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Originally designed by architect Werner March and built between 1934-36 for around 42 million Reichsmark, American sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals here at the Olympic Games in 1936. Today, one of the avenues leading to the ground bears the great runner's name. Since 1985, the German Cup Final has been played in the stadium, which received a facelift prior to hosting three games in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

Renovation work began in the summer of 2000. The opening ceremony took place on July 31st 2004.

• The reconstruction took place in three main phases.
• The lower tier was completely demolished and rebuilt, with a steeper gradient to improve the viewing position.
• Work on the upper tier focused on rebuilding the steps, renovating the supporting structure and integrating VIP and catering facilities between the upper and lower tiers. The executive suites on the north side and the suites located to the south side of the stadium are now complete.
• The pitch was successfully lowered in summer 2002 and the new grass playing surface made ready for the 2002/2003 Bundesliga season.
• Work on the roof began in May 2002. The cantilever roof load-bearing structure is fully in place, extending forward more than 60m, as are the upper and lower roof membranes fixed to the structure.
• The installation of 5,000 dimmable fluorescent lamps to create lighting effects between the membranes, and the highly complex PA system, has also been carried out. Where the floodlighting is concerned, in a world first the light emanates as a single brilliant band along the front edge of the roof and has been conceived to avoid dazzling the crowd. The floodlighting on the north side is also operational.
• The stadiumnow boasts around 74,500 covered seats, including 5,000 in executive suites and as luxury Business Seats. Previously, only 27,000 seats were covered.
• The VIP area has been totally reconstructed with the addition of new tiers housing both suites and individual lounges opening onto reserved seating areas. Following remodelling of four floors under the existing structure, the basic shell of the new VIP area is now complete, and interior masonry work to form the individual suites have been created within the new VIP area.
• 60,000 of the existing folding seats have been removed and re-installed after reinforcement of the substructure beneath the seating. Guests with access to the reserved lounge seats and the Business Seats enjoy appropriately high standards of comfort and quality.
• Features subject to national heritage protection include the façade, stand of honour and Marathon Gate.
• The stand of honour, VIP and Business areas and the car parking facilities have been substantially enlarged. The North and South underground car parks including the VIP access areas are now structurally complete and the final security and technical features have been installed.
• Modernisation of the stadium Police station and security control centre.
• The installation of two giant video screens, measuring 140 and 56 square metres respectively has been carried out.
• The extensive main kitchens on the nort and south sides of the stadium have been expanded.
• An underground warm-up facility at the Marathon Gate, including a 100m running track and long-jump pit, has reached the completion phase.
• Following extensive excavation and below-ground operations, the stadium surrounds on the north side have been restored to their former condition.

Since its foundation it has been Berlin’s fate to be divided and re-unified. Within the confines of the Spree valley, between Koepenick and Spandau, Coelln was founded on the Spree Island and Berlin on the north bank. Coelln was first mentioned in a document in 1237. Coelln and Berlin were unified in 1307, the unification being annulled in 1442. This separation lasted until 1709.

The city became the political centre of Brandenburg, Prussia and the German Reich. After the foundation of the German Reich in 1871, the city progressed quickly to become Germany’s largest industrial and cultural centre. The Second World War (1939-1945) triggered by the National Socialists, the Nazis, had a devastating effect on Berlin and led to the destruction of large parts of the city. Subsequent political developments divided the country and its capital: The building of the Wall in 1961 drastically and brutally completed this separation.

The Wall did not come down again until 1989, when the people from West and East Berlin were finally reunited. Berlin, the country’s largest city, has once again become the capital of a united Germany, the Brandenburg Gate symbolising this re-unification. Berlin is not only the seat of the government and cultural capital, but also Germany’s sports city. More than 525,000 male and female athletes are registered in about 1,900 clubs; 160 teams from Berlin compete in the top leagues in most differing sports – including football, of course.

From basketball to cycling, gymnastics, ice hockey, judo, swimming to volleyball and water polo. The Olympic Training Centre Berlin is the largest in Germany. It is not just by chance that Berlin, proportionate to its size and inhabitants, is very well represented in German Olympic squads. At the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano ten per cent of the German athletes came from Berlin.

Berlin has a tradition as a sports city. Not only because the first public exercise site was inaugurated as early as 1811, but also because many sporting highlights are staged here year by year.

For instance the Berlin Marathon, the international athletics event ISTAF, the women’s international tennis championships, the CHI equestrian event and the Six Days in the newly built »temple« of cycling, the Velodrom. The city’s currently most successful football clubs are Hertha BSC, which plays in the Bundesliga, and Tennis Borussia Berlin in the Zweite Bundesliga.

Major events at the Berlin Olympiastadion

• 1936 Olympic Games
• 1974 World Cup
• More than 60 international football matches
• The Olympiastadion has been the traditional home venue of Hertha BSC, often with capacity crowds
• International stadium events/ISTAF annually
  Two German Gymnastics Festivals (1968 and 1987) and two Gymnaestradas with guests from all over the world