The Olympiastadion is a stadium located in Munich, Germany. Situated at the heart of the Olympiapark München in northern Munich, the stadium was built as the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics.
With an original capacity of 80,000, the stadium also hosted many major football matches including the 1974 World Cup Final and the Euro '88 Final. In 2001, it hosted England's famous 5-1 win over Germany in a qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup. It also hosted the European Cup Finals of 1979, 1993 and 1997.
Until the construction of the Allianz Arena for the 2006 World Cup, the stadium was home to Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich. Today, the Olympiastadion holds 69,250.
Designed by the German architect Günther Behnisch and the engineer Frei Otto, the Olympiastadion was considered revolutionary for its time. This included large sweeping canopies of acrylic glass stabilized by steel cables that were used for the first time in a large scale. The idea was to imitate the Alps and to set a counterpart to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, held during the Nazi-Regime. The sweeping and transparent canopy was to symbolize the new, democratic and optimistic Germany. This is reflected in the official motto: "The Happy Games" ("die heiteren Spiele").
The stadium was built by Bilfinger Berger and completed in time for the games in 1972.
Following the Olympics, the stadium became the home of FC Bayern Munich, with their rival TSV 1860 Munich moving in during the 1990s. These two teams coexisted in the Olympiastadion until 2005, when both clubs moved to the purpose built Allianz Arena.
On December 31, 2006, the stadium made history as being the first venue to host the Tour de Ski cross country skiing competition. The individual sprint events, held at 1100 m, were won by Norway's Marit Bjørgen (women) and Switzerland's Christoph Eigenmann (men). The snow was made in the stadium by combining the hot air with the cold refrigerated water that causes the snow to act like the icy type you would see in the Alps.
On June 23 to June 24, 2007, the stadium played host to the Spar European Cup 2007, a yearly athletics event featuring the top 8 countries from around Europe.
The stadium was one of the venues for the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
The following games were played at the stadium during the World Cup of 1974:
| Date | Time (CEST) | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974-06-15 | 18.00 | Italy | 3–1 | Haiti | Group 4 | 51,100 |
| 1974-06-19 | 19.30 | Haiti | 0–7 | Poland | Group 4 | 23,400 |
| 1974-06-23 | 16.00 | Argentina | 4–1 | Haiti | Group 4 | 24,000 |
| 1974-07-06 | 16.00 | Brazil | 0–1 | Poland | Third place match | 74,100 |
| 1974-07-07 | 16.00 | Netherlands | 1–2 | Germany | Final | 74,100 |
The stadium was one of the venues for the UEFA Euro 1988.
The following games were played at the stadium during the Euro 1988:
| Date | Time (CEST) | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-06-17 | 20.15 | Germany | 2–0 | Spain | Group A | 72,308 |
| 1988-06-25 | 15.30 | Soviet Union | 0–2 | Netherlands | Final | 72,308 |
In addition to being a sports venue, the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Riding Stadium (Olympia-Reitstadion) have played host to many open-air concerts by the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Queen, Depeche Mode, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, AC/DC, Roxette, Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Metallica, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Rolling Stones. Parts of the 1975 film Rollerball were shot on the (then) futuristic site surrounding the stadium. Guns N' Roses filmed parts of their Estranged video there when they visited Munich in June 1993. In 2009 Muse will also play there, due to their 'Resistance'-Tour. Since 2005 it is the host of the yearly air and style snowboard event. It went unused in the 2006 FIFA World Cup due to the Allianz Arena being the host stadium in Munich.
