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 either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

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-Kreuzb ...

in the eponymous borough of

in Berlin, Germany. It was inaguruated on 20 May 1950 by the First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, Walter Ulbricht for the first "Deutschlandtreffen ("German Festival") of the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant ...

. The stadium was initially named after Walter Ulbricht. 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 The 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held from 5 to 19 August 1951 in Berlin, capital city of the then German Democratic Republic, and organised by World Federation of Democratic Youth. The motto of the festival was "Peace and ...

in 1951. The stadium was rebuilt for the 10th

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held regularly since 1947 as an eve ...

in 1973. The renovations included the installation of seating, which reduced the capacity to 50,000. The rebuilt 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 disbanded after German reunification and even ...

until 1961. It was also the venue for the FDGB-Pokal (East German cup) final in 1951 and from 1975 to 1989. The

East Germany national football team The East Germany national football team, recognized as Germany DR by FIFA, was from 1952 to 1990 the football team of East Germany, playing as one of three post-war German teams, along with Saarland and West Germany. After German reunification ...

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

and

1. FC Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

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

(german: Heizwerk Scharnhorststraße) ( 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 (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

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 and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. As Berlin failed in the bidding process, the area remained abandoned. The construction of the new headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service began on the site in 2006.

References

External links

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

See also

References

External links