Full name Borussia Sportpark Location Dortmund, Germany Closed 1937 Opened 14 August 1924 | Former names Weisse Wiese Surface Grass Capacity 18,000 Demolished 1937 | |
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Operator Municipality of Dortmund, Borussia Dortmund Owners Dortmund, Borussia Dortmund Similar Stadion Rote Erde, Hoesch Park, Borusseum, Hoesch‑Museum, Westfalenstadion | ||
Weisse Wiese (The White Field), also known as Borussia Sportpark, was the first home stadium of Borussia Dortmund. It was located at Wambeler street near the Borsigplatz and factory of Hoesch AG in northern Dortmund.
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Weisse Wiese (Before 1924)
Weisse Wiese was originally a municipal ball court with running tracks and jumping pit. The goalposts and crossbar were initially only made of squared timber and were always removed after the games, preventing the risk that they could be stolen. The name of the place, Weisse Wiese, was supposedly originated from the white flowers dropping from adjacent poplars in spring, which turned the pitch into a white field (German: Weisse Wiese).
Borussia Sportspark (1924-1937)
As the field did not satisfy the association rules to promote into the Bezirksliga, the field underwent an extensive construction in Summer 1924. The construction consisted of a 450 meter long and 1.8 meters high wall, the building of the changing rooms and ticket booth, as well as a grandstand in the foreground, expanding the stadium capacity to 18,000. The total cost of the construction amounted to 50,000 Reichsmarks. The new Borussia Sportpark was inaugurated by Lord Mayor Eichoff on 14 August 1924.
Closure (1937)
In 1937, in the preparations for war of Nazi expansion, Hoesch AG forced Borussia Dortmund to leave Weisse Wiese and relocate to Stadion Rote Erde, south of downtown. The sports field eventually gave way to a swimming pool at the newly built Hoeschpark, which, however, was not built until 1951 as Stockheide Swimming Pool. A commemorative plaque was erected there for the historic location.
