The AufSchalke Arena was officially opened on 13 and 14 August 2001. The Arena, which is located next to the old Parkstadion, immediately set new standards in the art of building stadia.

“This stadium is a pilot project for the whole world”, praised FIFA President Joseph Blatter. On 20 November 2002, the Arena hosted the Germany vs Holland international match.

The ground-breaking facilities show the way forward in stadium design and make the Arena the most modern in Europe. It was lauded by former minister-president Wolfgang Clement as “football’s crowning glory”. Its features include:

• A video cube with four screens, each measuring 36 square metres.
• A state-of-the-art loud-speaker system with a maximum output of 193 decibels.
• A removable pitch.
• A retractable roof.
• An electronic chip card payment system (Knappenkarte).
• Newly designed electronic parking and traffic control system.

Financiamiento:
€115m credit from a bank consortium, €12.8 m loan from a developer, €33.8m equity capital from the proprietor company, €9 m from Ruhrkohle/HBM promotional campaigns, €12.8m company capital, €8.5 m post-financing.