German Bundesliga football club 1. FC Union Berlin has revealed more details of the planned renovation of its Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
Fans were updated on plans for the new stadium at the club’s ordinary general meeting, with the future of the Stadion An der Alten Försterei one of the central topics that was both highlighted and discussed.
1. Union Berlin, commonly known as Union Berlin, is a professional German football club based in Köpenick, Berlin, Germany.
The 22,012-capacity Stadion An der Alten Försterei is a football stadium in Köpenick and the largest single-purpose football stadium in the German capital of Berlin.
After reviewing the future expansion of the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, which is taking ever clearer shape, as is the development of the entire stadium site, Union president, Dirk Zingler, emphasised: “Our stadium should always belong to the people who care about it most, the members of 1. FC Union Berlin and their families, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.”
He said in July that the redevelopment would be delayed by at least a year. Now he has revealed plans for an even more extensive development of the venue than was originally envisaged.
Previous plans had foreseen the capacity of the stadium to 37,500 but this figure has now been revised and the new capacity has been set at 40,500 with 32,500 standing places and 8,000 fixed seats.
The Alten Försterei’s main stand will be expanded, while the other three standing area stands will be demolished and rebuilt.
After the already completed renovation of the Forsthaus and the opening of the new professional training ground in the summer, construction of a car park and the second professional training ground on top of it is scheduled to begin in May 2025, immediately at the end of the season.
At the same time, the joint headquarters for the men’s and women’s professional teams will be built, forming the heart of the new professional training centre.
Work on the stadium is slated to begin once the training ground is complete, which is expected to be in the summer of 2026.
Union Berlin will move to Berlin’s Olympiastadion while work is carried out. This is now likely to be in 2026-27.
Meanwhile, through the initiative 1. FC Union Berlin, as the main shareholder, the supervisory board and the management board will propose to the General Meeting of ‘An der Alten Försterei’ Stadionbetriebs AG, which will take place on 13 November 2024, that a capital increase be resolved and that new stadium shares be issued.
For the first time since 2011, the club’s members, who now number more than 67,000, would have the opportunity to become the owners of their stadium.
Zingler said, “We are approaching deadline day for many of the plans and are gradually entering the realisation phase of our construction projects.
“The most important thing is that everything which is being constructed here will shape our club for decades to come, and above all, is in the hands of the people at Union. The more people who feel responsible for their stadium because it actually belongs to them, the more certain it is that it can be used to best benefit the community.”
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