Im deployed with my National Guard Unit in Kuwait and I recently found out that we will be staying until next March. As a result we are being given a 2-week leave to Germany. I would really love to catch a match in Germany, but I need some tips. Such as: 1) how hard is it to get tickets the day of a game? 2) which stadium is worth the trip? 3) what teams are any americans playing for currently? Any other info. offered would be much appreciated as well. Thanks!
Hi RevFan, 1.) It really depends which game you want to attend. If it includes Bayern or Dortmund away it might be hard to get tickets. If it includes Hansa, Wolfsburg, Leverkusen, Bremen, Berlin (and some others) away there should be no problem. But it´s actually hard to say cause there might be a derby including these teams...!(?) 2.) All stadiums are! Well I think the most impressive (though not the most modern) is Westfalenstadion in Dortmund and AOL-Arena in Hamburg. The most modern is Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen (but for me it´s to sterile, no football-charme). A new one but with a quiet crowd is Wolfsburg 3) Don´t really know. I guess olafgb will tell you. Maybe you can post when and in which area you are going to stay. Here you have the match dates: http://www.bundesliga.de/liga/spielplan/
The only time I tried seeing a game was in March 2001. I was in Munich on the weekend of the TSV 1860/Bayern derby. I tried getting tickets for that but they were sold out. I asked the hotel concierge about scalping tix, and he strongly advised against it. So I went to the Unterhaching/Stuttgart game in Unterhaching on Sunday. Tried to buy tickets in advance at a ticket broker somewhere off of Kaufingerstrasse (?), but they told me that they could only sell me tickets for the next home game, not the one on Sunday (I was a little fuzzy on her explanation, but it seemed that she told me that after a certain day, all the tickets they had were shipped back to the team). Anyway, she told me to go to the Stadium day of game to get tix. I did; had no problem. Paid for the tix in cash; don't know if they take credit cards.
Only American playing 1st Div. is Cherundolo at Hannover, I think. Casey is playing for 2d Div. Karlsruhe; Sanneh is with Nuremberg, but he's injured. As for stadiums, I think it would be hard to get tix for games at the following: Westfalen (Dortmund); BayArena (Leverkusen); Hannover (I think because of the construction); Cologne (ditto); AOL Arena (Hamburg); Schalke and Betzenberg (Kaiserslautern). I think it would be easier to get tix at Berlin, Wolfsburg, Gladbach, Bochum, Bremen, Stuttgart, Munich (especially for a TSV game), Rostock and Frankfurt. Not real sure about Freiburg. And like Domingo said, if Bayern is playing away, it might be hard to get tix even at these stadiums.
For soccer atmosphere the Ruhrland clubs would be a good choice. However, if you are looking to mix in sightseeing with game attendance Hertha Berlin and the Munich clubs might be better choices. Olympiastadion in Munich is a bit outdated and not great for game viewing, but the Olympic complex is very nicely done and maybe not around for much longer with the Allianz Arena being built (?).
I'd recommend Kaiserslautern if they weren't playing so badly now!! If you can get into the Westfalen in Dortmund by all means do so. Better if you can sit with the visiting supporters as you'll be opposite the great wall of 25,000 standing supporters which is an amazing sight to see no matter who you support. Agreed Hamburg's AOL Arena is beautiful, but they are also playing poorly, so atmosphere may be a problem. The Olympic Stadium in Berlin is being refurbished for WC 2006 (still in progress, I think) but a visit to Berlin has many other advantages. And the area around the Olympic Stadium still has many of the other sports venues originally built for the 1936 Olympics - historically interesting if you are into that stuff. Those are all the arenas I've visited - I will stick to Dortmund as my most recommended - you should be able to get tickets on the day of, especially if they're playing a team down in the table or far away from the Ruhr. The noise and atmosphere are simply unbelievable.
most of the things were already mentioned, but here is my point of view: 1+2) i would choose between these stadiums... dortmund: not very hard to get tickets (BUT not against bayern, schlacke, cologne, maybe mönchengladbach AND not very easy to get the cheap terrace tickets for the Südtribüne (home fans). my advice: try east, west or north stand but avoid the corners as some places there have restricted view schlacke: nearly impossible to get tickets hamburg: nice stadium, no problem to get tickets bayern: depends on the opponent, some matches are sold out, nice city kaiserslautern: as they are playing crap at the moment there should be tickets available, i think cologne: VERY nice, new stadium, only three stands built till now. maybe sold out in some (most?) matches berlin: easy to get tickets, nice city wolfsburg: new stadium, easy to get tickets, poor city if you decide to visit the westfalenstadion, we have a guest guide on our site that may help you: http://www.schwatzgelb.com/fanservice/guestguide.htm3 jonam, http://www.schwatzgelb.com
i will add that US defender cory gibbs plays for st. pauli in regionaliga nord (which is a suburb of hamburg) - the crowd is exciting, the neighborhood is cool - i'd suggest staying at the golden tulip hotel norge on schaeferkampsalee another bundesliga II option is osnabrück where joe enochs is the captain - it is a really cool town with lots of hot girls - i'd stay at the hotel intour, i paid €48 for a huge room (ask for #29)
Thanks guys, I appreciate all of your help. Im not really too sure when Ill be going but the first half of Nov. is looking the most likely. Im also going to Amsterdam as part of my 2 week vacation around Germany (I know its in holland), I imagine its hard to get a ticket to Ajax, is this a safe assumption? Our expected itinerary is to arrive in Frankfurt then to Amsterdam, then Hamburg, then Berlin, then Munich, and back to Frankfurt, with other excursions along the way perhaps. Im going with 3 other guys but Ive only managed to get one to commit to going to a game. But if they dont want to go, that is there loss. Something I forgot to ask was, how much are tickets? About the same as MLS?
Ticket Prices (two samples): For Hertha Berlin, tix range from Euros 9 to 53. For Hamburg, tix range from Euros 11,50 to 60,50. Euro's strong right now, but good rule of thumb is 1 euro = 1 dollar. Keep in mind that many teams have variable pricing, with "big" games costing more than others.
amsterdam isn't sold out very often as far as i know. an average of 40.000 (capacity:50.000). but i guess you will need a fan card which is something like a legitimation id to attend matches in holland. so be some hours before the game at the amsterdamarena. tickets are not that expensive in germany like in england for example (i don't know what they are in the usa). in dortmund you pay 8,80 euro for a südtribüne terrace ticket and between 19,25 and ca.45 euro (as far as i remember) for a seat. jonam, http://www.schwatzgelb.com
The Bundesliga games in the listed German cities during the first November half: November 1/2 Bundesliga: 1860 Munich vs Bochum (under guarantee more free seats than sold ones) November 8/9: Frankfurt vs Stuttgart (not sure about there construction situation, but I don't think it'll be sold out) Berlin vs Gladbach (easy ticket situation - personally I can just recommend Berlin, it's very easy to get there with the public transport system and the prices are absolutely okay) Bayern vs Dortmund (no chance for tickets) Hamburg vs 1860 (tickets will be available, at least in the 1860 area) November 15/16 is off due to NT games. (Germany either in the EC playoffs in case of losing vs Iceland, or friendly Germany vs France in Gelsenkirchen - no chance for tickets)
Olafgb, I just found out last night that we are actually on the list for the second half of October, is there any way you could post the schedule for that part of Oct? Thanks! Also what about osnabrück and St. Pauli?
10/18: Hertha Berlin/Leverkusen (tix likely available) 1860 Munich/Frankfurt (as Olaf said earlier, more empty seats than sold seats for this one). 10/25: Frankfurt/Cologne (tix likely available) Bayern/K'lautern (tix likely available) Hamburg/Schalke (this one might be tougher, but if Hamburg and Schalke still are struggling, tix should be available for this one, too). Home team is listed first, and all games are 3:30 p.m. starts.
I would not risk my life for these assumptions. Frankfurt and Cologne has very good train connections, there might be lots of travelling from Cologne. Don't know about the capacity of the stadium in Frankfurt right now, might be pretty full. Bayern vs Lautern and Hamburg vs Schalke is no easy bet either. Schalke and Lautern have many supporters, Bayern vs Lautern is a hate game and isn't also Oktoberfest in Munich at that time? Berlin vs Leverkusen will probably be the best opportunity in terms of available tickets in combination with chances to see a good game.
If you go to a game in Berlin, I would strongly advise you to buy your tickets beforehand. The game won't sell out, but the ticket distribution at the stadium is about as organized as a Somali food depot. There is no computerized ticketing system, so you stand in a line and when that booth is out of tickets you move to the end of another line. I've spent more than an hour trying to get tickets before, it's a mess. Also, I'd reccomend getting the cheap seats. For one thing, they're cheap, but there isn't a bad seat in the stadium (no obstructions).
frankfurt/cologne will be sold out i think as the stadium is in developement. if you can make it to the match bvb-austria vienna on 15th of october i would take this chance to see a european cup match in the westfalenstadion.