_-_Stadion_Hohe_Warte.JPG) Panoramic view of the stadium | |
 Interactive map of Hohe Warte Stadium | |
| Location | Heiligenstadt,Döbling,Vienna,Austria |
|---|---|
| Owner | City of Vienna |
| Capacity | 5,500 (formerly 85,000)[1] |
| Field size | 100m x 64m |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 19 June 1921 |
| Renovated | 2006 |
| Architect | Eduard Schönecker |
| Tenants | |
| First Vienna FC (1921–present) First Vienna FC (women) Vienna Vikings (1993–2015, 2017–2021) Austria national rugby union team (sporadic, 1992–2016) Austria national football team (1920–1939) | |
Hohe Warte Stadium is amulti-purpose stadium inVienna,Austria. It is located on theHohe Warte hill inHeiligenstadt, a northern suburb in the 19th Viennesedistrict ofDöbling. Primarily afootball venue and the home ofFirst Vienna FC, it has also occasionally played host toAustrian internationalrugby union matches and theVienna VikingsAmerican football team.
The stadium was opened in 1921 and was contemporaneously considered the best and biggest sporting venue in continental Europe. TheAustrian national football side played numerous matches there in the 1920s and 1930s, attracting the ground's record attendance of 85,000 people when playingItaly in 1923.[1] Around this time the venue also hostedboxing bouts likeGeorges Carpentier versus Arthur Townley on 1 May 1924 and even open-airopera performances like on 24 July 1924 when an audience of 20,000 attendedAida conducted byPietro Mascagni. It was also occasionally used as a giant Movie Theater in the years immediately following the Second World War.
Hohe Warte lost its status as Austria's leading stadium with the construction of thePraterstadion (present-day Ernst-Happel-Stadion) in 1931, however, First Vienna's championship success in the 1940s and 1950s ensured that crowds remained high.
The stadium is constructed into the side of a hill, creating a naturalamphitheatre. Adding to the natural feel is the fact that three of the four sides of the ground boast grass banking, as opposed to the more traditional concrete, giving the ground an overwhelmingly green appearance (similar toThe Valley in its early days). The fourth side of the ground features a modern main stand and is currently the only part of the stadium in use, following acouncil directive forbidding the use of the grass banking on safety grounds. As a result, the stadium's capacity since the 2005–06 season has been only 5,500. However, this does not stop more people peering into the ground.
48°14′58″N16°21′28″E / 48.24944°N 16.35778°E /48.24944; 16.35778
