Stadion der Weltjugend
Location | East Germany, East-Berlin |
---|---|
Capacity | 70,000 (1950-1973) 50,000 (1973-1992) |
Construction | |
Opened | May 20, 1950 |
Renovated | 1973 |
Closed | 1992 |
Architect | Selman Selmanagić Reinhard Lingner |
Tenants | |
FDGB-Pokal Final (1950, 1975 to 1989) World Festival of Youth and Students (1951 and 1973) 13 matches of East Germany football team |
Stadion der Weltjugend was a multi-use stadium in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. It was opened on May 20, 1950 under the name of Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion for the first Deutschlandtreffen (German Festival) of the Free German Youth.
With a maximum capacity of 70,000 spectators, several further football pitches, tennis courts and athletic fields it then was the largest stadium in East Berlin. In 1951 it was a site of the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students. In 1973 it was rebuilt with regard to the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students installing a stadium seating which reduced the capacity to 50,000. The rebuilt stadium was then also renamed to Stadion der Weltjugend (Stadium of the World Youth).
Until 1961 the Walter Ulbricht-Stadion was the ground of the SC Dynamo Berlin football club. In 1951 and from 1975 to 1989 it was also the site of the FDGB-Pokal (East German cup) final. The East Germany national football team played here 14 times.
In 1992 the stadium was demolished to build a new arena for the 2000 Summer Olympics. As Berlin failed in the bidding process, the area remained abandoned. In 2006 construction of the new headquarters of the Bundesnachrichtendienst intelligence agency began.