Uhlenkrugstadion is a multi-use

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches and serves as home ground for

Schwarz-Weiß Essen Schwarz-Weiß Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The side has its origins in the gymnastics club ''Essener Turnerbund'' founded in 1881. A football department was formed in January 1900 and this b ...

. The stadium was built by its main tenant in 1922, having an initial capacity of 35,000 people and featuring a stand constructed out of iron, which was unusual at this time. In 1939, the structure was expanded to hold 45,000 people. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during which the stadium was destroyed, it hosted an international friendly between

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in 1951. Over the years and because of increasing structural decline and safety measures, the capacity was gradually reduced to about 20,000 people, before undergoing further reconstruction work in order to meet the criteria for the newly founded

NRW-Liga The Nordrhein-Westfalen-Liga (''North Rhine-Westphalia League''; NRW-Liga) was the highest football league in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) from 2008 to 2012. It was one of the eleven Oberliga (football), Oberliga groups in German foo ...

. The stadium currently has a capacity of 9,950 people.

References

Football venues in Germany Sport in Essen Sports venues in North Rhine-Westphalia Schwarz-Weiß Essen {{NorthRhineWestphalia-struct-stub