The Waldau-Stadion, known as the Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau for sponsorship purposes, 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 either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in the Degerloch district in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

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 ...

. The stadium is situated approximately 200m southwest of the Fernsehturm Stuttgart and holds 11,410 spectators (of these, 1,068 canopied seats and 4,949 canopied stands), which makes it the second biggest stadium in Stuttgart. It is home to the Stuttgarter Kickers, as of 2013 playing in the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

. The

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

teams

Stuttgart Scorpions The Stuttgart Scorpions are an American football team from Stuttgart, Germany. The club's greatest success came in 2007, when it reached the German Bowl but lost to the Braunschweig Lions. History The Stuttgart Scorpions were formed in December ...

and Stuttgart Surge use the stadium in the German Football League and European League of Football, respectively. Since 2008, the VfB Stuttgart II, also playing in the 3. Liga, plays its home games here. The Waldau-Stadion is the oldest stadium in Germany.

History

The football section of Stuttgarter Kickers plays their home games in the stadium since its inauguration in 1905, thereby being the German club that plays for the longest time in the same stadium. Until 1975, the stadium featured a wooden terrace that was built after one of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

's in scale 1–3. Due to various requirements imposed by the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...

, a new main stand was built in 1976 and is in use until today. After having the names Kickers-Platz andKickers-Stadium since 1905, the stadium was officially renamed to Waldau-Stadion in 1987. The Stuttgart Scorpions use the stadium since their promotion to the German Football League in 1995. In 2001, the MTV HipHop Open took place in the stadium. This was the only occurrence of the music festival in the stadium as it moved to the Reitstadion in the next year and has been moved to Mannheim since 2009. In June 2004 the name of the stadium was sold to the German main sponsor Garmo AG for 10 years. Garmo sells its products with the brand name GAZi and renamed the stadium accordingly to GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau. On 6 October 2007, the final of the German Bowl, the German championship in American Football, between the Stuttgart Scorpions and the Braunschweig Lions took place in the GAZi-Stadion. Braunschweig won the championship for the third time in a row, defeating Stuttgart 27–6 in front of 8,152 spectators. On 17 July 2008, Stuttgart's council decided to remodel the stadium for 5.4 million Euro in order to fulfill the requirements imposed by the DFB for the new 3. Liga. It was planned to increase the capacity to 12,000 spectators (2,000 canopied seats and 10.000 stands in total). Beginning of the construction work was planned for January 2009 and should be finished by July 2009. In the end of 2008, however, the council decided to postpone the remodeling for an unknown time span. Following the relegation of Stuttgarter Kickers to the fourth-tier Regionalliga Süd, the remodeling would not have been necessary. VfB Stuttgart II, however, for now continues to host its home games in the 3. Liga in the stadium with a special approval by the DFB.

References

{{German Football League Stadiums Football venues in Germany Buildings and structures in Stuttgart Sport in Stuttgart Sports venues in Baden-Württemberg Sports venues completed in 1905 American football venues in Germany 1905 establishments in Germany Stuttgart Surge European League of Football venues