Hertha Berlin; Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany.

I'd walked around an empty Olympic Stadium on previous visits to Berlin, but until I last where, in September 2007, I hadn't actually been to a Hertha Berlin match & 'tick' the ground off.

I was fortunate that this was the day that Hertha went top of the table, so the locals were in a party mood! Not the most atmospheric of German grounds, but still great to be there. Not just for the match, but the place oozes history. He may have been the most evil dictator of the twentieth century, but Hitler got three things right... the autobahns, the Olympic Stadium.. and dropping loads of bombs on the east end of London! ;-)


One of the things I like about the Germans is their 'love' of being stuck in a nineteen seventies fashion timewarp!



Wear your colours!




Feeling horny? ;-)




No matter how many events like World Cup finals, this place will always be remembered first & foremost for the 1936 'Nazi' Olympics.




No the station isn't that close! Some sort of sponsorship deal I presume.




Left over from the World Cup the previous summer I'd guess!




The stadium is very 'samey' inside, but impressive. We were high up in a corner, but still a good spot. Here we look to our left, behind the goal.




And to our right, down the side. Note the gap at the far end. That's where the Olympic flame was.




Here we look over to the main side, you can see the 'posh' executive seats in the middle. The away Dortmund fans are in the far corner.




There were around 40,000 present, from memory, but the stadium wasn't quite at capacity.




Another, higher, shot of behind the goal at our end.




Goal!




As I said..we were quite high up!




Looking along our side again, facing into the sun.




This is looking down outside the ground, behind our exit, into the sun, down onto the old Olympic grounds.




Outside, looking up into the corner of the ground where we were situated.




Outside the stadium, but within the grounds, were a number of classical stone statues commemorating Olympics past.




Montreal 1976...




& London 1948 being just two, where I could get snaps of not affected too much by the bright sunlight.




Here we look back to the stadium, from across the grounds, which I walked round after the match.



More classical sculptures.



And fashionable home fans!



Dortmund fans pose at the famous Olympic Bell.



Which you can see here, without them in the way!



Clearly very popular. Note the chap in red taking a photo is wearing a Blackburn Rovers scarf.



Behind the far end (from where we were sat) is the old Olympic equastrian fields, with the Olympic Bell Tower behind it. You can visit this tower & go to the top. I've done that before, but not of this trip. I have some photos from up here, in May 2005, when the Olympic Stadium was in the middle of refurbishment, sadly pre-digital, so I'm not able to share them with you.

(Please do not suggest scanning..that's way beyond my capabilities!)



Another snap, into the sun, of the equastrian area, through the fences.



I stuck my camera through the railings to take this one.



Behind the goal, again fences locked, is the Olympic Flame area, with commemorative plaques on the walls.



Here is a shot, through the gates, of this area, looking into the stadium, a nice shot, with the sun directly behind me.



With another stone memorial to the right.



Back out to the equastrian area, before we move on round.



A good shot of the outer walls of the stadium.



Along this side a gate is still open, so I dash in to take some photos of a now empty stadium.
This is towards the end I was sat in. I was to the left.



Over, into the sun, the other 'Flame' end.



And directly across to the main stand area.



On the outer walls, inside the stadium, are these classic Olympic style lights.



Here we see the Olympic Rings again.



And that train, before I head back to the train station!



Obligatory 'football tourist' shot of the local old bill!



Locals chilling out after the match.




Time to go home!



These jackets are so sad, but I love them! ;-)

Olympic Pool, Berlin, Germany

Two views from outside the open air Olympic Swimming Pool in Berlin. On a previous visit here, over ten years ago, I actually went for a swim here, so I could say that I'd actually swum at a genuine Olympic pool!

SC Minerva (& others); Berlin, Germany

I've not had the pleasure of seeing a match here, but I was pointed towards it by 'experts' who post on the Tony Kempster forum, after I put on a general request of grounds to look at, when I visited Berlin in September 2007.

I'm not entirely sure which club(s) play here. from internet searching I've found SC Minerva; BFC Tur Abdin; Union 06 & ASV Berlin! If there are others..I do not know!

It is a stadium in the middle of renovation, but it looked as though worked had been stopped when I was there. Behind the seats going round the ground is a wooded area, but this is actually the old overgrown terracing! This stadium is almost a forgotten relic of German footballing history, & was one of the venues for the football at the 1936 Olympics.

I actually entered the ground through a gap in the fence, & through the woods, behind one of the goals, climbing up from an all weather pitch behind.

Outside, this is the frontage of the main stand.




Clearly in a very poor state of repair.




This is behind the goal, where I gained access to the ground, through the old terracing.




In front of this is some terracing, and a stretch of open seating. All I've got to now is get inside!




Here we look over to the main stand, we saw the back of this at the start.




Old 'modern' terracing, by the look of it, with the new seats along the side again.




Another glance over to the main stand.




I'm still up on the old heavily overgrown terrace, nowadays 'outside' the ground.




I've taken several snaps of the old steps, because it is so unusual.




Still in the overgrowth, you can see just how heavily overgrown it is, and me calling it a 'wooded area' is not an exageration.




There are even old crush barriers still in place!




I've now worked my way round the ground, still outside, towards the main stand.




All the time still on the 'old' terracing.




I make no apologies for including so many similar photos, I'm captivated by the 'history' of the place.




Here we look along the terrace in front of the stand, and it is from this point that I finally find a gap in the fencing to clamber over & into the ground!




Looking back I don't know why I didn't go round the whole ground once inside, but then I hadn't started this photoblog yet!




Yes, all of that wooded area was once old banks of terracing!




The stand doesn't appear to be in use, it looks as though they were working on it, but it stopped.




This was just over a year and a half ago though, so it may have been completed by now, who knows?





I've 'risked' those open concrete steps & climb up into the stand. Here we look across the pitch.




At the far end is a small new area of terrace, but directly behind the goal is 'out of bounds', & totally overgown & fenced off.




This is the overgrown area there.




Looking back at the main stand, from this corner, you can almost 'feel' the ghosts of history' about the place.




I got onto the track to take this picture in front of the stand.




Back up in the stand the exits are shut, and you can see there are no seats at all.




I had to very careful 'climbing' up it, but I did so to take picture of the graffiti at the back.





From up here we can look behind the goal again.




As we look at more graffiti.




Before glancing in the other direction.




A similar high angle at the other end, before we leave.




Outside, behind the main stand, is this all weather pitch. I don't know if it is connected with the Post Stadium, nor what it is called.




But there is a small stretch of terracing down one side.




And behind this is what appears to be a disused running track, which may or may not, have been used for football in the past. Who knows?




Again I have no name for this ground.




On the far side is this banking, which presumably was once the vantage point for spectators.