Waldstadion (Frankfurt)

The Waldstadion [ˈvalt.ʃtaːdi̯ɔn] (English: Forest Stadium), currently known as the Deutsche Bank Park for sponsorship purposes, is a retractable roof sports stadium in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. The home stadium of the football club Eintracht Frankfurt, it was opened in 1925. The stadium has been upgraded several times since then; the most recent remodelling was its redevelopment as a football-only stadium in preparation for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup. With a capacity of 51,500 spectators for league matches and 48,500 for American Football and International Football matches, it is among the ten largest football stadiums in Germany. The stadium was one of the nine venues of 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, and hosted four matches including the final.

Deutsche Bank Park

Waldstadion
Former names	Waldstadion (1925–2005) Commerzbank-Arena (2005–2020)
Address	Mörfelder Landstraße 362
Location	Frankfurt, Germany
Coordinates	50°4′7″N 8°38′43″E
Public transit	Frankfurt Stadion
Owner	Waldstadion Frankfurt Gesellschaft für Projektentwicklung
Operator	Eintracht Frankfurt Stadion GmbH
Executive suites	81
Capacity	Football: 51,500 (9,300 standing for league matches) 48,500 (International matches) American football: 48,000 Concert: 44,000
Field size	105 by 68 metres (344.5 ft × 223.1 ft)
Surface	Grass
Construction
Built	1925
Opened	21 May 1925
Renovated	1937, 1953, 1974, 2005
Construction cost	€ 150 million[1]
Architect	Gerkan, Marg & Partner[2] Max Bögl[3]
Tenants
Eintracht Frankfurt (1925–present) Frankfurt Galaxy (1991–2007) Germany national football team (selected matches)

Stadium from air

The sports complex, which is owned by the city of Frankfurt, includes the actual stadium and other sports facilities, including a swimming pool, a tennis complex, a beach volleyball court and a winter sports hall. The arena has its own railway station, Frankfurt Stadion, on the national rail network.

History

First stadium

The original stadium was opened in 1925. In 24–28 July, Waldstadion hosted the 1925 Workers' Summer Olympiad.[4] The football final between Germany and Finland was played in front of a crowd of 40,000 spectators.[5] In 1937, the spectator capacity through expansion of the back straight was increased to 55,000.

The first modification and the introduction of the Bundesliga

The first major changes to the stadium were made following a game between Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Nürnberg in May 1953. Almost 70,000 tickets were sold for a stadium envisioned for only 55,000 spectators, and 200 fans were injured as thousands tried to force entry.

The renovated and enlarged Waldstadion was reopened on 14 May 1955 after 19 months of construction work. The stadium once more hosted national team matches as well as some important games for Eintracht Frankfurt, who reached the final round of the German National Championships in 1959. During the run to the final, 81,000 watched Eintracht beat FK Pirmasens - an attendance record that still stands.

In December 1960, an ice rink was opened within the oval of the velodrome. Here, the ice hockey team of Eintracht Frankfurt played their home games until 1981. In 1960 the stadium was given floodlights.

The first Bundesliga game in the Waldstadion took place on 24 August 1963 – a 1–1 draw with 1. FC Kaiserslautern on the first day of the new German national league.

The stadium hosted the World Championships in track cycling in 1966 and the heavyweight boxing championship between Muhammad Ali and Karl Mildenberger on 10 September 1966, won by Ali with a knockout in the 12th round in front of 22,000 spectators.

Second reconstruction

The second major renovation of the Waldstadion was needed for the 1974 FIFA World Cup. From May 1972 to January 1974, the stadium was rebuilt virtually from scratch to meet the requirements of the World Cup venues. The opening ceremony of the 1974 World Cup was held at the Waldstadion.

In 1978, improved drainage and undersoil heating were installed.

The first final of the newly introduced Women's European Cup was held at the stadium in May 2002, and the home team of 1. FFC Frankfurt beat Swedish side Umeå IK 2–0 to lift the trophy.

Today's arena

Current usage

The new Waldstadion is primarily designed as a football arena, but can be used for other turf sports like American football and major events. The grandstand offers rooms that are for meetings, conventions and other events in external markets.

The new arena was officially opened at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, the test run for the 2006 World Cup. Both the opening match (Germany 4–3 Australia) and the final (Brazil 4–1 Argentina) were hosted at the stadium.

Football

The main user of the stadium is the football team Eintracht Frankfurt, which has used the stadium as its home base since 1963.

In addition, the stadium also serves occasionally as an alternative venue for home games of other teams: 1. FSV Mainz 05 played their qualifying matches for the 2005-06 UEFA Cup against the Armenian representatives Mika and against Keflavík ÍF from Iceland and for the 1st Round proper against Sevilla FC in the Commerzbank Arena.

The women of the local football team 1. FFC Frankfurt defeated Umeå IK 3–2 in the stadium on 24 May 2008 in the final second leg of UEFA Women's Cup, winning the European Cup for the third time and setting up a record for women's club football of 27,500 spectators

The Turkish Football Federation has also staged several games in the arena, as Turks form a significant ethnic minority in Germany. Beşiktaş won the Turkish Super Cup with a 1–0 win over Galatasaray. Due to the suspension by UEFA of the Turkish national stadium, the qualifying matches for UEFA Euro 2008 against Malta (final score 2–0 to Turkey), against Moldova (5–0 for the Turks) and against Norway (final score 2–2) were also played here.

American football

The Waldstadion from 1991 to 2007, with a few interruptions, was home stadium for the NFL Europa's Frankfurt Galaxy American Football team. The stadium hosted World Bowl '98, World Bowl 2000 and World Bowl XV in 2007.

Since 2008 the ground has hosted the final of the German Bowl, final match of the German Football League. An average of around 15,000 fans watched the 2008 and 2009 finals.

Concerts

The Commerzbank-Arena hosts numerous concerts and festivals every year, especially during the summer. Since 2013, the stadium hosts the BigCityBeats World Club Dome every end of May or June.

Concerts at the Commerzbank-Arena
Date(s)	Performer(s)	Opening act(s)	Tour / Event	Attendance	Revenue	Ref(s)
28 August 1992	Michael Jackson	Kriss Kross, Rozalla, TLC	Dangerous World Tour	60,000
2 June 1993	U2	Stereo MCs, Die Toten Hosen	Zoo TV Tour	50,000		[6]
25 June 1993	Guns N' Roses	Brian May Band, Suicidal Tendencies	Use Your Illusion Tour
27 July 2000	Tina Turner	Joe Cocker	Twenty Four Seven Tour	51,460 / 51,460	$1,926,238
5 June 2007	Herbert Grönemeyer	N/A	12 Open Air Tour	69,636 / 76,524	$3,788,010	[7]
6 June 2007
13 June 2007	The Rolling Stones	Starsailor	A Bigger Bang	N/A		[8]
5 July 2007	Genesis	N/A	Turn It On Again: The Tour	44,040 / 44,040	$3,610,047	[9][10]
3 June 2008	Bon Jovi	Gianna Nannini	Lost Highway Tour	37,187 / 37,187	$2,985,360	[11]
14 June 2008	Celine Dion	N/A	Taking Chances World Tour	N/A		[12]
9 September 2008	Madonna	Robyn	Sticky & Sweet Tour	39,543 / 39,543	$6,020,706	[13][14]
12 June 2009	Depeche Mode	M83	Tour of the Universe	42,000	N/A	[15]
3 July 2009	Bruce Springsteen E Street Band	N/A	Working on a Dream Tour	40,471 / 40,471	$3,765,940	[16]
10 August 2010	U2	Kasabian	U2 360° Tour	53,825 / 53,825	$5,544,868	[17][18]
11 June 2011	Herbert Grönemeyer	Norman Sinn	Schiffsverkehr Tour	N/A		[19]
25 May 2012	Bruce Springsteen E Street Band	N/A	Wrecking Ball World Tour	40,219 / 40,219	$3,759,361	[20]
2 June 2012	Gotthard	Unisonic	Firebirth World Tour	N/A		[21]
5 June 2013	Depeche Mode	Trentemøller	The Delta Machine Tour	40,960 / 40,960	$3,295,523	[22]
9 August 2013	Roger Waters	N/A	The Wall Live	26,422 / 29,000	$3,292,846	[23]
8 June 2014	Justin Timberlake	DJ Freestyle	The 20/20 Experience World Tour	38,646 / 38,646	$3,841,803	[24]
10 June 2015	Helene Fischer	Glasperlenspiel	Farbenspiel Live	36,000 / 36,000	N/A	[25]
3 July 2015	Manfred Mann's Earth Band Floyd Reloaded	N/A	Rockclassics in Concert	N/A		[26]
25 May 2016	Goran Bregović Bijelo Dugme	Alen Islamović Tifa	The "Balkan Rolling Stones" Live in Frankfurt			[27]
17 July 2016	Rihanna	Big Sean DJ Mustard Bibi Bourelly	Anti World Tour			[28]
29 July 2016	Beyoncé	Chloe x Halle Ingrid	The Formation World Tour	36,647 / 36,647	$3,739,440	[29][30]
3 September 2016	Billy Joel	N/A	Billy Joel in Concert	31,718 / 31,718	$3,821,370	[31]
9 June 2017	Hans Zimmer	TBA	Hans Zimmer Live on Tour	—	—	[32]
20 June 2017	Depeche Mode	Algiers	Global Spirit Tour	41,483 / 41,483	$3,417,345	[33]
30 June 2017	Coldplay	Tove Lo Femme Schmidt	A Head Full of Dreams Tour	87,833 / 87,833	$9,018,910	[34][35]
1 July 2017
19 July 2017	Robbie Williams	Erasure	The Heavy Entertainment Show Tour	—	—	[36]
20 July 2018	Helene Fischer	Ben Zucker	Die Stadion-Tour 2018	—	—
1 June 2019	Andreas Gabalier		Stadion Tour 2019	—	—
28 June 2019	Pur		Zwischen den Welten Open Air Tour 2019	—	—
13 July 2019	Rammstein		Rammstein Stadium Tour	40,976 / 40,976	$4,613,467
22 July 2019	Pink	Vance Joy Bang Bang Romeo KidCutUp	Beautiful Trauma World Tour	39,743 / 39,743	$4,261,701
9 September 2019	Herbert Grönemeyer		Tumult Tour 2019	40,000 / 40,000	—

Naming rights

As part of a naming sponsorship by Commerzbank AG, the Waldstadion was renamed the Commerzbank-Arena on 1 May 2005 for ten years. Commerzbank will pay around €30 million to the city hosting company as part of the deal. During the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the stadium was officially referred to as the FIFA World Cup Stadium Frankfurt, as FIFA rules do not permit commercial naming of stadia.

Commerzbank allows the sponsorship contract to expire on June 30, 2020 after 15 years.[37] The new name sponsor as of July 1, 2020 will be Deutsche Bank, with whom a contract has been concluded until June 30, 2027 with an option to extend.[38] As of July 1, 2020, the stadium will officially be called Deutsche Bank Park.[39]

International Football Tournaments

1974 FIFA World Cup

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Round	Spectators
13 June 1974	17:00	Brazil	0–0	Yugoslavia	Group 2	59,000
18 June 1974	19:30	Scotland	0–0	Brazil	Group 2	62,000
22 June 1974	19:30	Scotland	1–1	Yugoslavia	Group 2	56,000
30 June 1974	16:00	Poland	2–1	Yugoslavia	Second Round - Group B	58,000
3 July 1974	16:30	Poland	0–1	West Germany	Second Round - Group B	62,000

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Round	Spectators
15 June 2005	21:00	Germany	4–3	Australia	Group A	46,466
19 June 2005	18:00	Greece	0–1	Japan	Group B	34,314
22 June 2005	20:45	Greece	0–0	Mexico	Group B	31,285
29 June 2005	20:45	Brazil	4–1	Argentina	Final	45,591

2006 FIFA World Cup

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Round	Spectators
10 June 2006	15:00	England	1–0	Paraguay	Group B	48,000
13 June 2006	15:00	South Korea	2–1	Togo	Group G	48,000
17 June 2006	15:00	Portugal	2–0	Iran	Group D	48,000
21 June 2006	21:00	Netherlands	0–0	Argentina	Group C	48,000
1 July 2006	21:00	Brazil	0–1	France	Quarter-finals	48,000

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Round	Spectators
30 June 2011	20:45	Germany	1–0	Nigeria	Group A	48,817
6 July 2011	18:00	Equatorial Guinea	0–3	Brazil	Group D	35,859
13 July 2011	20:45	Japan	2–0	Sweden	Semifinal	45,434
17 July 2011	20:45	Japan	2–2 (3-1 PEN.)	United States	Final	48,817

References

1. Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, architect: Max Bögl Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20100114121734/http://www.gmp-architekten.de/index.php?id=4. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. Max Bögl partnering Archived 7 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine architect: Max Bögl
4. "24.07.1925-28.07.1925: Erste Arbeiter-Olympiade in Frankfurt am Main". Archiv der sozialen Demokratie. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
5. Hentilä, Seppo (2014). Bewegung, Kultur und Alltag im Arbeitersport. Helsinki: The Finnish Society for Labour History. p. 45. ISBN 978-952-59762-6-7.
6. u2tour.de. "U2 Konzert: 02.06.1993, Frankfurt - Waldstadion - U2tour.de". u2tour.de.
7. "Top 40 International Box Office Mid-Year 2007" (PDF). Pollstar. 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
8. "The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang World Tour". It's Only Rock'n Roll. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
9. "Collins 'open' to Genesis reunion". BBC News. 7 November 2005. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
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11. "Official tour press release". Island Def Jam. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
12. "La tournée mondiale de Céline Dion 2008–2009 – 5 continents – 85 villes – 101 spectacles" (Press release) (in French). CNW Group. 7 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2007..
13. Reporter, Press (8 May 2008). "Madonna's Yummy 'Sticky & Sweet Tour Itinerary Unwrapped for Fans for the Very First..." Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
14. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York City. 4 October 2008. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
15. "Depeche Mode 2009 Commerzbank Arena Frankfurt". Darkmoments.de. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
16. "Billboard Boxscore — Concert Grosses". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 121 (27): 9. 11 July 2009. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
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19. "Herbert Grönemeyer". Commerzbank-Arena. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
20. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York. 124 (24). 23 June 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
21. "Firebirth Tour 2012". gotthard.com. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
22. "Billboard Biz: Current Boxscore". Billboard. 20 July 2013. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
23. "Billboard Boxscore — Concert Grosses". Billboard. 2 October 2013. ISSN 0006-2510.
24. "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. 18 June 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
25. ""Farbspiel Live - Die Tournee": Here you can find out all about the new Helene Fischer album and the DVD" (in German). Universal Music Group. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
26. "Manfred Mann's Earthband und Floyd Reloaded am 3. Juli bei "Rockclassics In Concert" in der Commerzbank-Arena Frankfurt" (PDF). floydreloaded.com (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
27. "Goran Bregović & BIJELO DUGME" (in German). Commerzbank-Arena. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
28. "BIBI BOURELLY | Bibi Bourelly gemeinsam mit Rihanna auf Deutschlandtour | News". Universal-music.de. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
29. "The Formation World Tour". beyonce.com. 7 February 2016. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
30. "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
31. "Billboard Boxscore — Concert Grosses". Billboard. 24 September 2016. ISSN 0006-2510.
32. "Hans Zimmer Live". hanszimmerlive.com. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
33. "DEPECHE MODE ANNOUNCE GLOBAL SPIRIT 2017 TOUR DATES". Electronic Beats. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
34. "Tour". coldplay.com. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
35. Britton, Luke Morgan (3 October 2016). "Coldplay announce first tour dates of 2017 – see ticket information". NME. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
36. "The Heavy Entertainment Show 2017". robbiewilliams.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
37. Namensrecht Commerzbank-Arena wird nicht verlängert, commerzbank.de, 1. April 2020, abgerufen am 1. April 2020.
38. "Sportpark im Stadtwald wird Deutsche Bank Park". eintracht.de. Eintracht Frankfurt. 1 April 2020.
39. Langfristiger Mietvertrag unterzeichnet, eintracht.de, 30. Juni 2020, abgerufen am 30. Juni 2020.

External links

• Official site (in German and English)

Preceded by Estadio Azteca Mexico City	FIFA World Cup Opening Venue 1974	Succeeded by Monumental de Nuñez Buenos Aires
Preceded by Stade de France Saint-Denis	FIFA Confederations Cup Final venue 2005	Succeeded by Ellis Park Stadium Johannesburg
Preceded by Hongkou Stadium Shanghai	FIFA Women's World Cup Final Venue 2011	Succeeded by BC Place Vancouver