RheinEnergieStadion

RheinEnergieStadion, formerly Mungersdorfer Stadion (German pronunciation: [ˌʁaɪnʔenɛʁˈɡiːˌʃtaːdi̯ɔn]), is a German football stadium in Cologne. It was built on the site of the two previous Mungersdorfer stadiums. It is the home of the local Bundesliga team, 1. FC Koln. The stadium was one of five stadiums hosting both the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup, and hosted the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final behind closed doors. Local energy company RheinEnergie AG currently holds the naming rights to the stadium, hence it was known as the Stadion Koln for the final.

History

Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the fortifications of Cologne were removed, thus allowing for the building of a new structure in the surrounding area. The new construction enabled the city to create 15,000 jobs. The new stadium was called the Mungersdorfer Stadion. This allowed Cologne not only to help stabilize the country but also to gain prestige and economic benefits for the city. The cost was tallied at 47.4 million Deutsche Mark.

Following the completion of the stadium, the city began to gain prominence in the domestic sports world. Many major football matches were held at the stadium in front of huge crowds. The first international match was held on 20 November 1927, when the German national football team drew 2–2 with the Netherlands. Since then, the German team has played 19 times at the stadium, and only one of those matches resulted in a loss. Another notable match was the first post-war game, which saw 1. FC Nurnberg beat 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2–1, in front of a crowd of 75,000.

One of the specialties of the Mungersdorfer Stadion was the track meets for non-professional sportsmen. In 1929 there were over 38,000 participants. However, in 1933 Jews were no longer allowed to take part. After the war the stadium has only hosted professional level sports.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Рейн Энерги Стадион (russian)