Lanxess Arena (originally Kölnarena, German for ''Cologne Arena'') is an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is known as the 18,500-capacity home of the

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their hom ...

. The arena opened in 1998 and can accommodate 20,000 people for concerts. With its capacity of 18,500, it is the largest ice hockey arena outside North America. It is primarily used by

(

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

VfL Gummersbach VfL Gummersbach is a handball club from the Germany, German city of Gummersbach. Currently, VfL Gummersbach competes in the Handball-Bundesliga and the DHB-Pokal. Gummersbach is one of the most successful team-handball clubs ever. Crest, colo ...

(

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

Köln RheinStars Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

(

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

), and as a

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

venue. The arena is spanned by a steel arch supporting the roof via steel cables. The height of the arch is and its weight is 480 tons. On June 2, 2008, it was announced that Kölnarena would be renamed Lanxess Arena, for a period of ten years. The sponsor, Lanxess AG, is a

specialty chemicals Speciality chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products which provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, agr ...

group based in the Lanxess Tower in

Deutz, Cologne The Cologne borough of Deutz (german: Köln-Deutz ; ), is a part of central Cologne, Germany, and was once an independent town. History Deutz was established under Roman Emperor Constantine I in 310 AD, when he established ''Castrum Divitia'', ...

Concerts

Lanxess Arena has been one of the top entertainment venues in Cologne since its opening. Many international artists have performed at the venue, spanning a wide range of music genres. Artists that have performed their concerts at the venue are listed in the table below.

Sports events

The arena was used for the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship, including the third place game and the final game. On June 13, 2009, the

Ultimate Fighting Championships The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

held

UFC 99 ''UFC 99: The Comeback'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on June 13, 2009 in Cologne, Germany. Background This event was the first UFC event held in Germany, as well as the first in mainland Europe ...

at the Lanxess Arena. This was the first time the UFC has made its way to Germany. On May 29–30, 2010, the arena hosted the

EHF Champions League The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the me ...

Final Four. The arena was one of the venues for the

2010 IIHF World Championship The 2010 IIHF World Championship was the 74th IIHF World Championship, an annual international ice hockey tournament. It took place between 7 and 23 May 2010 in Germany. The games were played in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, SAP Arena in Mannhei ...

, including both semi-finals, the Bronze medal game and the Championship game. On August 22–23, 2015, the arena hosted

ESL One Cologne 2015 ESL One Cologne 2015 was the sixth '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' Major Championship that was held from August 14–18, 2015 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. It was organized by Electronic Sports League. The Cologne event was the first ESL ...

, one of three major Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments to be held throughout 2015. On July 5–10, 2016, the arena hosted

ESL One Cologne 2016 ESL One Cologne 2016, also known as ESL Cologne Major 2016 or Cologne 2016, was an Electronic Sports League Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. It was the ninth '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' Major Championship and was held at ...

, the second $1,000,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major tournament. From May 5 to 21, 2017, the arena co-hosted the IIHF ice hockey world championship, including all the final games. On July 7–9, 2017, the arena hosted ESL One Cologne 2017, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament with a prize pool of $250,000. From July 6 to 8, 2018, the arena hosted ESL One Cologne 2018. This event earned Lanxess Arena the nickname “The Cathedral Of Counter-Strike”. On October 8, 2018, the arena hosted an exhibition ice hockey game between Kölner Haie and the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

, part of the 2018 NHL Global Series Challenge. On July 5–7, 2019, the arena hosted another edition of the ESL One Cologne, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament with a prize pool of $300,000. From July 12 to 13, 2019, the arena will host the 2019 German Darts Masters, part of the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. From May 22 to 24, 2020, the arena will host the 2020 Euroleague Final Four, part of

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball is the private company that runs and operates the top continental-wide basketball men's professional sports club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has been org ...

In 2020 the arena hosted back to back ATP 250 events. From October 11–18,

Bett1Hulks Indoors The 2020 Bett1Hulks Indoors is a ATP tournament organised for male professional tennis players, held in Cologne, Germany, in mid-October 2020 on indoor hard courts. It was primarily organised due to the cancellation of many tournaments during the ...

and from October 17 to 25 it will host another ATP 250 event Bett1Hulks Championship The venue will host some group phase matches at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 which the country and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

alongside Czech Republic in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Georgia in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

and Italy in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Image gallery

Image:Lanxess Arena Flight over Cologne.jpg, Lanxess Arena exterior view Image:Lanxess Arena Cologne.jpg, Lanxess Arena, hockey configuration Image:Koelnarena inside.jpg, Lanxess Arena inside Image:FA Goeppingen 01.jpg, Lanxess Arena during handball match between VfL Gummersbach and

Frisch Auf Göppingen Turn- und Polizeisportgemeinschaft Frisch Auf Göppingen e.V. is a sports club from Germany, located in Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg. The club's men's handball team plays under the name FRISCH AUF! Göppingen in Handball-Bundesliga. Nine-time c ...

Image:KECHaie0708.jpg, Lanxess Arena in 2008 during an ice hockey game File:Aerial view of LANXESS arena in Cologne, Germany (48988315112).jpg, Aerial view of LANXESS Arena in Cologne, Germany

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Sports venues completed in 1998 Indoor arenas in Germany Indoor ice hockey venues in Germany Basketball venues in Germany Handball venues in Germany Landmarks in Cologne Sports venues in Cologne Convention centres in Germany Venues of the Bundesvision Song Contest 1998 establishments in Germany

Concerts

Sports events

Image gallery

See also

Notes

External links