The Olympic Stadium is a sports stadium in Berlin. There have been two stadia on the site: the present facility, and one that is called the Deutsches Stadion which was built for the aborted 1916 Summer Olympics. Both were designed by members of the same family, the first by Otto March and the second by his son Werner March. It is the second biggest stadium in Germany behind Signal Iduna Park.
The capacity of the Olympic Stadium reached 110,000 spectators. At its end, aligned with the symmetrically-designed layout of the buildings of the Olympischer Platz and toward the Maifeld, was the Marathon Gate with a big receptacle for the Olympic Flame.
Maifeld (Mayfield) was created as a huge lawn (112,000 square metres, 28 acres) for gymnastic demonstrations. Maifeld was surrounded by 19 metres of land elevation (62 ft), even though the Olympiastadion (to the east) was only 17 metres (55 ft) high. The total capacity was 250,000 people, with 60,000 in the large stands that extended at the west end.
It was decided to renovate the Olympiastadion. On July 3, 2000, the renovation began. The conservation factor of the Olympiastadion as a historical monument was also considered, especially with respect to the preservation of the natural stone blocks. The reinauguration celebrations of the new Olympic Stadium were carried out on July 31, 2004 and August 1, 2004. The total cost of the remodelling and amplification was €242 million.
The Bell Tower crowned the western end of the Reichs Sportfield planted amid the tiers of the Maifeld stands. It was 77 metres (247 ft) high. From its peak could be observed the whole city of Berlin. During the games, it was used as observation post by administrators and police officials, doctors and the media. In 1947, the British engineers demolished the tower, however reconstructed it faithfully in 1962. The Olympic Bell (which had survived the fire and remained in its place in the tower) fell 77 metres and cracked and has been unable to sound since then. The restoration of the tower was carried out from 1960 to 1962, once again by the architect Werner March, following the original blueprints. The present tower became an important tourist destination offering a panorama of Berlin.
The Langemarck Hall consisted of huge halls built under the stands of the Maifeld. Pillars were raised on which hung flags and shields commemorating all the forces that participated in a battle fought in Langemark (West Flanders, Belgium) on November 10, 1914, during the First World War. Since 2006, the ground floor is home to a public exhibit providing historical information on the area of the former Reichssportfeld.
The Waldbühne (Forest Theatre) was built in 1936 as part of the preparation for the Berlin Olympics. The tarraces were molded into the glacial river banks of the Berlin glacial valley. It is a reproduction of the old theater of Epidaurus (3rd century BC). Seating for up to 25,000 spectators goes down to a depth of 30 metres (97 ft). During the Olympics, gymnastics competitions and a myriad of cultural programs were staged in the Waldbühne. Use for concerts began in the 1960s, but at a concert by the Rolling Stones on 15 September 1965, fans stormed the stage, and after the band left after a set of only 20 to 25 minutes fought police who attempted to control them with rubber truncheons and fire hoses and destroyed the seating, fire hydrants and other furnishings, causing 270,000 DM in damage in a riot that fulfilled the dire prophecies of some Berlin newspapers about rock concerts and was the first inter-generational battle of the 1960s in Germany. A reporter from “Bild” wrote of the concert, “I know Hell.” The arena had to be completely renovated and was then little used until 1978. Today, it is used as one of Europe’s biggest concert venues.
