Zentralstadion
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| Full name | Red Bull Arena |
|---|---|
| Former names | Zentralstadion (1956–2010) |
| Location | Am Sportforum 3, Leipzig,Germany |
| Coordinates | 51°20′44.86″N 12°20′53.59″E / 51.3457944°N 12.3482194°ECoordinates: 51°20′44.86″N 12°20′53.59″E / 51.3457944°N 12.3482194°E |
| Capacity | 42,959 (football) 50,000 (concert) |
| Field size | 105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Scoreboard | Yes |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1954 |
| Opened | August 4, 1956 |
| Renovated | December 2000 – March 2004 |
| Tenants | |
| RB Leipzig (2010–present) | |
The Red Bull Arena (German pronunciation: [ʁɛt ˈbʊl ʔaˌʁeːnaː], formerly Zentralstadion [tsɛnˈtʁaːlˌʃtaːdi̯ɔn]), located in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, is a football facility in the former East Germany. It is the largest football stadium in the former East Germany and has also hosted music concerts as well as football.
It is currently the home stadium for first-division club RB Leipzig but various Leipzig football teams have used the stadium as a home stadium, including VfB Leipzig (precursor to 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig) at various points in the 20th century (including large-scale European matches in the 1970s and domestic football in the 1990s).
In 1956, the first Zentralstadion opened, at the time it was one of the biggest stadiums in Europe being able to hold 100,000 spectators. However, over the years it fell into disuse and was costing the city too much to maintain. In 1997, the city of Leipzig decided to build a new stadium within the old stadium, a modern state of the art stadium only for soccer. The new stadium was built from December 2000 till March 2004. A similar endeavor of constructing a new stadium within the confines of an historic stadium's exterior was completed in Chicago's Soldier Field, which similarly build a modern stadium while preserving the exterior of the original structure.
The Zentralstadion was the only stadium in the former East Germany to host games in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It hosted four group matches and a round of 16 game in the tournament. A year earlier, it was also one of the venues for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and hosted three matches of the tournament, including the third-place match. From 2005 to 2007, the Zentralstadion was host of the German League Cup final.
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