Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark: Stadium at the Border
Why is it significant?
Look over the fence at the tall floodlight masts and the stands of the stadium beside the park. This is the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, and its story moves from Prussian soldiers to East German football, with the Wall running right past its edge.
Key Facts
| Place | Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark: Stadium at the Border |
|---|---|
| Address | Cantianstraße 24, 10437 Berlin, Germany |
| Geo Coordinates | 52.54340, 13.40620 |
| Part of Walk | The Wall on Bernauer Straße: Escapes, Tunnels and the Mauerpark in Berlin |
| Generated | Generated |
Look over the fence at the tall floodlight masts and the stands of the stadium beside the park. This is the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, and its story moves from Prussian soldiers to East German football, with the Wall running right past its edge.
In the nineteenth century this open ground was a parade ground of the Prussian army, where soldiers drilled in the sand on the edge of the growing city. Later it became a sports ground, and in the East German era it was rebuilt as a stadium and named after Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. Jahn is a complicated hero. In 1811 he opened the first open-air gymnastics ground in Berlin, and he is still called the father of German gymnastics. But he was also a fierce nationalist who hated the French and made ugly remarks about Jews, which is why his name provokes debate today.
During the division, this stadium lay right against the border strip. Just beyond its western edge ran the Wall, the patrol road and the watchtowers, and beyond them lay West Berlin. Fans came here for football and athletics, cheering under floodlights while, just next door, other floodlights lit up the death strip.
One of the clubs that played big matches here was BFC Dynamo, the favourite club of Erich Mielke, the head of the Stasi. Between 1979 and 1988 BFC Dynamo won the East German championship ten times in a row, and many fans across the country were convinced that referees knew exactly which team the Minister for State Security supported. One disputed stoppage-time penalty in Leipzig in 1986 became so notorious that it is still remembered as the penalty of shame.
A parade ground, a gymnast's name, a secret policeman's team and a border just over the fence: that is a lot of history for one sports ground. Now turn back towards the park and climb the slope to the long grey wall covered in paint that runs along its top.