MHPArena

Did You Know?

• The stadium hosted the 1986 European Athletics Championships, where Yuriy Sedykh set the hammer throw world record.
• Pink Floyd performed at the stadium on 25 June 1989 as part of their Another Lapse European Tour.
• The stadium was the venue of four Eurobowl finals of American football from 1994 to 1997.

Location

The MHPArena lies in the Bad Cannstatt borough of Stuttgart, forming the centrepiece of the Neckarpark area. To its north is the Carl Benz Center, an experience centre for football fans, followed by the Porsche-Arena and the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle. South-east of the stadium are VfB Stuttgart's club grounds, including training fields, the clubhouse, and the Robert-Schlienz-Stadion for youth matches. About 250 metres west lies the Cannstatter Wasen, site of the annual Cannstatter Volksfest.

History

The stadium began as the Stuttgarter Kampfbahn, built between 1929 and 1933 to designs by Paul Bonatz and Friedrich Scholer. It was soon renamed after Adolf Hitler, then from 1945 to 1949 served as a baseball field for US troops under the names Century Stadium and later Kampfbahn. Since 1949 it has been called Neckarstadion. VfB Stuttgart plays here, and Stuttgarter Kickers also used it during their Bundesliga years.

A major renovation in the late 1980s and early 1990s, partly funded by Daimler-Benz, led the town council to name it after Gottlieb Daimler, who tested early motorcycles and cars on a nearby road in the 1880s. Capacity dropped when the Untertürkheimer Kurve was demolished in 2009 to create a football-only arena, which reopened in November 2011. The stadium has four sections: the Haupttribüne (main stand) with VIP and press areas; the Gegentribüne (opposite stand), previously named after sponsors; the Cannstatter Kurve, home to VfB ultras and a standing terrace; and the Untertürkheimer Kurve, which holds guest fan blocks and lounges.

Trivia

Germany's first international match after World War II in 1950, against Switzerland, was played at the stadium. The official match attendance is the stadium record, though journalists estimated more people attended. The first match between West and East Germany after reunification in 1990, also versus Switzerland, took place here. Klaus Fischer scored Germany's 'ARD Goal of the Century' with a bicycle kick against Switzerland in 1977. The stadium's two video walls before rebuilding, each 115 m², were the largest in Europe. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion was one of four stadiums not renamed to FIFA World Cup Stadium XYZ, as the dedication to Gottlieb Daimler was not considered advertisement.

Renovations and redevelopment into football-specific stadium

In 1993 a fabric roof was constructed. From 1999 to 2003 the upper tier of the main stand was demolished and rebuilt, and in 2005 the opposite stand received a new upper tier. The redevelopment into a football-specific stadium was announced in late March 2008, with computer images showing a large cube with four video scoreboards above the centre circle. Starting in 2009, the running track was demolished, the pitch lowered by 1.30 metres, and both curves were rebuilt closer to the pitch.

The roof was expanded to cover new rows, and construction finished by the end of 2011. During the first weeks of redevelopment, 18 undetonated bombs from World War II air raids were found on site. In summer 2017 the roof membrane was replaced at a cost of €9.75 million after 24 years. From 2022 to 2024, the lower level of the main stand was rebuilt and the stand extended to the roof supports, adding team cabins, function rooms, a media centre, a business area, and a production kitchen. Planned costs of €98.5 million rose to €139.5 million; conversion was completed at the end of March 2024.