Dortmund is quite a gray city in the Ruhr, but a visit to Borussia Dortmund is always impressive. The Westfalenstadion is one of the biggest stadiums of Europe, and the famous Gelbe Wand never loses any of its magic, no matter how often you've been there.
You see the 81.000 places counting Westfalenstadion – by a sponsor renamed to Signal Iduna Park – already from miles away because of the eight yellow pylons which adorn the roof. It's a football temple like there aren't many, even though the design is quite basic: a right-angled stadium with stands close to the pitch, enclosed corners and two tiers all over the stadium, except for the Gelbe Wand. It's the most special aspect of Dortmund's stadium, the giant terracing on the Südtribune which continues in one-piece to the roof, with place for 25.000 Borussians.
Literally in the shadow of the Westfalenstadion is the Stadion Rot Erde, directly behind the Osttribune. It was the home of Borussia Dortmund until for the 1974 World Cup the Westfalenstadion was built. Currently the reserve squad of BVB plays its home matches here, playing in the 3. Liga. When the big Borussia plays at home, there's a typical German biergarten in the stadium.
This snackbar at the Oesterholzstraße 60 used to be ‘Zum Wildschütz’, the restaurant where in 1909 Borussia Dortmund was founded. On the frontage there's a plaquette which tells the remarkable history of the building. The current name is a bit misleading, because the colour of the interior is solely yellow with jerseys and flags of BVB and pictures of the early years, when Borussia still played in this neighbourhood. In more recent years, even Jürgen Klopp came to eat pommes (chips) here. The showpiece of Pommes Rot Weiss and our favorite: a giant club crest on the wall, created with 15.000 little chip forks.
Even though Borussia Dortmund wasn't founded before 1909, the roots of the club lay in this church. It was the youth section of this church at the Flurstraße who started to play football matches, until a chaplain came around who didn't liked that at all. After that, the youth split off the football team and started in Zum Wildschütz the Borussia Dortmund we still know now.
Time heals all wounds, the church has graced the club and is now proud to be the founding fathers of BVB. There are special church services and you'll even find there a special 'BVB angel', where fans can light a candle for the future of their club.
In the northeast corner of the stadium is the Borusseum, the club museum of BVB. A beautiful collection of the club throughout the years, with as biggest trophy of course the in 1997 won Champions League.
There's loads of bars and restaurants in Dortmund who feel connected with Borussia Dortmund, but the link of this café slash restaurant is very special. Owner of Mit Schmackes is namely Kevin Grosskreutz, son of BVB, key player during the last two league titles and one of the world champions of 2014. It's on the corner of the Hohe Straße and the Kreuzstraße, a 15 minute walk from the stadium.
Borussia Dortmund had become champions in 2011 for the first time in nine years, whereafter a giant eruption of joy came out in the city. Key player Neven Subotic got stuck in traffic, when he stepped out his car on the Lindemannstraße to celebrate with the fans. In no-time, the Serbian stood shirtless on the roof of his own car, with hundreds of fans cheering around the car. On the corner with the Kreuzstraße is a parking spot painted on the road, with the explicit footnote: only to use by Neven Subotic.
Who prefers the centre of Dortmund before the match, can go best to the Markt, one of the central squares of the city. Before home games it's busy here with home fans and sometimes even away fans too. You'll find Wenkers here, a nice football pub with jerseys of Borussia and opponents from the history on the wall.
Almost every home game of Borussia Dortmund will sell out, but especially against the smaller teams you can get tickets on the official website of the club. If we may advise you: don't go standing on the Gelbe Wand itself, but choose a place where you have an amazing view of it, much more impressive.
Motorway A40 runs almost immediately along the Signal Iduna Park, which makes the stadium good to reach by car. Around the stadium there's a lot of parking space available, where you are leaded easily from the motorway. Make sure you have cash with you, to pay for the place in advance.
Behind the Südtribune is train station Dortmund Signal-Iduna-Park, where you get from station Dortmund Hauptbahnhof in less than ten minutes. From the city you can also take the metro (the U-Bahn), for example from Reinoldikirche or Stadtgarten, with terminus Westfalenhalle/Stadion.
Images: Shutterstock, BSR Agency
