Leimbachstadion – stadium description

Not by the river, but literally over the river, this stadium in Siegen was built onto the Leimbach stream, with water channeled underneath. The building’s name should be clear then, it’s also clear why the stadium has a sunken bowl with running track: it was built in 1950s and at that time such cost-effective solutions was considered viable, in this case even exemplary, because it was one of Germany’s first stadia to be built after World War 2.

Located in a beautiful valley, the stadium offers uncovered terracing for most fans, excluding the southern main grandstand built in 1975. To this day it’s the only seated and fully covered part of the stadium.

Of course Sportfreunde Siegen aren’t a UEFA tournament team that would need to have all-seater stadium, but there was a number of international events held here. From the UEFA Women’s Championship of 1989 to the German amateur and women’s teams. But as of now there’s yet to be an event drawing more people than the record friendly of 1982 between Siegen regional team and the 1974 World Cup team, which was watched by 24,728 people. Some league games also enjoyed impressive turnouts, but never as high.

The last major redevelopment took place in 2005, when majority of the terracing was renovated and part of the stadium’s installations improved.