Leipzig Stadium – tournament stadium description

What matches will take place at Leipzig Stadium during Euro 2024?

How Leipzig Stadium compares to other Euro 2024 venues?

What is the history of Leipzig Stadium?

Already before World War II, there were plans to build a huge new stadium in Leipzig. In 1939 Werner March, the designer of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, drew up the project. As war broke out, the project was ultimately not realized.

Plans were revisited after the war, when Leipzig was already within the borders of East Germany, which belonged to the Eastern Bloc. The goal was to create a facility that would make Leipzig the sports capital of the country. Construction began in April 1955, and the stadium was ready in the summer of 1956, after only 15 months of work. More than 180,000 volunteers took part in the construction.

The new facility, named Zentralstadion, could hold 100,000 spectators and was among the largest in the world. The stands, like those in many other stadiums being built in Communist Bloc at the time, were based on massive earth embankments.

The facility served major sports events for several decades. After German reunification, however, the stadium declined, and in 1994 it was closed due to poor technical condition.

The impetus for the resurrection of the giant arena was Germany's hosting of the 2006 World Cup, but instead of renovation it was decided to build a completely new facility in place of the old stadium. However, the earthen embankments and accompanying buildings were preserved, and the new stadium was built inside a huge bowl.

Construction of the new stadium began in December 2000, and it opened in July 2004. The facility could hold about 44,000 spectators and it was a football-specific venue. Initially, the problem was the lack of a team that would regularly attract a large audience to the stadium.

Leipzig eventually attracted the interest of the Red Bull company, which in 2009 invested in creating a strong football club in the city. This is how RasenBallsport, or RB Leipzig, was created.

With the money invested, RB Leipzig quickly climbed the league ranks, reaching the Bundesliga in 2016. Already in the team's first season at the top level, the club finished second in the league table, thanks to which it made its debut in the Champions League the following season (where it then reached as far as the quarterfinals).

RB Leipzig was seen by many as an artificial club without tradition, a marketing tool for Red Bull and one of many similar clubs in the company's portfolio around the world. The team nevertheless gained many supporters and allowed high attendance figures at the new stadium.

What events has Leipzig Stadium hosted so far?

Shortly after opening, the new stadium hosted matches in two major football events: the 2005 Confederations Cup and the 2006 World Cup. It also hosted German League Cup finals from 2005 to 2007. On occasion, the German national team plays at the stadium, and music concerts are often held.

The host was originally FC Sachsen Leipzig, which played in the lower divisions. Since 2010, the main user of the stadium has been RB Leipzig, which has been playing in the Bundesliga since 2016.

It should be added that the old Zentralstadion, as the largest stadium in the GDR, was also the scene of many important events. The GDR national team often played there, local football clubs played their matches, major gymnastics festivals, athletics and cycling competitions and concerts were held, and the audience sometimes exceeded the nominal 100,000.

What does Leipzig Stadium look like?

The stadium is located inside the bowl of the old Zentralstadion. The high earthen embankments, like the accompanying buildings, have been preserved, and the crown of the former stadium is now a promenade encircling the new arena. A series of descents lead down the ramparts, which at the bottom turn into footbridges that lead spectators to the stadium entrances.

The facility has an elliptical form similar to that of FC Porto's stadium, Estádio do Dragão. Since the creation of standing areas in 2021, the stadium's capacity for league matches is more than 47,000 spectators. The auditorium is divided into two levels: the lower tier is a ring that encircles the pitch all around, while the upper section consists of two bleachers erected along the pitch.

A visually significant change was made to the stadium between 2020 and 2022, with the replacement of the old blue seats by new ones in red color, associated with RB Leipzig.

What is the name of Leipzig's stadium?

When the first stadium was built in the 1950s, Leipzig was within the borders of communist East Germany, and the facility itself was built in a similar style to other large venues of the time in the Eastern Bloc. Not surprisingly, it was given the name Zentralstadion (Central Stadium) – following the example of many stadiums in the USSR at the time.

Neither after German reunification nor after the opening of the new stadium was the traditional name broken with. The change came only with the Red Bull corporation, which paid for the naming rights in 2010, and from now on Leipzig is home to the Red Bull Arena. Interestingly, this is not the only stadium bearing this name – the "Red Bull Arena" can also be found in Salzburg and New Jersey. The non-commercial name in effect during Euro 2024 is Leipzig Stadium.

What interesting facts are associated with Leipzig Stadium?

• Leipzig Stadium is the only Euro 2024 venue from the former GDR area
• Leipzig hosted the first German Evangelical Trombone Days (Deutscher Evangelischer Posaunentag) from May 30 to June 1, 2008. The event closed with a mass celebrated at the Zentralstadion. Approximately 16,000 trombonists then gathered at the stadium to play together a piece composed especially for the occasion, setting a Guinness record for the largest trombone ensemble in the world
• On June 5, 2013, the stadium hosted a farewell match to mark the end of Michael Ballack's career. In the match, Ballack's friends' team beat the Rest of the World 4–3, and Ballack himself scored a hat-trick

Where is Leipzig Stadium located?

The facility is located on the banks of the Elsterbecken canal, about 2 km west of the city center. The stadium is part of the Sportforum Leipzig complex, which also includes the "Festwiese" field, located behind the stadium's southern curve, or the nearby Arena Leipzig (from 2019 as the Quarterback Immobilien Arena).