A visit to metropole Berlin is incomplete without a stop at the Olympiastadion, where on and off the pitch so much history has been written. Preferably whilst watching a match of Hertha BSC, one of Germany's oldest clubs.
There are barely any stadiums with more history than the Olympiastadion of Berlin. An iffy past, though as it was built for the 1936 Olympics, organized by Germany in honour and flory of the nazi regime of Adolf Hitler. If we stick to football, the headbutt of Zinedine Zidane went viral all over the world.
The stadium has been built in a pit - the lowest tier is below street level - and is a perfect example of nazi architecture, with a lot of characteristic pillars around. Most recognizable is the opening in the Westkurve, where once the Olympic Flame burned. Compared to how the Olympiastadion was built, the construction has mostly stayed the same, with the biggest difference being that the stands have a roof now, created for the 2006 World Cup. Around the stadium, the Olympic rings behind the Ostkurve and the Olympic bell still remind us of the original purpose of the stadium.
Until 1974, Hertha played in the Stadion am Gesundbrunnen, also known as 'die Plumpe'. It was beloved and centrally located, close to the Berlin Wall. So close that in the first years after the construction of the Wall, Hertha fans from East Berlin gathered at the Wall to hear at least some stadium noise from Die Plumpe.
In 1974, Hertha had to leave the place because of financial problems. Apartment blocks were built on the ground next to the train station Berlin-Gesundbrunnen. On the Behmstraße (opposite no. 40) four sculptures of football players memorize the place where Die Plumpe once stood. Around the corner, on the Bellermanstraße, is a sculpture of a ball, on the former short end of the stadium.
A little further in the Behmstraße, on no. 3, sits café Bierbrunnen an der Plumpe. It's a real Hertha bar with pictures from the past, mostly from the times that Hertha still played at Gesundbrunnen.
If you cross the street with the sculptures on the Behmstraße and enter the park, you'll come to another special place in Hertha's history. The pitch on your left hand is the oldest and still existing club pitch, the NNW-Platz, which used to be called the Schebera-Platz back in the day. In 1904, Hertha already played its home games here.
Well hidden, close to Berlin-Hauptbahnhof, you will find another stadium on Lehrter Straße: The Poststadion. This is where Hertha played in the 1980s when The Old Lady played deep in the 2. Bundesliga and the attendances were shrunk to a bare minimum. These were some of the hardest times in the club's history. Nowadays, Berliner AK 07, which plays in the Regionalliga (the fourth level), uses it as its home ground.
A special stadium in the district Prenzlauer Berg, almost directly against the Berlin Wall, but still in former East Berlin. In this place, Hertha already played matches in the 19th century, when the current stadium wasn't built yet. It was built in the days of the GDR and feels very Eastern European. In recent years Hertha played its qualifying rounds of the Europa League here, as an alternative for the giant Olympiastadion. The stadium is regularly used still as the home ground of Viktoria Berlin who played in the 3. Liga and for high-risk matches of the infamous BFC Dynamo.
Between 1986 and 1988 Hertha BSC hit rock bottom: Die Alte Dame had to go back to non-league football. Almost no one came to their matches anymore, so Hertha played at the Sportring Wedding. The pitch on the Osloer Straße 42 (when entering, the one on your left) is still being used as an amateur pitch.
It's relatively easy to get tickets for Hertha BSC. Even for top matches against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund or Union Berlin, it shouldn't be a problem, if you buy them as soon as the ticket sales go live. You can buy tickets on the club's official website.
The stadium is located in the district of Berlin-Westend and is well accessible by car via the B2, where you follow the signs to Olympia Park. By public transport, you can both take the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn to the station Olympiastadion. Please note, these are two different stations, both on a five minute walk from the stadium.
Images: Shutterstock, BSR Agency
