Arena AufSchalke, currently known as Veltins-Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It opened on 13 August 2001, as the new home ground for FC Schalke 04.
Schalke’s home ground regularly attracts a full house of 62,271 spectators. Yet the VELTINS-Arena enjoys a particularly good reputation as a venue for Bundesliga, DFB Cup, European and international matches not only in Germany. „The world has yet to see a stadium like this one,“ said FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter at the official opening. European football’s governing body, UEFA, awarded the multipurpose stadium a maximum of five stars, writing in its assessment: „This venue fulfils more than all the requirements and can even be qualified as a six-star venue.
An unparalleled variety of events, a long list of technical superlatives and an intoxicating atmosphere make the VELTINS-Arena one of the most impressive multipurpose venues anywhere in Europe. According to the motto ‚Everything a class better!‘, the Schalke stadium constantly sets new standards with a successful mix of entertainment, sport and music events.
Since opening in 2001 the VELTINS-Arena has established itself as a top European venue. Today the biggest open-air stage anywhere, tomorrow the home ground of FC Schalke 04, the day after tomorrow an exhibition centre, opera house or cathedral of boxing the VELTINS-Arena is a veritable quick-change artist. Within just a few hours it can be transformed into a venue for almost every event imaginable.
Millions of people have flocked to Schalke to see national and international headline music acts such as U2, Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Herbert Grönemeyer and PUR. The VELTINS-Arena has also hosted opera hits such as Carmen and Aida and sports events such as the Biathlon World Team Challenge, the 2010 World Ice Hockey Championship, which set a new world attendance record, the Klitschko boxing nights and the 2004 Champions League final. While primarily a football stadium, the Veltins-Arena occasionally hosts large-scale concerts and music events featuring national and international artists.
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