Volksparkstadion

Volksparkstadion – tickets for HSV's ground

Around 57,000 places for league matches, a closed bowl with no running track and a roof over every tier. The present building went up between 1998 and 2000 on the site of the 1953 Volksparkstadion — and it was built stand by stand while matches carried on around it.

Along the way it was the AOL Arena, the HSH Nordbank Arena and the Imtech Arena. Since 2015 it has carried its original name again — search for any of the sponsor names and you mean the same ground.

The north stand

The organised support stands behind the north goal. HSV are the club whose crowd kept turning up in tens of thousands through years when results gave them no reason to — that shapes the atmosphere here more than any league position.

Founded in 1887, playing in white, blue and black, with the diamond on the badge. The clock, the skull emblem, the Rothosen nickname: this club carries more symbols than most, and all of them are visible inside the ground.

Before kick-off

The stadium sits in the Volkspark in the west of the city, surrounded by parkland and sports facilities — a pleasant walk, and thinly served when it comes to food and drink.

The best-known address in the scene is unabsteigBar, whose name tells the club's history in one word. Alongside it the Fanbistro “Die Raute”. Both fill up on matchdays — if you want a seat, go early.

Everything else happens in the city, and Hamburg makes that easy: the Landungsbrücken, Speicherstadt, Elbphilharmonie and the Reeperbahn all sit on the same S-Bahn axis as the stadium. A Saturday afternoon match and an evening in St. Pauli are the same day out.

Getting there

The S-Bahn stops at Stellingen, around 15 minutes' walk through the park; shuttle buses run in addition on matchdays. From the Hauptbahnhof the journey takes about 15 minutes and the match ticket is valid on the HVV network.

By car via the A7, exit Volkspark — there is plenty of parking, though leaving after the whistle takes time. Hamburg airport is around ten kilometres away.