Wellblechpalast is the official name of the ice hockey arena in the

Sportforum Hohenschönhausen Sportforum Hohenschönhausen, officially named Sportforum Berlin, is a multi-purpose sports complex in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg, Berlin, Lichtenberg in Berlin. The Sportforum was also known as the Dynamo- ...

in the locality of

Alt-Hohenschönhausen Alt-Hohenschönhausen (, ) is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg, Berlin. Known also as Hohenschönhausen it was, until 2001, the main and the eponymous locality of the former Hohenschönhausen borough. In 2008 t ...

of the

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 ...

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg may refer to: Places * Lichtenberg, Austria * Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France * Lichtenberg, Bavaria, Germany * Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany * Lichtenberg, Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany * Lichtenberg (Lausitz), Saxony, Germany * Lichte ...

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 ...

. The arena was built in 1963 and was the home stadium of the

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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 ...

and then

Eisbären Berlin The Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also ...

until the 2007–08 season. The facility still serves as training unit for the Eisbären Berlin; it also hosts games of the Eisbären Juniors team, and occasionally games of several other Berlin-based amateur teams. The structure's roof is made up of corrugated iron sheets ("Wellblech" in German). The nickname ''Wellblechpalast'' (corrugated roof palace), coined by a journalist during the early 1990s, originally had a pejorative connotation that characterised both the destitute nature of the building and the Eisbären Berlin ice hockey team, which at the time regularly finished at the bottom of the standings. However, the name stuck and assumed a cult status among the club's fans. The arena accommodates 4,695 people; the seating capacity is 1,600, with 3,095 standing on the terraces. On 7 October 2001, it was officially renamed to Wellblechpalast.

References

Indoor arenas in Germany Ice hockey venues in Germany Sports venues in Berlin {{Berlin-struct-stub