Olympic Stadium (Berlin)

Olympic Stadium (Berlin)

The Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium) is a sports stadium in Berlin, Germany. There have been two stadia on the site: the present facility, and one that is called the Deutsches Stadion which was built for the aborted 1916 Summer Olympics. Both were designed by members of the same family, the first by Otto March and the second by his son Werner March. It is the second biggest stadium in Germany behind Signal Iduna Park. It is the home stadium of the Hertha Berlin football team playing in the German Bundesliga.

The current Olympiastadion was originally built for the 1936 Summer Olympics in the southern part of the Reichssportfeld (today Olympiapark Berlin). During World War II, the area suffered little damage. After the war, the British military occupation used the northern part of the Reichssportfeld as its headquarters until 1949. From 1951 to 2005, the Olympischer Platz had a giant antenna transmitting for all the portable radios in Berlin.

Aside from its use as an Olympic stadium, the Olympiastadion has a strong footballing tradition. Historically, it is the ground of club Hertha BSC since 1963. It was also used for 3 matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. It hosted six matches, including the final, in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was renovated for that reason. The German Cup final match is held each year at the Olympiastadion. The stadium sees use in other sports as well; at one point it held the world record for the attendance of a baseball game, thought to be over 110,000.