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MHPArena

UEFA
Former names	Stuttgarter Kampfbahn (1929–1933) Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn (1933–1945) Century Stadium (1945–1949) Neckarstadion (1949–1993) Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion (1993–2008) Mercedes-Benz Arena (2008–2023)
Address	Mercedesstraße 87, 70372
Location	Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Coordinates	48°47′32″N 9°13′55″E / 48.79222°N 9.23194°E / 48.79222; 9.23194
Owner	Stadion NeckarPark GmbH & Co. KG
Operator	VfB Stuttgart Arena Betriebs GmbH
Capacity	60,058 (league matches), 54,812 (international matches)
Record attendance	97,553 (Germany vs. Switzerland, 22 November 1950)
Field size	105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
Surface	Natural grass
Construction
Built	1929–1933
Opened	23 July 1933; 91 years ago (23 July 1933)
Renovated	1949–1951, 1999–2003, 2004–2005
Expanded	1993, 2009–2011, 2022–2024
Construction cost	2.3 million RM (1929–1933) €58 million (2004–2005) €63.5 million (2009–2011) €139.5 million (2022–2024)
Architect	Paul Bonatz/Friedrich Scholer (1929–1933) 'asp' Architekten Stuttgart (2004–2005, 2009–2011, 2022–2024)
Tenants
VfB Stuttgart (1933–present) Germany national football team (selected matches) Major sporting events hosted 1959 European Cup Final 1974 FIFA World Cup 1986 European Athletics Championships 1988 European Cup Final UEFA Euro 1988 1993 World Athletics Championships 2006 FIFA World Cup UEFA Euro 2024
Website
www.mhparena-stuttgart.de

Neckarstadion, officially known as MHPArena for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and home to Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. It hosted football matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Euro 1988, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA Euro 2024. Besides that the 1959 European Cup Final, the replay of the 1962 European Cup Winners' Cup final, the 1988 European Cup Final, and the second leg of the 1989 UEFA Cup final took place in the stadium. The stadium is the only venue in Europe to have hosted multiple World Cup, European Championship and European Cup/Champions League Final matches. The stadium hosted the 1986 European Athletics Championships and the 1993 World Athletics Championships before it was redeveloped into a football-specific stadium in 2009.

Before 1993 it was called the Neckarstadion ([ˈnɛkaʁˌʃtaːdi̯ɔn] ), named after the nearby river Neckar. Between 1993 and July 2008 it was called the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion [ˌɡɔtliːpˈdaɪmlɐˌʃtaːdi̯ɔn]. The stadium was renamed the Mercedes-Benz Arena at the beginning of the 2008–09 season, starting with a pre-season friendly against Arsenal on 30 July 2008. On 1 July 2023, the stadium was renamed the MHPArena.

Location

The MHPArena is located in the Bad Cannstatt borough of Stuttgart and is the centrepiece of the Neckarpark area. Directly on the north side of the stadium is the Carl Benz Center, an elongated experience centre for football fans. The Porsche-Arena and the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle follow immediately afterwards. To the south-east of the stadium are the VfB Stuttgart club grounds with training grounds, clubhouse and the Robert-Schlienz-Stadion, where the VfB Stuttgart youth teams play their matches. About 250 metres to the west of the stadium is the Cannstatter Wasen, where the annual Cannstatter Volksfest takes place.

History

The stadium was originally built from 1929 to 1933 with the name "Stuttgarter Kampfbahn" after designs by German architects Paul Bonatz and Friedrich Scholer. After it was built, it was named "Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn" (pronounced [ˌadɔlfˈhɪtlɐˌkampfbaːn]). From 1945 to 1949 it was called Century Stadium and later Kampfbahn and was used by US Troops to play baseball. The name Neckarstadion has been used since 1949. It is home to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga (and to the Stuttgarter Kickers when they played in the Bundesliga).

After a major refurbishment in the late 1980s and early 1990s partly financed by Daimler-Benz, the Stuttgart town council dedicated the stadium to Gottlieb Daimler. The inventor had tested both the first internal combustion motorcycle and the first 4-wheel automobile there in the 1880s, on the road from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim (now called Mercedesstraße). The Mercedes-Benz Group headquarters, the Mercedes-Benz Museum, and the Untertürkheim car plant are nearby.

The stadium capacity was temporarily reduced to around 42,300, after one stand (Untertürkheimer Kurve) was demolished during summer 2009 in the process of converting it to a pure football arena. The rebuilt arena was completed in November 2011 with a new capacity of 60,449, including terracing. Due to UEFA regulations, which only allow seating, the capacity was reduced to around 55,000 during international football matches.

As a result of the renovation work on the main stand, the capacity of the stadium was temporarily reduced to 47,500 seats in the 2022–23 season. Since construction work was completed in March 2024, the capacity is 60,058 for league matches and 54,812 for international matches.

It is divided into four sections,

• the Haupttribüne (main stand), adjacent to Mercedesstraße, housing VIP-lounges and press seats
• the Gegentribüne (opposite stand), formerly named EnBW-Tribüne and Kärcher-Tribüne after some of VfB Stuttgart's sponsors.
• the Cannstatter Kurve (Cannstatt Curve), to the left of the Haupttribüne, housing the ultras of VfB Stuttgart and one of two video walls. Before rebuilding it housed the A-Block, which was the original block of the ultras. Since 2011 the lower tier of the curve contains a standing area with 8,000 terraces.
• the Untertürkheimer Kurve (Untertürkheim Curve), to the right of the Haupttribüne, housing lounges, the blocks for the guest team's fans and the second video wall

The fabric roof construction of the MHPArena was designed by Schlaich Bergermann Partner. Made of precision-tailored membranes of PVC-coated polyester, the roof tissue is durable enough to withstand 1,000 kg of weight per square decimeter. It is suspended from an aesthetic steel frame that runs around the entire stadium weighing approximately 2,700 metric tons. The steel cables connecting the roof to the frame alone weigh about 420 tons. The roof was added during the refurbishment preceding the 1993 World Athletics Championships.

International matches

The Neckarstadion hosted four matches of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, two matches of the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship (a 1st Round match and a semi-final) and six games of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including a Round of 16 game and the third-place playoff match (see below for details).

The stadium also hosted the finals of the European Cup (now known as UEFA Champions League) in 1959 (Real Madrid vs. Stade de Reims) and 1988 (PSV Eindhoven vs. S.L. Benfica).

Trivia

• Germany's first international football match after World War II in 1950 (against Switzerland) was played at the stadium. The official match attendance of 96,400 is the stadium record. Journalists estimated that more than 100,000 people attended the match. The first match with players from West and East Germany after the German reunification in 1990 (also versus Switzerland) took place at the Neckarstadion as well.
• Klaus Fischer scored Germany's "ARD Goal of the Century" here against the Swiss in 1977, with a bicycle kick ("Fallrückzieher").
• With 115 m each, the stadium's two video walls before rebuilding were the largest in Europe.
• The Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion was one of the four stadiums hosting games during the 2006 FIFA World Cup whose name were not changed to FIFA World Cup Stadium XYZ, as the dedication to Gottlieb Daimler was not interpreted as advertisement (i.e. for DaimlerChrysler). All others, such as the Allianz Arena in Munich or the AOL Arena in Hamburg were obliged to remove all visual references to their stadiums' name sponsors.

Sports other than football

The 1986 European Athletics Championships in which the hammer throw world record by Yuriy Sedykh was set, and the 1993 World Athletics Championships were held in the stadium. The stadium was the host of the IAAF World Athletics final from 2006 to 2008, after which the stadium underwent redevelopment in order to build a football-only arena. The arena has also been the venue of four Eurobowl finals of American Football from 1994 to 1997.

Renovations and redevelopment into football-specific stadium

In 1993 the fabric roof of the stadium was constructed. From 1999 to 2003 the upper tier of the main stand was demolished and rebuilt. In 2005 the opposite stand received a new upper tier as well.

The redevelopment into a football-specific stadium was announced along with the stadium's name change in late March 2008. The first computer images of the new arena were released at the same time, also showing a large cube with four video scoreboards above the centre circle, similar to the one in the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt.

Starting in 2009, the Mercedes-Benz Arena has been redeveloped into a football-specific stadium. New stands were constructed, after the running track was demolished and the pitch level was lowered by 1.30 metres in time for the beginning of the 2009–10 season. Both curves were completely demolished and rebuilt closer to the pitch during the next two years. After the interior redevelopment finished, the roof was expanded to cover all the new rows of the seats. The entire construction was completed by the end of 2011.

Within the first couple of weeks of the redevelopment, 18 undetonated bombs left over from the air raids on Stuttgart during the Second World War were found on the construction site.

During the 2017 summer break, the stadium roof was replaced at a cost of €9.75 million, as the membrane that had covered the stadium since the 1993 World Athletics Championships had reached the end of its service life after 24 years. From 2022 to 2024, various construction measures were carried out in the run-up to the UEFA Euro 2024. The lower level of the main stand, which dates back to 1974, was completely rebuilt and the main stand was extended up to the roof supports. This resulted in new team cabins, sports function rooms, a new media centre, another business area and a modern production kitchen. The planned construction costs originally totalled around €98.5 million. However, they rose to €139.5 million over the course of the project. The conversion was completed at the end of March 2024.

International tournaments matches

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All times local (CET)

1974 FIFA World Cup

Stuttgart hosted the following matches at the 1974 FIFA World Cup:

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
15 June 1974	18:00	Poland	3–2	Argentina	Group 4	32,700
19 June 1974	19:30	Argentina	1–1	Italy	Group 4	70,100
23 June 1974	16:00	Poland	2–1	Italy	Group 4	70,100
26 June 1974	19:30	Sweden	0–1	Poland	Group B	44,955

UEFA Euro 1988

These UEFA Euro 1988 matches were played in Stuttgart:

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
12 June 1988	15:30	England	0–1	Republic of Ireland	Group 2	51,373
22 June 1988	20:15	Soviet Union	2–0	Italy	Semi-finals	61,606

2006 FIFA World Cup

The following games were played at the stadium during the 2006 FIFA World Cup:

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
13 June 2006	18:00	France	0–0	Switzerland	Group G	52,000
16 June 2006	18:00	Netherlands	2–1	Ivory Coast	Group C	52,000
19 June 2006	21:00	Spain	3–1	Tunisia	Group H	52,000
22 June 2006	21:00	Croatia	2–2	Australia	Group F	52,000
25 June 2006	17:00	England	1–0	Ecuador	Round of 16	52,000
8 July 2006	21:00	Germany	3–1	Portugal	Third place match	52,000

UEFA Euro 2024

The stadium hosted four group stage matches and one quarter-final match at the UEFA Euro 2024:

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
16 June 2024	18:00	Slovenia	1–1	Denmark	Group C	54,000
19 June 2024	18:00	Germany	2–0	Hungary	Group A	54,000
23 June 2024	21:00	Scotland	0–1			54,000
26 June 2024	18:00	Ukraine	0–0	Belgium	Group E	54,000
5 July 2024	18:00	Spain	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Germany	Quarter-finals	54,000

UEFA Club Competition Finals

Date	Winners	Result	Runners-up	Round	Attendance
3 June 1959	Real Madrid	2–0	Reims	1959 European Cup final	72,000
5 September 1962	Atlético Madrid	3–0	Fiorentina	1962 European Cup Winners' Cup final (Replay)	38,120
25 May 1988	PSV Eindhoven	0–0 (6–5 pen.)	Benfica	1988 European Cup final	64,000

Concerts

Pink Floyd performed at the stadium on 25 June 1989 as part of their 1989 Another Lapse European Tour (A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour).

English rock band Genesis continued their Turn It On Again: The Tour at the stadium in a sold-out crowd of 50,736 fans in attendance.

Depeche Mode performed at the stadium on 3 June 2013 during their Delta Machine Tour, in front of a sold-out crowd of about 36,000 people.

See also

• List of football stadiums in Germany
• Lists of stadiums

References

1. ^ "Das Stuttgarter Stadion im Wandel der Zeit". stuttgarter-nachrichten.de (in German). Stuttgarter Nachrichten. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
2. Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 2006. Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. ASP Architekten Arat.
3. Mercedes-Benz Arena Stuttgart. Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. ASP Architekten Arat.
4. ^ "Die MHP Arena: "Leuchtturmprojekt" und Top-Location mit exklusivem Tunnelclub". stuttgart.de (in German). 15 April 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
5. ^ "Extensive refurbishment work completed: MHP Arena Stuttgart shines in new splendor" (PDF). mhp.com. MHP Management- und IT-Beratung. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
6. Arsenal: Friendly against VfB Stuttgart announced Archived 18 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Porsche, MHP and VfB Stuttgart AG sign position paper". porsche.com. Porsche. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
8. "Alliance of global brands for VfB". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
9. "Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Neckarstadion 1953". leo-bw.de (in German). LEO-BW. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
10. "Mercedes-Benz Classic: November 1885: Daimler riding car travels from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim". Daimler. 25 October 2010. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
11. "Mercedes-Benz Museum – how to find us" (PDF). Mercedes-Benz. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
12. ^ "Chronik Umbau 2009-2011". mhparena-stuttgart.de (in German). Retrieved 14 February 2024.
13. "EnBW sponsert künftig die VfB-Jugend". stuttgarter-nachrichten.de (in German). Stuttgarter Nachrichten. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
14. "Beendet Kärcher sein Sponsoring beim VfB Stuttgart?". zvw.de (in German). Zeitungsverlag Waiblingen. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
15. "Die Fans des VfB: Von A-Block bis Ultras". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Stuttgarter Zeitung. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
16. "Blockplan". mhparena-stuttgart.de (in German). Retrieved 16 February 2024.
17. "Stuttgarter bedachen Fußball-WM". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Stuttgarter Zeitung. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
18. ^ "Technical data". sports department of the city administration of Stuttgart. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
19. "Chronik". mhparena-stuttgart.de (in German). Retrieved 16 February 2024.
20. "Diese WM- und EM-Spiele fanden schon in Stuttgart statt". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Stuttgarter Zeitung. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
21. "List of UEFA Champions League past winners: Year-by-year results". nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
22. "Vor 70 Jahren: Das erste Länderspiel nach dem Krieg". dfb.de (in German). German Football Association. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
23. "Premiere in Stuttgart: Wir sind eins". dfb.de (in German). German Football Association. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
24. "Klaus Fischer erzielt Fußballtor des Jahrhunderts". Br.de (in German). Bayerischer Rundfunk. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
25. "Stadionnamen - Bitte kauf mich!". spiegel.de (in German). Der Spiegel. 16 March 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
26. "Ende der Laufbahn". tagesspiegel.de (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 13 September 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
27. "So schick ist das neue VfB-Stadion". stuttgarter-nachrichten.de (in German). Stuttgarter Nachrichten. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
28. ^ "So hat sich die Arena über die Jahrzehnte verändert". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Stuttgarter Zeitung. 27 December 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
29. Groundwork set for stadium re-construction Archived 26 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
30. Deutschland deine Stadien Archived 29 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Weltfussball.de - Article on the redevelopment of football stadiums in Germany, accessed: 9 July 2009
31. "Modernisierung der Mercedes-Benz-Arena: Was sich für VfB-Fans verändern wird". zvw.de (in German). Zeitungsverlag Waiblingen. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
32. "Pink Floyd 25.6.1989 Stuttgart, Neckarstadion". pulse-and-spirit.com (in German). 25 June 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
33. "Billboard" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. 18 August 2007. p. 12. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
34. "Depeche Mode 2013". mhparena-stuttgart.de (in German). Retrieved 16 February 2024.

External links

• Stadium website

• VfB Stuttgart
• Football venues in Germany
• Football in Stuttgart
• Defunct athletics (track and field) venues in Germany
• Sports venues in Baden-Württemberg
• Tensile membrane structures
• Sports venues completed in 1933
• 1933 establishments in Germany
• Buildings and structures in Stuttgart