“The UFO has landed”, read many a headline when the new football stadium in Fröttmaning on the northern border of Munich was opened for the first time three years ago, following an exceptionally short construction period of also just three years.
Indeed, this technical masterpiece continues to have the same effect. No matter which angle you look at it from, it seems as though the unidentified flying object is about to take off at any given moment. In darkness or at dawn, whether it shines red, blue or white, the whole thing looks as though little green men are about to clamber out of the extra-terrestrial spacecraft.
This is, of course, all an illusion. Franz Beckenbauer, the so-called ‘shining light of German football’, once claimed there was nothing but (European) tree frogs in Fröttmaning. Incidentally, the aforementioned are also green and – since they are to be found in their droves in the neighbouring ‘Nordheide’ nature reserve – would quite happily see the Allianz Arena fly back from whence it came, particularly when the football fans invade the surrounding area.
In all fairness, the visitors of the football stadium and the four to eight-legged inhabitants of the nearby heath don’t actually have much to do with each another. Luckily the masses pour into the city centre immediately after the big match spectacle via the ‘U-Bahn’ (the German Underground system) either to drink to victory or to drown their sorrows after a defeat, as football fans tend to do.
The most architecturally unusual football stadium in Europe passed the acid test long ago. Its ‘shell’ consists of 2,760 rhombic air-cushions made from a special film and, with a volume of 66,500 square metres, boasts the largest outer membrane in the world. Originally, the two football clubs in Munich – FC Bayern and TSV 1860 – owned the stadium, but after the relegation of the ‘Lions’ (as TSV are known) into the second tier of German football, the ‘Reds’ (FC Bayern) took over 1860’s fifty per cent stake. The shares can be bought back with interest within four years.
Even though this may seem like some kind of friendly overture between the two clubs, the fans of each side are as bitter rivals as ever. In Munich, you’re either a Red or a Blue, that’s just the way it is in the Bavarian metropolis. At Christmas time, a true Bayern fan wouldn’t even hang a single blue ball on his tree, just as an 1860 fan wouldn’t allow their child anywhere near a Santa Claus dressed in red.
The mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, doesn’t take things quite as seriously. After all, the SPD (Social Democrat Party) MP constantly has to deal with the bosses of both clubs. Nonetheless, he freely admits that since his childhood, his heart has firmly been with the ‘Lions’, something the far more plentiful Bayern fans have zero-tolerance for. Supposedly, he recently indoctrinated two of his grandchildren with the ‘Lions bug’! Bayern fans have plotted swift revenge for the forthcoming March 2008 local elections. Perhaps they should reconsider – ultimately they have the mayor’s approval to thank for the new stadium!
by Inés Berber
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