Red Bull Arena (Leipzig)

Red Bull Arena
The Red Bull Arena (2011)
Earlier names
Central Stadium (officially until June 30, 2010)
Data
place	Am Sportforum 3 04105 Leipzig , Germany
Coordinates	51 ° 20 '44.8 "  N , 12 ° 20' 53.8"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 20 '44.8 "  N , 12 ° 20' 53.8"  E
owner	Red Bull Arenabesitzgesellschaft mbH 94%: Red Bull GmbH 0 6%: RasenBallsport Leipzig e. V.
operator	RasenBallsport Leipzig GmbH
start of building	2000
opening	November 17, 2004
First game	March 7, 2004 FC Sachsen Leipzig - Borussia Dortmund II 0: 1
Renovations	2015
surface	Natural grass
costs	€ 116 million
architect	Wirth + Wirth Glöckner Architects Körber, Barton, Fahle IPL Ingenieurplanung Leichtbau GmbH Zech Planungs GmbH Leipzig (implementation planning)
capacity	42,959 places (since 2015) 44,345 places (2004)
playing area	105 m × 68 m
Societies)
FC Sachsen Leipzig (2004-2009) RB Leipzig (since 2010)
Events
International matches of the German national soccer team Premiere League Cup Final 2005-2007 Three games of the 2005 Confederations Cup Five games of the 2006 World Cup European football championship 2024 Concerts

The Red Bull Arena ( UEFA designation: RB Arena , official until June 30, 2010 and still in parlance today Central Stadium ) is a football stadium in the Saxon city ​​of Leipzig . It is the second largest stadium in East Germany next to the Berlin Olympic Stadium . The football stadium is part of the Leipzig Sports Forum and is located in the immediate vicinity of the Leipzig Arena , which was inaugurated in 2002 , the festival meadow and smaller sports facilities.

The stadium was rebuilt for the 2006 World Cup and is embedded in the green wall of the “old” central stadium , the main building of which has been retained. The Red Bull Arena is the home ground of Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and holds 42,959 spectators.

history

Festival meadow with historic bell tower (Seelenbinder tower), behind it the modern stadium

After the then DFB President Egidius Braun had linked a German application for the 2006 soccer World Cup to a venue in the new federal states , the city of Leipzig decided in 1998 to demolish the old central stadium and build a new, pure soccer stadium with a capacity of 44,345 spectators. The contract for the construction and operation of the new stadium was awarded to EMKA Immobilien-Beteiligungs-GmbH of the entrepreneur Michael Kölmel . After the final gala of the German Gymnastics Festival had already taken place in May 2002 in the stadium, which was still under construction at the time, the central stadium was opened on July 16 and 17, 2004 as part of the “1. International soccer tournament in the central stadium “(IFiZ 2004) officially reopened. The new central stadium had to pass its first international test in mid-2005 at the Confederations Cup .

The cost of the new building was initially estimated at 90 million euros, of which the federal government took over 51 million, Michael Kölmel 27 million and the city of Leipzig twelve million. In addition, there were additional costs of 26 million euros, of which Michael Kölmel paid 17 million and the city of Leipzig paid nine million.

Due to the lack of professional football in Leipzig, the maintenance of the central stadium turned out to be deficient. The stadium operator Michael Kölmel therefore considered a sale, but this failed in April 2005. Kölmel then tried to win financially strong investors for a commitment to Leipzig football, which was finally brought to a successful conclusion in the summer of 2009 with the establishment of RB Leipzig under the leadership of the Austrian beverage manufacturer Red Bull GmbH . At the end of 2009, Michael Kölmel confirmed plans to rename the Zentralstadion in the medium term, as Red Bull had secured an option to acquire the naming rights in connection with its commitment to RB Leipzig.

The stadium has officially been called the Red Bull Arena since July 1, 2010 , after the Leipzig city council did not veto a renaming in March and Kölmel sold the naming rights to Red Bull GmbH for thirty years. At the same time, the home of the then regional league promoter RB Leipzig was relocated from the Markranstädter Stadion am Bad to the Zentralstadion. To mark the occasion, RB Leipzig played a friendly against FC Schalke 04 on July 24, 2010 (1: 2).

Another renovation in 2015 reduced the total capacity of the stadium from 44,345 to 42,959 seats as the VIP and press areas were enlarged.

In December 2016, Red Bull announced that it would buy the central stadium and expand it to 57,000 seats. The renovation work started in September 2019. First of all, the embankment was secured, stairs were renovated and a new access road for emergency vehicles was created. In January 2020, work on the "wall penetration" started. For this purpose, a passage is to be created on the south side of the stadium in the direction of the historic bell tower. There will also be four new pedestrian bridges to make it easier for spectators to access the upper tiers. The major renovation work should be completed in 2021 and the first construction phase should cost around 60 million euros.

architecture

Interior view of the stadium in 2009

The curved four-part roof made of trapezoidal steel profiles characterizes the central stadium. The roof consists of the two opposite grandstand roofs and the two curved roofs. The supporting structure consists of two arched trusses inclined outwards and tensioned by cables in the longitudinal direction as well as transverse and longitudinal girders. The 17 meter high steel structure of the roof spans the stands without any supports. These consist of the lower tier with 32 and the upper tier with 22 blocks.

The architects Wirth + Wirth (Leipzig and Basel), Glöckner Architekten (Leipzig and Nuremberg) and Körber, Barton, Fahle (Freiburg) planned the stadium together under the commercial management of Wirth + Wirth. Of IPL Ingenieurplanung lightweight GmbH (Radolfzell a. B.) comes to the design of the roof truss and the statics of the roof. From Zech planning GmbH Leipzig originates implementation planning . The design is the result of an international architectural competition in which u. a. Sir Norman Foster was involved. Glöckner Architekten brought their experience in stadium construction to the consortium.

Events

Sporting events

Zentralstadion before the final of the 2007 DFL League Cup

In the spring of 2002, the Leipzig Central Stadium was the venue for the German Gymnastics Festival . Two stadium galas were held in the central stadium, which is still under construction. After final completion of the first football game was on March 7, 2004. front of 28,595 spectators when the FC Sachsen Leipzig as part of the Regional League season 2003/04 , the team of Borussia Dortmund (amateurs) received (0: 1). The official opening of the newly built central stadium took place on July 17, 2004 as part of an international soccer tournament, when FK Roter Stern Belgrade , Werder Bremen and Club Bruges were guests. On November 17, 2004, the new central stadium had its first international match. The German national soccer team defeated the national team from Cameroon 3-0 in a friendly match .

From 2005 to 2007, the final of the DFL League Cup was held in the central stadium in Leipzig. In addition, the new central stadium was one of twelve venues for the 2006 World Cup and passed its dress rehearsal at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup .

FIFA Confederations Cup 2005

The stadium was one of five venues for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup . The following games took place in Leipzig:

Thursday, June 16, 2005, group B
Brazil	-	Greece	3: 0 (1: 0)
Tue., June 21, 2005, Group A
Australia	-	Tunisia	0: 2 (0: 1)
Wed., June 29, 2005, game for 3rd place
Germany	-	Mexico	4: 3 n.V. (3: 3, 2: 1)

Football World Cup 2006

The stadium was the venue for the 2006 World Cup . In contrast to other venues of the World Cup, the stadium kept its former name Zentralstadion. The following games took place in Leipzig:

Sun June 11, 2006, Group C
Serbia and Montenegro	-	Netherlands	0: 1
Wed. June 14, 2006, group H
Spain	-	Ukraine	4-0
Sun., June 18, 2006, Group G
France	-	South Korea	1: 1
Wed., June 21, 2006, group D.
Iran	-	Angola	1: 1
Sat, June 24, 2006, round of 16
Argentina	-	Mexico	2: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 1)

German national soccer team

The following matches with the participation of the German national football team have taken place in the stadium since 2004 :

Wed., November 17, 2004, friendly match
Germany	-	Cameroon	3: 0 (0: 0)
Wed., June 29, 2005, Confederations Cup 2005
Germany	-	Mexico	4: 3 n.V. (3: 3, 2: 1)
Sat., March 28, 2009, World Cup 2010 qualification
Germany	-	Liechtenstein	4: 0 (2: 0)
Thursday, May 31, 2012, friendly match
Germany	-	Israel	2: 0 (1: 0)
Sun., October 11, 2015, EM 2016 qualification
Germany	-	Georgia	2: 1 (0: 0)
Thursday, November 15, 2018, friendly match
Germany	-	Russia	3: 0 (3: 0)

Other Events

Events with Paul McCartney (2004), Herbert Grönemeyer (2007, 2011, 2015), Genesis (2007), Bon Jovi (2008), Depeche Mode (2009, 2013), AC / DC (2009, 2016), Mario took place in the stadium Barth (2011), Udo Lindenberg (2012, 2016), Coldplay (2012, 2017), Bruce Springsteen (2013) and Helene Fischer (2015, 2018).

From July 21 to 23, 2006, the annual district convention of Jehovah's Witnesses took place in the central stadium , the largest convention ever held in the stadium.

On June 1, 2008 the closing service of the German Evangelical Trumpet Day was celebrated in the stadium. A new world record was set for the largest brass ensemble.

On June 5, 2013, took farewell match of Michael Ballack held at the Red Bull Arena. A world selection played against Ballack & Friends . The game ended in favor of the world selection with 4: 3 (1: 2). After it was initially questionable whether the game would take place in Saxony due to the flooding , it was played as planned. Part of the proceeds from the game went to the victims of the flood.

Transport links

The stadium is connected to the local public transport network via several tram lines. It can be reached from the main train station using lines 3 / 3E , 4 , 7 , 8 and 15 . In addition, special lines 51 and 56, which connect various Park + Ride areas directly to the stadium, are also used for RB Leipzig games .

See also

• List of the largest football stadiums in Germany

Web links

Commons : Red Bull Arena  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website , sportforum-leipzig.com
• Information on the history and the new building , erlebnis-stadion.de
• Pictures of the old stadium and the new building , wm-2006-leipzig.de
• Pictures of the new building , Zentralstadion-le.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The history of the Zentralstadion , stadionwelt.de, August 2, 2006, accessed on November 22, 2018.
2. ↑ Official opening of the Central Stadium Leipzig on July 16 and 17 with Werder Bremen, FC Bruges, Roter Stern Belgrade and FC Sachsen Leipzig ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), sportforum-leipzig.com, May 3, 2004, Retrieved November 1, 2011
3. ↑ Leipzig traffic jams , berliner-zeitung.de, November 15, 2004
4. ↑ Der Spiegel : Kölmel remains seated in the central stadium , April 25, 2005, accessed on November 1, 2011.
5. ↑ "Red Bull is a huge opportunity for Leipzig" , Die Welt , June 13, 2009, accessed on November 1, 2011.
6. ↑ City council says yes to the Red Bull Arena ( Memento from December 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Leipziger Volkszeitung, March 25, 2010, accessed on November 1, 2011]
7. ↑ RB Leipzig is testing FC Schalke 04 ( Memento from September 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). Announcement from RB Leipzig on the official website, June 3, 2010
8. ↑ Information about the #RedBullArena . Message from RB Leipzig on Twitter, August 21, 2015
9. ↑ Matthias Roth / Guido Schäfer : RB Leipzig buys Red Bull Arena and wants to expand the stadium to 57,000 seats. In: Leipziger Volkszeitung . December 22, 2016, accessed January 24, 2017 . 
10. ↑ Thomas Fritz: Due to the stadium renovation: RB Leipzig will not offer day tickets for the fan block from March. In: Leipziger Volkszeitung . January 9, 2020, accessed February 1, 2020 . 
11. ↑ 28,595 viewers at Premiere in the Zentralstadion ( Memento from April 23, 2004 in the Internet Archive ), mdr.de, March 8, 2004, accessed on April 29, 2010
12. ↑ http://www.ohrenblickmal.de/start.htm
13. ^ "Ciao Capitano" - the farewell game for Michael Ballack on leipzig-fernsehen.de, June 4, 2013 (accessed June 5, 2013)