Ernst-Happel-Stadion (Vienna)

Ernst-Happel-Stadion is the national stadium of Austria, located in the capital of Vienna. 

The stadium was constructed between 1929 and 1931 to mark the tenth anniversary of the country becoming a republic and to stage the second Workers Olympiad, having been designed by the Tübingen architect Otto Ernst Schweizer. 

As the stadium was located in Prater Park it was naturally enough named the Prater Stadion, with an Initial capacity of 60,000 taking over as the national stadium from the Hohe Warte home of First Vienna.

During World War Two the stadium was used for political rallies and prisoners were detained under the stands for a time, before being sent to concentration camps. During the conflict the stadium was severely damaged, so reconstruction was required. A further tier was added in 1956, so that for a time the capacity was listed as over 92,000.

The Prater staged the 1964 European Cup Final and then Manchester City's victory over Gornik Zabre in the 1970 European Cup Winners Cup Final. During the mid 80's a cantelivered roof was fitted and all terraces were replaced by seating in time to stage the 1987 European Cup Final, which saw Porto defeat Bayern Munich 2-1. 

The improvements obviously impressed the people at UEFA as the 1990 final was also awarded to the stadium which saw a AC Milan win against Benfica.

The name of the stadium was changed to the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in 1992 following the death of the former Austrian international player, who was also one of the most successful head coaches in the history of the game. Happel made fifty one appearances for his country as a defender, before going into coaching.

He was known as a thoughtful man of few words, but he won league titles in four different countries, triumphing with Feyenoord in Holland (also lifting the Dutch Cup with ADO Den Haag), Club Brugge in Belgium, SV Hamburg in Germany and finally with FC Tirol in hjis homeland. 

On top of this Happel also led Holland to the 1978 World Cup Final, where they were unlucky to lose to hosts Argentina in the final. Happel died of lung cancer at the age of sixty six.

More major matches were hosted at the newly renamed stadium including the 1994 UEFA Cup Final, where Internazionale dashed the dreams of Austria Salzburg and then the following years Champions League Final, as it had been rebranded, when Ajax lifted the famous old trophy against AC Milan.

However, the best was still to come for the stadium as Austria and Switzerland were chosen as hosts for the Euro 2008 tournament. The Ernst-Happel-Stadion staged three group games, a quarter final, a semi final and then the final which saw Spain crowned as champions following a 1-0 win against Germany.

As well as football the stadium has also staged the concerts of many major musical acts along with the national American Football final. It has also staged some home major European ties of Austrian clubs and has been the home ground for Austria Wien.

My visits

Thursday 19th October 2000

I was visiting the city of Vienna as part of a Eurorail tour to sightsee and visit the main stadiums on my route, as well as doing plenty of socialising!

I had arrived after a tiring few days in Rome on an overnight train and decided that now was the time for a bit of comfort after several days of sleeping on trains or in a hostel. I found myself a room in a hotel to the south of the city near to Keperplatz metro station. After a wash and doing some laundry I set out to explore the city.

Vienna was a stunning, if expensive place, with many beautiful buildings of historical note. I got talking to a fellow traveller and we had a look around the city centre when he suggested the university area would be good for a cheap lunch. 

I had a lovely snack to get me back on track and bade my farewell. I went on a walk around the famous Ring, which covered most of the attractions on a three or four mile circular walk. 
After doing all the right things I decided it was time to finish off with a visit to the Ernst-Happel-Stadion and Prater Park. I found a tram that went to the edge of the park, with the stadium in the distance. 

I didn't have a camera with me owing to a dose of stupidity on my part when I left my bag in a Rome bar. I had intended to make do with disposable cameras for the rest of my tour, but the prices were far too steep in Vienna as I was running on a very tight budget in those pre Euro days.

To my joy a gate was open, which enabled me to go up some steps and inside the arena. I had seen it many times on TV and always thought it looked good, and I wasn't let down. The seating area was raised above the running track, with offices and facilities on the ground floor. 

There were three continuous tiers of seats, with them being divided into six blocks around the stadium all in different coloured seating to help the aesthetics. The roof was also as impressive as images had indicated.

I made my way through the park towards the main entrance. The park really was stunning with a lovely little Liliputbahn miniature railway and multiple playgrounds and cafes along tree lined avenues. 

All the children seemed to be well behaved and there wasn't any sign of vandalism or grafitti anywhere. There was a fairground by the entrance, which had the Wiener Riesenrad, one of the world's oldest Ferris Wheels having been originally erected in 1897. The whole experience really warmed my heart. 

I could have sat there for the rest of the week if I hadn't been on an itinerary and had my wallet been full! Instead I used my days travel card a bit more before heading to the hotel after stacking up with snacks at the supermarket over the road. Vienna had been brilliant, but now I wanted some rest ready to head to Budapest the following morning.

Saturday 7th March 2020

My return to Vienna was just as pleasant an experience but far better planned owing to the advent of the internet and a far fuller wallet to enjoy myself at leisure. It just so happened that the stadium was a few minutes walk away from the home of ASK Elektra where I'd be taking in the first half of their 3pm kick off.

I'd already visited several grounds and seen the second half of a friendly match. Everything was running to plan. My research revealed that a special gate labelled Visitors Corner remained open every day apart from Sunday between 9 and 5 to allow visitors to have a look inside.

The gate was located without any bother. It was at ground level and was definitely better than nothing to take photos. However, I saw another open gate on my way round to the match which was labelled LCC Wien Leichtathletik Zentrum. I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to poke my head inside.

The gate gave access to steps up the entrance to the seats. I quickly took some additional snaps and then got out before upsetting anyone. Not that Vienna seemed the sort of place to upset people as long as politeness was shown. I loved the place.