Germany

INTRODUCTION

The Stadia: There is some major stadium renovating going on at moment in Germany. The cause for that is of course the World Cup 2006 which will be held in Germany. At the moment only a couple stadia are finished, but within short time many very modern arena's will appear in Germany. The most striking example is probably the Allianz Arena which will be finished in the summer of 2005. At the moment the Arena auf Schalke and the AOL Arena are considerred to be the most beautiful stadia. Also the Westfalenstadion, with the biggest stand, in the world is a very impressive stadium. The non-world cup stadia aren't that bad either. Some very beautiful stadia have arised in for example Rostock and Wolfsburg in the last couple of years and the new stadium in Monchengladbach is almost finished. And although the stadia that have not been renovated in the last years look quite old, the size of the stadium and the great atmosphere make a football match here quite an experience too. A remarkeble detail of the German stadia is that all stadia still have a section with standing places, also the new stadia. This is because German football fans love to stand at a football match. Because of the great popularity of football in Germany there is a chance that a match will be sold out. So pay attention to this when planning to show up at the box office at the stadium at the day of the match, for example at Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund and of course the 'big' matches and the derbies.

HOW TO GET TICKETS

Vorverkaufstelle: You can buy tickets at some selected outlets (vorverkaufstelle) in the town of the club, like tabacco shops, tourist offices, sport shops, travel agencies and department stores. There are lists of these outlets on the websites of the clubs. Club offices: It is often possible to order tickets via the club. Visit the club office (or the fan shop) a couple of days before the match (usually situated at the stadium) or contact them by phone. Many clubs have special phone numbers (ticket hotlines) for the ticket sales. At some clubs you can order tickets by email. Box-office: When the match isn't sold out you can buy tickets at the box-office of the stadium. Websites: The websites of the German clubs offer very good information about the ticket sales of their club. Apart from this information it is very often possible too to order tickets online. National team: You can buy tickets for the German national team via the DFB, the German Football Association. You can buy them at their 'Ticketstelle' (in Frankfurt am Main) or via a postal application. Go to their website for more information.

PRICES

Prices: Because of the fact that all German stadia have standing places a ticket for a German match doesn't have to be very expensive. But of course you have to stand then. Ticket prices for standing places usually are around €8.00. Tickets for seats usually start around €15.00 and increase when the place is getting better. There is not a great difference in prices between the top clubs and the less famous clubs.