberger: I can afford it until the end of my days. July 16, 2016, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Dario Greco: Longstanding fan wish comes true , DerBund.ch on December 4, 2019
  10. ↑ Wankdorf Stadium again from summer 2020. In: bscyb.ch. BSC Young Boys , December 3, 2019, accessed December 3, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Stade de Suisse Bern. Wankdorf - Place of the Miracle Game ( Memento from April 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). On: sport.ard.de, April 14, 2008.
  12. ↑ The new lawn in the Stade de Suisse has been rolled out , bernerzeitung.ch
  13. ↑ Bern's Stade de Suisse switches back to artificial turf ( memento from June 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), bluewin.ch from June 3, 2014
  14. ↑ Ready for the happening , Tages-Anzeiger of January 9, 2007
  15. ↑ Christine Steffen: What remains in top Swiss football? Neue Zürcher Zeitung , December 10, 2006, accessed on December 1, 2014 .