Bielefelder Alm
View of the Bielefelder Alm from the Southwest
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| Full name | Bielefelder Alm |
|---|---|
| Former names | Stadion Alm |
| Location | Bielefeld, Germany |
| Coordinates | 52°01′55″N 8°31′00″E / 52.03194°N 8.51667°ECoordinates: 52°01′55″N 8°31′00″E / 52.03194°N 8.51667°E |
| Owner | Arminia Bielefeld |
| Capacity | 26,137 |
| Field size | 105m x 68m |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1926 |
| Opened | 1 May 1926 |
| Renovated | 1996 - 2008 |
| Construction cost | ? |
| Tenants | |
| Arminia Bielefeld (1926-present) | |
Bielefelder Alm (German pronunciation: [ˈbiːləfɛldɐ ˈʔalm]) is a football stadium in Bielefeld, Germany. The stadium, which has a capacity of 27 300, is owned by the football club DSC Arminia Bielefeld and mostly used for the club's matches. Formerly named Stadion Alm [ˈʃtaːdi̯ɔn ˈʔalm], it is currently known as SchücoArena [ˈʃyːkoːʔaˈʁeːnaː] due to a sponsorship deal with the Bielefeld-based window and solar panel manufacturers.
The football ground was opened in 1926, with land acquired from a farmer named Lohmann. The stadium got its former name (Alm) because it did not look like a football stadium in the first years and so one of Arminia's members said that just a few cows were missing in order to look like an Alm (English: alpine grassland). In 1957 it got its grass cover and the first grandstands were constructed.
Until 1971 the stands were all terraced, but with Arminia Bielefeld winning promotion to the Bundesliga, the first stand with seating was constructed. By 1978 3 new stands had been built and the stadiums capacity was 34,222. By 1985 serious structural problems had reduced the capacity to 18,500, and later to 15,000.
In 1996 rebuilding work began, first the North Stand was rebuilt and then the West Stand, bringing capacity to 22,512. In 1999 the South Stand was rebuilt increasing capacity to 26,601, and in June 2007 the capacity reached 28,008 following completion of the East Stand. The East Stand features a state-of-the-art glass roof that contains photo voltaic elements built into the glass (as opposed to mounted on it) that generate electricity for the club.
The stadium is well serviced by public transport. The Bielefeld Hauptbahnhof is only a few minutes away using line 4 (The red line) of the Bielefeld Stadtbahn tramway. Stadium parking is provided at Bielefeld University.
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