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hospitality, media and other functional facilities. The cost for its construction was €15 million of which €2 million was contributed by the club with the sponsors accounting for €10 million. The remaining €3 million injected by a holding formed to own and manage to stadium, shares in which were made publicly available and over four thousand members of the club and sponsors bought shares in the company so formed.
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terracing and installing a roof over the previously open terraces. Other minor improvements such as the installation of new perimeter fencing, new seats in the main stand and installation of undersoil heating and digital scoreboard were carried out. During the redevelopment, over 2,300 supporters volunteered their services with specialist firms undertaking complex tasks such as installing the cantilever roof.
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Originally planned for 2010, the second stage of refurbishment commenced when funding was secured in May 2012. The old main stand was torn down and the foundation-stone for the new, 3,617-capacity stand was laid in the following month. The new building is 100.5 m wide and 23.5 m high, also includes
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terrace was raised, whilst further extensions to the terracing at both ends in the late 1970s and early 1980s increased the capacity to 22,500. The stadium started showing signs of depreciation with the club unable to properly maintain the same as attendances went into a serious decline in common
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In the late 1990s, the first plans for the redevelopment were drawn up. After several years of planning and discussion on various proposals, the redevelopment finally began at the end of the 2007-08 season. The major works included replacing the crumbling stone and cinder terracing with concrete
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623:(Christmas Carols Singing) started as an unofficial gathering to which just 89 fans showed up. In 2015, 28,500 people attended, including players and supporters of other teams from around Germany and Europe. Fans drink
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stopped renewing these in 2006. The stadium was no longer eligible to stage any matches in the top three tiers of German football thereby forcing the club to redevelop the stadium or make a move to a different ground.
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The terracing at the ground was in a poor state thereby reducing the capacity to 18,100 spectators. In the late 1990s, Union were only allowed to continue playing at the stadium on special temporary license until
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The stadium's capacity was last redeveloped in 2009 and expanded in 2013. Some of the redevelopment work was carried out by over 2,300 Union Berlin supporters volunteering their services. During
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as its former pitch had been built over by developers with residential buildings. The club moved away from the city to the north-western part of the borough of
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district during the 2008-09 season as the stadium was redeveloped. The stadium was re-opened on 8 July 2009 in time for a friendly against fellow Berlin side
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In 2014 the club came up with the idea of inviting fans to take their own sofas to the ground for the whole of the World Cup. The event was called
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Work on it was completed in the summer of 2013, when the fully renovated stadium was inaugurated with a friendly match between Union and
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with the outdated stadium proving to be one of the factors that hampered the club's push for promotion to higher leagues.
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in a friendly. The new stadium was officially opened in August 1920 with a match between
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the arena features a total capacity of 22,012. There are 3,617 seats available whilst the rest of the ground remains
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Since the redevelopment, the stadium has also been used for a small number of non-football events, among them
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643:(World Cup Living Room). More than 800 sofas were placed on the pitch in rows in front of the big screen.
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since its predecessor SC Union
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played the first ever music show in the stadium, performing in front of 35,000 fans.
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The stadium became also known for events like the annual "Weihnachtssingen" (
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803:(in German). "An der Alten Försterei" Stadionbetriebs AG. Archived from
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In 1966, the stadium required expansion when Union won promotion to the
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In 1920, SC Union
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In 2023, the Försterei hosts Union Berlin's U19s in the
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and the largest single-purpose football stadium in the
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721:"Bundesliga - Die offizielle Seite - bundesliga.de"
51:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
481:. The stadium was first expanded in 1970 when the
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801:"Geschichte des Stadion an der Alten Försterei"
906:"The secret police with its own football team"
536:Union Berlin played their home matches at the
486:with the majority of clubs during the 1980s.
361:[ˌʃtaːdi̯ɔnʔandeːɐ̯ˈʔaltn̩fœʁstəˈʁaɪ̯]
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111:Learn how and when to remove this message
934:(in German). BZ Berlin. 3 September 2015
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1154:1923 German football championship final
759:: Berliner Verlag GmbH. 17 October 2015
596:Christmas Carols Evening at the stadium
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957:Page on official Union Berlin website
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827:"Champions League in Olympiastadion"
696:List of football stadiums in Germany
49:adding citations to reliable sources
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376:Stadium at the old forester's house
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886:(in German). dpa. 23 December 2015
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880:"Gänsehaut-Atmosphäre im Stadion"
833:. 1. FC Union Berlin. 4 July 2023
16:Sports stadium in Berlin, Germany
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60:"Stadion An der Alten Försterei"
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1439:Sports venues completed in 1920
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395:. It has been home to
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1164:1986 FDGB-Pokal final
1159:1968 FDGB-Pokal final
651:On 3 September 2015,
635:World Cup Living Room
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578:UEFA Champions League
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423:World Cup Living Room
357:German pronunciation:
207:52.45722°N 13.56806°E
1169:2001 DFB-Pokal final
496:German reunification
45:improve this article
1374:Vonovia Ruhrstadion
1337:(Borussia Dortmund)
1264:Europa-Park Stadion
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691:Football in Germany
616:In 2003 the yearly
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1304:Millerntor-Stadion
1254:Deutsche Bank Park
1237:(Bayer Leverkusen)
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1009:1. FC Union Berlin
831:fc-union-berlin.de
807:on 9 December 2014
681:Football in Berlin
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490:Post-reunification
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401:1. FC Union Berlin
346:(selected matches)
339:1. FC Union Berlin
265:, 17 October 2015)
251:22,012 (football)
212:52.45722; 13.56806
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1334:Signal Iduna Park
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781:. Sports Business
779:"The Twelfth Man"
701:Lists of stadiums
574:UEFA Youth League
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258:Record attendance
253:35,000 (concerts)
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34:This article
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1384:Weserstadion
1377:(VfL Bochum)
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1327:(RB Leipzig)
1047:Berlin derby
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973:Virtual Tour
968:(in English)
936:. Retrieved
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914:. Retrieved
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858:The Guardian
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837:13 September
835:. Retrieved
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805:the original
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475:DDR-Oberliga
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304:Construction
263:FC St. Pauli
158:Former names
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43:Please help
38:verification
35:
18:
1354:Voith-Arena
1015:Information
960:(in German)
890:7 September
864:7 September
785:1 September
727:(in German)
653:Linkin Park
562:Celtic F.C.
483:Gegengerade
425:) in 2014.
391:capital of
210: /
185:Coordinates
1413:Categories
1287:(Mainz 05)
1284:Mewa Arena
811:7 December
763:18 October
707:References
606:bike shows
546:Hertha BSC
296:Scoreboard
273:109 × 73 m
270:Field size
198:13°34′05″E
195:52°27′26″N
71:newspapers
1394:WWK Arena
938:31 August
731:31 August
461:Expansion
412:terracing
374:English:
317:Renovated
1294:MHPArena
1234:BayArena
1037:Managers
910:BBC News
659:See also
647:Concerts
625:Glühwein
444:Köpenick
397:football
385:Köpenick
325:Expanded
247:Capacity
170:Köpenick
166:Location
1147:Matches
1138:2024–25
1133:2023–24
1128:2022–23
1123:2021–22
1118:2020–21
1113:2019–20
1108:2018–19
1103:2017–18
1098:2016–17
1093:2015–16
1088:2014–15
1083:2013–14
1078:2012–13
1073:2011–12
1068:2009–10
1061:Seasons
1042:Stadium
1032:Players
1027:Seasons
916:13 July
552:Phase 2
520:Phase 1
434:Opening
429:History
381:stadium
333:Tenants
299:Digital
288:Surface
279:Acreage
178:Germany
85:scholar
1213:venues
1052:Ladies
757:Berlin
588:Events
494:After
440:Berlin
393:Berlin
389:German
309:Opened
174:Berlin
87:
80:
73:
66:
58:
618:Union
399:club
291:Grass
283:7,957
238:Owner
92:JSTOR
78:books
1022:Club
940:2023
918:2014
892:2023
866:2023
839:2023
813:2014
787:2023
765:2015
733:2023
604:and
64:news
508:DFL
383:in
47:by
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372:;
176:,
172:,
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