EURO 2024 venue profile: Olympiastadion Berlin, Berlin
Monday 20 January 2020
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The huge Olympiastadion Berlin has been through several major overhauls since it first opened.
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Germany's third largest metropolitan area, with a population of 3.7 million, Berlin has been the nation's capital since reunification in 1990, and when it comes to culture, sport, fashion, architecture and nightlife, it can give London, Paris or New York a run for their money.
Olympiastadion Berlin
The Olympiastadion Berlin has the longest history of all the UEFA EURO 2024 stadiums, and is the biggest venue too, seating over 70,000.
Built for the 1936 Olympic Games, the home of Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin once had a capacity of 100,000, and holds a special place in German footballing culture since it has staged every German Cup final since 1985.
A world-class music venue as well as a football stadium, it boasts an important place in track and field history too; it was at the Olympiastadion Berlin that Usain Bolt set the current sprint 100m and 200m records during the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.
Berlin hosted the 2006 FIFA World Cup final between Italy and France. Nine years later, Barcelona beat Juventus at the Olympiastadion Berlin to win the 2015 UEFA Champions League final.
Three things to do
Visit the Brandenburg Gate
The symbol of German reunification, the neoclassical Brandenburger Tor is 230 years old and 26 metres high. It has played a number of different political roles in its history, but is now the finish line of the Berlin Marathon and one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city.
See the view from the Fernsehturm
The 368m-tall TV tower in central Berlin has an observation deck 204m up which is a great place to take in the sweep of the city. A popular wedding venue, it also has a rotating restaurant, but with up to 5,000 visitors a day, booking a ticket in advance is very much recommended.
Walk the East Side Gallery
Perhaps the longest open-air gallery in the world, the East Side Gallery stretches 1.3km and is a series of gigantic images painted on an extant piece of the old Berlin Wall. Originally painted in 1990, the art is considered to be symbolic of Berlin's quest for open-mindedness, tolerance and peace.
