History

HSV actually have nothing to do with the origins of the stadium, even though they own the current arena. Before the club moved to the current site they played at Sportplatz at Rothenbaum. Bahrenfelder Stadion was the first stadium to built on the site of the Volksparkstadion and the AOL Arena. It was inaugurated on September 13th 1925 with a match between FC Altona 93 and HSV. In front a crowd of 25,000, HSV lost 2-3. At the time the stadium was also known as Altonaer Stadion, however it was not the home ground of FC Altona 93 (it was Adolf-Jäger-Kampfbahn). Altona was a large club of Germany that has long been surpassed by HSV.

After a long break the stadium was finally renovated. Between 19511953 the stadium was rebuilt. On July 12th the stadium was opened under its new name and Volksparkstadion (Peoples Park Stadium). Most of the building materials came from the ruins of Eimsbüttel, a district of Hamburg destroyed under Allied bombing. The new stadium could hold up to 75,000 and continued to be used for the various sporting events of the city.

In 1963, when HSV qualified for the newly created Bundesliga, they moved into the Volksparkstadion, a stadium that was both larger and more modern then Rothenbaum. At this time, FC Altona missed out on the opportunity and has struggled ever since. HSV then began to see some success in the Bundesliga and managed to maintain their status for years to come. HSV won titles in 1979, 1982, and 1983.

In May of 1998 HSV decided to replace the unpopular Volksparkstadion with a brand new stadium, not only to help Germany get ready to host the World Cup but also because it was getting harder and harder to meet the safety standards with such an old facility. The old stadium was totally demolished and the new arena was rotated 90° to provide an equal viewing experience for all the stands and to take advantage of sunlight. The estimated cost of the new stadium was anywhere from 90-100 million Euros. The new arena serves both as a football ground and a concert hall. The capacity of the stadium during club matches is 57.274, which is reduced to 51.500 during international matches when the standing sections in the north grandstand are converted into seated areas. The building permit for the new arena was issued on the 30 April1998. The new stadium got rid of the track and field facilities that increased the distance between the pitch and the stands. The stadium was inaugurated in 2000 when Germany played Greece; the home team won 2-0. With the new stadium HSV has managed to attain an average attendance of 50,000. In 2004 a museum dedicated to the history of HSV was opened.