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Football in Berlin

Berlin — population around 3.8 million and the largest city in the European Union — splits its football identity across two clubs whose grounds, support and history sit on opposite sides of the old Wall. Hertha BSC, founded 1892, play at the 74,475-capacity Olympiastadion in the western Westend district, the same arena that staged the 1936 Olympic Games and the 2006 World Cup final, and which hosts the DFB-Pokal final every May. 1. FC Union Berlin play at the wooded, 22,012-capacity Stadion An der Alten Försterei in the eastern Köpenick district, an almost entirely standing terrace ground whose supporters famously rebuilt sections of the stadium themselves and gather to sing carols on Christmas Eve. The Berlin S-Bahn and U-Bahn link both grounds directly to Hauptbahnhof in under thirty minutes. The Mercedes-Benz Arena (17,000) hosts NBA Europe games, ATP exhibitions and the city's biggest indoor concert tours, while the open-air Waldbühne stages headline summer shows beside the Olympiastadion. Berlin has staged the European Championship final and is a regular host city in major UEFA tournaments.

Berlin — Germany's capital and largest city with a population of around 3.7 million — sits at the heart of the country's football, music and event landscape. Its top-flight club is Hertha BSC, founded in 1892, with 1. FC Union Berlin from the eastern Köpenick district representing one of the most distinctive supporter cultures in German football. The two clubs share the city across the historic east-west divide and meet in the Berliner Stadtderby whenever both are in the same division.

The Olympiastadion in the western Westend district — built for the 1936 Olympics and renovated for the 2006 World Cup — holds 74,475 and hosts Hertha BSC, the annual DFB-Pokal final every May, and large-scale concerts and athletics meets. Union Berlin play at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei in Köpenick, a 22,012-capacity ground rebuilt by the supporters themselves with volunteer labour in 2008–2013. Both stadiums are reachable from central Berlin on the S-Bahn — S5 or S9 to Olympiastadion, S3 to Köpenick.

Berlin's matchday culture splits sharply between the two clubs. Union's Christmas carol singing at the Alte Försterei — tens of thousands of fans inside the stadium on 23 December every year — is one of the most-photographed traditions in European football, broadcast nationally on German TV. Hertha's Ostkurve maintains the older Bundesliga ultras tradition with choreographed displays on derby days. Beyond football, the Mercedes-Benz Arena (formerly O2 World) in Friedrichshain holds 17,000 for arena tours and ice hockey, and the Waldbühne — an open-air amphitheatre next to the Olympiastadion — hosts the Berlin Philharmonic and major summer concerts.

The DFB-Pokal final at the Olympiastadion in late May is the city's biggest annual fixture for visiting fans, with both finalists' away allocations selling out within hours of confirmation. The Berlin Marathon in September, the Lollapalooza Berlin festival in early autumn, and the Berlinale film festival in February round out the year's most-booked travel windows.