Olympic Stadium (Munich)

Olympiastadion
The Munich Olympiastadion
Location	Munich, Germany
Coordinates	48°10′23″N 11°32′48″E
Broke ground	1968
Opened	26 May 1972
Owner	State
Operator	Olympiapark Munich GmbH
Surface	Grass pitch
Architect	Frei Otto Günther Behnisch Hermann Peltz Carlo Weber
Capacity	69,250
Tenants
1972 Summer Olympics FC Bayern Munich (1972–2005) TSV 1860 Munich (1972–2005)

Olympiastadion is a stadium located in Munich, Germany. Situated at the heart of the Olympiapark München in northern Munich, the stadium was built as the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics.

With an original capacity of 80,000, the stadium also hosted many major football matches including the 1974 World Cup Final and the Euro '88 Final. It hosted the European Cup Finals of 1979, 1993 and 1997.

Until the construction of the Allianz Arena for the 2006 World Cup, the stadium was home to Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich. Today, the Olympiastadion holds 69,250.

Design

Designed by the German architect Günther Behnisch and the engineer Frei Otto, the Olympiastadion was considered revolutionary for its time. This included large sweeping canopies of acrylic glass stabilized by steel cables that were used for the first time on a large scale. The idea was to imitate the Alps and to set a counterpart to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, held during the Nazi regime. The sweeping and transparent canopy was to symbolize the new, democratic and optimistic Germany. This is reflected in the official motto: "The Happy Games" ("Die Heiteren Spiele").

Construction

The stadium was built by Bilfinger Berger between 1968 to 1972 in a pit made by bombings Munich suffered during World War II that made construction easy.

Panorama view of the Münchener Olympiastadion

Post Olympic legacy

TSV 1860 München football match

Following the Olympics, the stadium became the home of FC Bayern Munich. In 1979 the ground played host to the 1979 European Cup Final in which Nottingham Forest won the first of their consecutive European Cups under Brian Clough.

In the 1990s Bayern Munich's rivals TSV 1860 Munich moved into the stadium. The two teams coexisted in the Olympiastadion until 2005, when both clubs moved to the purpose built Allianz Arena.

Borussia Dortmund won the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final at the Olympiastadion.

Since 2005, it is the host of the yearly air and style snowboard event.

On 31 December 2006, the stadium made history as being the first venue to host the Tour de Ski cross country skiing competition. The individual sprint events, held at 1100 m, were won by Norway's Marit Bjørgen (women) and Switzerland's Christoph Eigenmann (men). The snow was made in the stadium by combining the hot air with the cold refrigerated water that causes the snow to act like the icy type you would see in the Alps.

It went unused in the 2006 FIFA World Cup due to the Allianz Arena being the host stadium in Munich.

On 23 to 24 June 2007, the stadium played host to the Spar European Cup 2007, a yearly athletics event featuring the top 8 countries from around Europe.

In 2010, it was announced that a round of the DTM touring car series will hold a stadium event in 2011. The Race of Champions-style event will be a non-championship scoring round, but the entire 2011 grid will take part over a two-day period.

On 17 May 2012, the ground played host to the 2012 UEFA Women's Champions League Final in which Olympique Lyonnais won their second consecutive trophy. The attendance of that game was a record for a UEFA Women's Champions League Final. On 19 May 2012 it hosted the "Public Viewing" of the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final which took place at Allianz Arena in Munich.

1974 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues for the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

The following games were played at the stadium during the World Cup of 1974:

Date	Time (CEST)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Spectators
15 June 1974	18.00	Italy	3–1	Haiti	Group 4	51,100
19 June 1974	19.30	Haiti	0–7	Poland	Group 4	23,400
23 June 1974	16.00	Argentina	4–1	Haiti	Group 4	24,000
6 July 1974	16.00	Brazil	0–1	Poland	Third place match	74,100
7 July 1974	16.00	Netherlands	1–2	West Germany	Final	74,100

UEFA Euro 1988

The stadium was one of the venues for the UEFA Euro 1988.

The following games were played at the stadium during the Euro 1988:

Date	Time (CEST)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Spectators
17 June 1988	20.15	West Germany	2–0	Spain	Group A	72,308
25 June 1988	15.30	Soviet Union	0–2	Netherlands	Final	72,308

German and West German national football team matches held at the stadium

• 26 May 1972 West Germany – USSR 4–1 (Friendly, stadium opener)
• 9 May 1973 West Germany – Yugoslavia 0–1 (Friendly)
• 7 July 1974 West Germany – Netherlands 2–1 (1974 World Cup Final)
• 22 May 1976 West Germany – Spain 2–0 (Euro 1976 Qualifier)
• 22 February 1978 West Germany – England 2–1 (Friendly)
• 2 April 1980 West Germany – Austria 1–0 Friendly)
• 22 September 1982 West Germany – Belgium 0–0 (Friendly)
• 17 November 1985 West Germany – Czechoslovakia 2–2 (1986 World Cup qualifier)
• 17 June 1988 West Germany – Spain 2–0 (Euro 1988 Group match)
• 19 October 1988 West Germany – Netherlands 0–0 (1990 World Cup qualifier)
• 26 March 1996 Germany – Denmark 2–0 (Friendly)
• 9 October 1999 Germany – Turkey 0–0 (Euro 2000 qualifier)
• 1 September 2001 Germany – England 1–5 (2002 World Cup qualifier)

Other uses

Concerts

In addition to being a sports venue, the stadium has hosted many open-air concerts.

American pop artist Michael Jackson performed at the stadium five times, all sold out with maximum capacity of the stadium for musical acts. The first concert was on 8 July 1988 during his Bad World Tour, with more than 72,000 fans present. The second sell out concert, on 27 June 1992 kicked off his Dangerous World Tour, to another 72,000 fans. The next two were on 4 & 6 July 1997 during his HIStory World Tour for a total audience of 145,000 people. Those two concerts were filmed & mixed and have since been aired countless times on television all over the world. The fifth and last concert, on 27 June 1999 was for the special "Michael Jackson and Friends", in which the star joined several other artists to raise funds to help needy and underprivileged children around the world.

Diana Ross, an early influence on Michael Jackson sold out two nights in 1985 on her Swept Away Tour with more than 142,000 total audience attendees.

American rock band Bon Jovi performed at the stadium six times. The first was on 4 June 1995, during the These Days Tour. The second one, on 30 June 2001, during the One Wild Night Tour. The third one, on 13 June 2003, during the Bounce Tour, the fourth was on 25 May 2006, during the Have A Nice Day Tour in front of a sold out crowd of 71,467 fans, the fifth was on 24 May 2008, during the Lost Highway Tour in front of a sold out crowd of 70,473 fans, and the sixth was on 12 June 2011, during the Live 2011 in front of a sold out crowd of 68,025 fans. The band will perform for the seventh time on 18 May 2013 as part of their ongoing Because We Can - The Tour.

American rock artist Bruce Springsteen have performed three times at the stadium. The first time was on 18 June 1985 during the Born in the U.S.A. Tour. The second time was 18 years later on 10 June 2003, during the Rising Tour. The third time was on 2 July 2009 during the Working on a Dream Tour. On 26 May 2013, Springsteen and the band will perform at the venue for a fourth time, as part of the currently ongoing Wrecking Ball Tour.

Irish rock band U2 performed at the stadium three times. The first was on 4 July 1993 during their ZooTV Tour, the second was on 3 August 2005 during the Vertigo Tour in front of a sold out crowd of 77,435 people, and the third was on 15 September 2010 during the U2360° Tour in front of a sold out crowd of 76,150 people.

American rock band Guns N' Roses filmed parts of their Estranged video there when they visited Munich in June 1993.

English electronic band Depeche Mode performed at the stadium on 13 June 2009 during their Tour of the Universe in front of a sold out crowd of 60,293 people. The band will perform at the stadium for the second time on 1 June 2013 as part of their upcoming The Delta Machine Tour. The 2009 show was recorded for their live albums project Recording the Universe

Other artists and bands that have played concerts here include Coldplay, Nickelback, Take That, Madonna, AC/DC, Celine Dion, The Police, Genesis, Phil Collins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robbie Williams, Metallica, Simon & Garfunkel, Tina Turner, Elton John, Sting and the Dave Matthews Band.

Various

Parts of the 1975 film Rollerball were shot on the (then) futuristic site surrounding the stadium.

The Olympic Stadium also hosted Motorcycle speedway when it held the 1989 World Final on 2 September 1989. Denmark's Hans Nielsen won his second World Championship with a 15 point maximum from his five rides. The late Simon Wigg of England finished in second place after defeating countryman Jeremy Doncaster in a run-off to decide the final podium places after both had finished with 12 points from their five rides. Three time champion Erik Gundersen of Denmark finished in fourth place with 11 points.

See also

• Tensile and membrane structures

External links

• Official site
• Olympic Stadium review by a+t architecture publishers

Major Finals

Events and tenants Preceded by Estadio Olímpico Universitario Mexico City Summer Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies (Olympiastadion) 1972 Succeeded by Olympic Stadium Montreal Preceded by Estadio Olímpico Universitario Mexico City Olympic Athletics competitions Main Venue 1972 Succeeded by Olympic Stadium Montreal Preceded by Estadio Azteca Mexico City Summer Olympics Football Men's Finals (Olympiastadion) 1972 Succeeded by Olympic Stadium Montreal Preceded by Estadio Azteca Mexico City FIFA World Cup Final Venue 1974 Succeeded by Monumental de Nuñez Buenos Aires Preceded by Wembley Stadium London European Cup Final Venue 1979 Succeeded by Santiago Bernabéu Madrid Preceded by Parc des Princes Paris UEFA European Football Championship Final Venue 1988 Succeeded by Ullevi Gothenburg Preceded by Wembley Stadium London UEFA Champions League Final Venue 1993 Succeeded by Olympic Stadium Athens Preceded by Stadio Olimpico Rome UEFA Champions League Final Venue 1997 Succeeded by Amsterdam ArenA Amsterdam Preceded by Népstadion Budapest European Championships in Athletics Final Venue 2002 Succeeded by Ullevi Gothenburg