| Olympiastadion | |
|---|---|
 The Munich Olympiastadion UEFA  |
|
| Location |  Munich, Germany |
| Broke ground | 1968 |
| Opened | 26 May 1972 |
| Owner | State |
| Operator | Olympiapark Munich GmbH |
| Surface | Grass pitch |
| Architect | Frei Otto Günther Behnisch |
| Tenants | 1972 Summer Olympics FC Bayern Munich (1972-2005) TSV 1860 Munich (1972-2005) |
| Capacity | 69,250 |
The Olympiastadion is a stadium located in Munich, Germany. Situated at the heart of the Olympiapark München in northern Munich, the Olympiastadion was the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics. With a capacity of 80,000, the stadium also hosted events including football's 1974 World Cup Final and 1988 European Championship Final. Today it holds 69,250.
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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 in 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 and completed in time for the games in 1972[1].
Post Olympic legacy
Following the Olympics, the stadium became the home of FC Bayern München, with their rival TSV 1860 München moving in during the 1990s. These two teams coexisted in the Olympiastadion until 2005, when both clubs moved to the purpose built Allianz Arena. On December 31, 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. On June 23 to June 24, 2007, the stadium played host to the Spar European Cup 2007. A yearly athletics event featuring the top 8 countries from around Europe.
Famous matches
- The 1974 World Cup final match saw the host Germany winning against Netherlands 2-1.
- The 1979 European Cup final match saw Nottingham Forest winning the trophy against Malmö FF 1-0.
- The Euro 88 final match saw Netherlands winning against Soviet Union 2-0.
- The 1993 Champions League final match saw Olympique Marseille winning against AC Milan 1-0.
- The 1997 Champions League final match saw Borussia Dortmund winning against Juventus 3-1.
- The 2002 World Cup qualifying match between Germany and England saw England winning 5-1.
- The 2. Bundesliga match between 1860 München and 1. FC Köln on 03 April 2005 was the last football match at the stadium. The match ended 0-0.
English football concerns
The Olympic Stadium was infamous for being somewhat of a bogey ground for English football teams. Indeed, in its 23 years as the home of Bayern Munich only one English club managed to beat the home team there; Norwich City F.C. triumphed 1-2 in a second-round UEFA Cup tie on 4th November 1993. When Chelsea F.C. visited the stadium in a Champions League Quarter-Final clash in March 2005, they led 1-2 at the beginning of stoppage time after 90 minutes, when two quick-fire Bayern goals preserved Norwich's record. In May 1979 the stadium was the venue for the European Champions' Cup Final when Nottingham Forest F.C. defeated Malmö FF 1-0 thanks to a goal by Trevor Francis. In addition to hosting the 1972 Olympic Games, the Olympiastadion also saw the legendary final of the 1974 World Cup, which resulted in a 2-1 victory for Germany against Holland.
Other uses
In addition to being a sports venue, the Olympic Stadium has played host to many open-air concerts by the likes of Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Metallica, and The Rolling Stones. Parts of the 1975 film Rollerball were shot on the (then) futuristic site surrounding the stadium. Guns N' Roses filmed parts of their Estranged video there when they visited Munich in June 1993. Since 2005 it is the host of the yearly air and style snowboard event.
See also
References
External links
- How the ice is made for the Tour de Ski competition - Accessed December 31, 2006.
- Tour de Ski results from Munich - Accessed December 31, 2006.
- Official site
- tum.de: Olympiapark (a student project of the tum/dept Architecture)
- Olympic Park CityPanorama
- Google Maps satellite photo
- WorldStadiums.com entry
