The Rheinstadion () was a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

, in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. The stadium was built, near the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

, in 1926 and held 54,000 people at the end of its life. It was the home ground for

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

from 1953 to 1970 and 1972–2002. It was used during the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

and 1988 European Championships. In 1995, the Rhein Fire, of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of t ...

became tenants in their inaugural season. It hosted World Bowl '99 and

World Bowl X World Bowl X was the 2002 championship game of the NFL Europe League. The game was played at Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, Germany on Saturday, June 22, 2002. It would be the final event held at Rheinstadion before its demolition. In this game, ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instru ...

performed at the stadium during their Nowhere Else to Roam Tour on May 20, 1993, with

The Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury' ...

Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice, Los Angeles, Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, ...

as their opening act. It was demolished in the summer of 2002, after the

championship game, and has been replaced by the

Merkur Spiel-Arena Merkur Spielarena (stylized as MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA), previously known as the Esprit Arena (until 2 August 2018), the LTU Arena (until June 2009), and as the Düsseldorf Arena (during the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, 2011 Eurovision Song Contest), ...

in 2004.

International matches

1974 FIFA World Cup

UEFA Euro 1988

External links

Stadium Guide Article
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1974 FIFA World Cup stadiums Defunct football venues in Germany Buildings and structures in Düsseldorf Multi-purpose stadiums in Germany Defunct sports venues in Germany History of Düsseldorf Sports venues in North Rhine-Westphalia UEFA Euro 1988 stadiums {{NorthRhineWestphalia-struct-stub