The Poststadion 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

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2016, around 77,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial and working-class neighbourhood i ...

of the borough 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 Berlin, Germany. The stadium was built in 1929 for the sports club of the German

Reichspost ''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945. ''Deutsche Reichspost'' Upon the out break of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peace of ...

at the site of a former Prussian

Uhlan Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Pr ...

parade ground. It is adjacent to the

Fritz Schloß Park Fritz Schloß Park is a park in Berlin in the district of Moabit, located in the borough of Mitte. Location The park is located adjacent to the Poststadion between Rathenower Straße, Kruppstraße, Seydlitzstraße, and Lehrter Straße. The lo ...

. The stadium is a designated landmark since 1990. The facility fell into disrepair during the 1980s and several attempts to renovate the stadium failed in the following decades. The first renovations was carried out in 2003. Its original architecture has been conserved in the original structures of the main entrance in the Lehrter Strasse, with its rows of ticket booths lining the entrance. The main stand of the stadium was renovated in 2010. The stadium was equipped with

floodlights A floodlight is a broad-beamed, gas discharge lamp#High-intensity discharge lamps, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is Night game, being held during low-li ...

in 2021. The field is used mostly for regional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and host the home matches of

SC Union 06 Berlin Sport-Club Union 06 Berlin e.V. is a German association football club based in central Berlin. Like namesake 1. FC Union Berlin, the club traces its origin back to the ''FC Olympia Oberschöneweide'', formed in 1906, but the current ''SC Unio ...

and, since 2008, also of

Berlin AK 07 Berliner AK 07 is a German football club based in the locality of Moabit of the borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the fourth tier Regionalliga Nordost. History The association was established on 15 December 1907 in t ...

. It is located adjacent to

. Together with the Fritz Schloß Park, the facility is also known as SportPark Poststadion. The Sports complex is one of the largest sports facilities in Berlin and is currently managed by the Berlin borough of Mitte. The stadium today holds 10,000 spectators. At its peak, it held up to 45,000 spectators, who on 10 May 1930 saw the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deutsch ...

play an exciting 3–3 against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, one of the first encounters between the two teams.

Richard Hofmann Richard Hofmann (8 February 1906 – 5 May 1983) was a German football player. He played in 25 internationals for Germany as a centre forward, scoring 24 goals, including the first ever international hat-trick against England by a player from ...

scored all three goals for Germany before England's David Jack finally equalised late in the match. After the

Deutsches Stadion The ''Deutsches Stadion'' ("German Stadium") was a monumental stadium designed by Albert Speer for the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg, southern Germany. Its construction began in September 1937, and was scheduled for completion in 1943. ...

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

had been closed in 1934, the Poststadion became the site of the German championship final.

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

won with 2–1 over 1. FC Nürnberg, who themselves gained the title two years later in a 2–1 match against

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

. The stadium was also used as a professional boxing arena, and on 7 July 1935

Max Schmeling Maximilian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling (, ; 28 September 1905 – 2 February 2005) was a German boxing, boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938 were worldwide cul ...

won against

Paulino Uzcudun Paulino Uzcudun Eizmendi (3 May 1899 – 5 July 1985) was a Spanish heavyweight boxer, who is considered to be the greatest heavyweight from Spain. Uzkudun is the Basque spelling of his last name. He was the youngest of nine siblings. In his y ...

after twelve rounds. Several

matches during the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

were held at the Poststadion. On 7 August 1936 outsider

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

knocked Germany out of the tournament by a 2–0 win in the quarter finals, in front of 55,000 spectators. The Nazi leadership including

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

witnessed this defeat, whereafter team manager

Otto Nerz Otto Nerz (21 October 1892 – 18 April 1949) was a German footballer player and manager and the first head coach of the Germany national team between 1923 and 1936. Nerz was born in Hechingen, Province of Hohenzollern, son of a rope shopkeep ...

was immediately dismissed and replaced by

Sepp Herberger Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed ''The Mirac ...

. Major football events afterwards were held at the

Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...

. File:Corner terrace at Postadion.jpg, Corner terrace and open seating, 2012 File:End Terrace Poststadion.jpg, Terraced end of the ground, 2012 File:Undeveloped end of Poststadion.jpg, Undeveloped end of the ground, 2012 File:Poststadion main stand far.jpg, Main stand from the other side of the pitch, 2012 File:Poststadion main stand.jpg, Main stand, 2012 File:AKB '07 vs 1 FC Berlin II.jpg, Berliner AK 07 vs 1. FC Union Berlin II, 2012

References

1936 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 2. pp. 1047–56.
Stadium information
Venues of the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic football venues Football venues in Berlin Sports venues in Berlin {{Summer-Olympic-venue-stub