Hypo-Arena - Klagenfurt

// March 5th, 2008

Hypo-Arena Stadium Information

Name: Hypo-Arena (built on the grounds of the former Worthersee Stadium)
Inauguration:September 7th 2007
First match: Austria - Japan
Capacity: 32,000

Club Information:

Club: SK Austria Karnten
Inauguration: 2007

Match schedule at Euro 2008:

Match 4 – Germany - Poland Sun. 8th June 20:45

Match 11 – Croatia - Germany, Tue 12th June 18:00

Match 19 – Poland - Croatia, Mon 16th June 20:45

Hypo-Arena:

Hypo-Arena is the home ground of SK Austria Karnten. It was built on the former grounds of the old Worthersee Stadium, which was built in 1960 and had a capacity of 10,900. It’s surface is grass and its construction cost was about 66 million euros. Although it can now hold up to 32,000 people, after the European Football Championship the stadium will be reduced to a capacity of 12,500.

Klagenfurt

Klagenfurt, capital of Carinthia, lies on the edge of the wide Klagenfurt basin, which is bounded on the south by the wooded ridge of the Sassnitz range, with the Karawanken rearing up behind. Although Klagenfurt is an important traffic junction and a busy industrial and commercial town, it has an attractive old quarter with picturesque little lanes and historic old buildings. It is also now a university town.

Founded about 1161 as a market village, Klagenfurt was granted its municipal charter in 1252. The old town was destroyed by fire in 1514, whereupon the provincial Estates of Carinthia petitioned the Emperor Maximilian I to grant them possession of the now impoverished little town.

It was duly transferred to them in 1518, and Klagenfurt then displaced St Veit an der Glan as capital of the province and began to expand.

Between 1527 and 1558 a canal was constructed to supply water for the moat surrounding the town, and this still links Klagenfurt with the Wörther See.

The line of the old fortifications is marked by a circuit of streets, the Ring, around the old part of the town, which today has many parks and gardens.

Klagenfurt is the birthplace of Robert Musil (1880-1942), who became world-famous for his novel “The Man without Qualities”, and of Ingeborg Bachmann (1926-73), well known for her lyric writings.

A literary competition is held every year in Klagenfurt.

Category: Euro 2008 Stadiums
Teams in this article: Croatia, Germany, Poland.