Stadion der Weltjugend was 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 ...

in the locality of

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuz ...

in the eponymous

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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 was inaugurated on 20 May 1950 by the First Secretary of the

Socialist Unity Party The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Ma ...

Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; ; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar republic, Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development ...

for the first "Deutschlandtreffen" ("German Festival") of the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth wing of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant for young adults, both male a ...

. The stadium was named after Walter Ulbricht. In the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

of Berlin, the stadium was later called ''Zickenwiese'' after Ulbricht's

beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, beards are most commonly seen on pubescent or adult males, though women have been observed with beards ...

. The Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion had a capacity of 70,000 spectators and was complemented by several further football pitches, tennis courts and athletic fields. It was the largest stadium in East Germany at its opening. The stadium was a site of the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951. The stadium was redeveloped ahead of the

10th World Festival of Youth and Students 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

in 1973, together with the

Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark The Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the western part of the Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Prenzlauer Berg in the Boroughs and localities of Berlin, borough of Pankow in Berlin. The sp ...

. The redevelopment included the installation of seating, which reduced the capacity to 50,000. The redeveloped stadium was then also renamed to Stadion der Weltjugend ("Stadium of the World Youth"). The Walter Ulbricht-Stadion was the home ground of the football team of

SC Dynamo Berlin The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 1954 to 1991. It was the largest sports club of SV Dynamo, the sports association of the security agencies. The club was reformed after German reunification and succe ...

until September 1961. It was also the venue for the

FDGB-Pokal The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football af ...

(East German cup) final in 1951 and from 1975 to 1989. The

East Germany national football team The East Germany national football team, recognised as Germany DR by FIFA, represented East Germany in men's international Association football, football, playing as one of three post-war German teams, along with Saarland national football team ...

played 13 times at the stadium. The stadium was used for all matches in the

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

between

BFC Dynamo Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo () or BFC (), alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Ber ...

and

1. FC Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was founded. During the Co ...

for security reasons from 1976 to 1989. The stadium was bordered by the

Chausseestraße Chausseestraße, or Chausseestrasse (see ß; ), is a major street in the centre of Berlin, located in the district of Mitte. It is 1.7 kilometres long. Many notable buildings and structures are located along the street, including the Headquar ...

on the east, by the Habersaathstraße (known as Kesselstraße until 1951) on the south and residential areas on Scharnhorststraße and Boyenstraße on the north and west respectively. The Scharnhorststraße

heating plant A heating plant, also called a physical plant, or steam plant, generates thermal energy in the form of steam for use in district heating applications. Unlike combined heat and power installations which produce thermal energy as a by-product ...

() ( de) with its 150-meter chimney was located right next to the western curve of the stadium. The stadium was initially served by the Schwartzkopffstraße U-Bahn stadion. The station was renamed Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion after the stadium in 1951. The Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion U-bahn station was closed after the construction of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

in 1961. The station was renamed Stadion der Weltjugend after the stadium was renamed in 1973. The stadium was demolished in 1992 in preparation for the construction of a new arena for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. As Berlin failed in the bidding process, the area remained abandoned. The construction of the new

headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service The Headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service or the BND Headquarters (, colloquially the ) is the headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) of Germany, and is located at the Chausseestraße in the Mitte district in the cen ...

began on the site in 2006.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadion Der Weltjugend Sports venues in Berlin Defunct football venues in Germany Sports venues completed in 1950 1950 establishments in East Germany Football venues in Berlin

See also

Explanatory notes

References

External links