For Forest, Austria's biggest public art project, Wörthersee Stadium, KlagenfurtWoerthersee Stadion (reconstruction) - 30,000 capacity.
The stadium underwent a EUR 66.5 million renovation for 2008. The Woerthersee Stadion now seats 30,000 since the dust has settled.
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www.woertherseestadion.at
Woerthersee Stadion KlagenfurtThe Woerthersee Stadion is a multi-use stadium located in Klagenfurt, Austria near Woerthersee, the large lake 5 km from the town center. The old Wörthersee Stadium was demolished in November 2005 and reopened with a friendly game between Austria and Japan in September, 2007. Total costs were around € 66.5 million.
Woerthersee Stadion is used mostly for football matches but planned usage is for other events as well. These included the For Forest project - a temporary art installation by Klaus Littmann (Littmann Kulturprojekte) in 2019. The Austrian national team have played several friendly internationals here, UEFA Nations League matches, European Championships qualifying fixtures as well as World Cup qualification games for the 2010 and 2022 tournaments.
The design of the stadium is similar to that of St Jakob Park in Basel. The lower tier of the South Stand is fitted with rail seats for safe standing.
During 2008 the ground staged 3 games in Group B - Germany vs Poland, Germany vs Croatia and Croatia vs Poland.
In July 2022 the stadium was renamed the 28 Black Arena for sponsorship reasons.
The adjacent sports park includes a hotel, business facilities and a shopping center.
Woerthersee Stadion was the home ground of Austrian club side FC Kärnten. Now it is home to its sucessor, SK Austria Klagenfurt. The architects Albert Wimmer are also responsible the Lviv New Stadium planned to be used in the 2012 European Championships.
The venue has sometimes been criticised as being too large for the population of Klagenfurt. Some critics regard the stadium as a symbol of the political ambitions of the late Carinthian governor Jörg Haider. Austrian writer and Georg Büchner Prize winner Josef Winkler questioned the priorities behind the project, pointing out that Klagenfurt, with a population of around 100,000, lacked a city library while maintaining a stadium with a capacity of approximately 30,000 spectators.
The stadium was the home ground of FC Kärnten and is now home to SK Austria Klagenfurt. SK Austria Klagenfurt was officially founded in 2007, but did not begin competitive football until 2010, when it joined forces with SC St. Stefan im Lavanttal to form a joint team.
Many supporters regard the club as the successor to the original Austria Klagenfurt, which was established in 1920. That club later operated as FC Kärnten from 1999 before ultimately ceasing operations in 2009.
Some images © Architekt Albert Wimmer
Click here for our City Guide to Klagenfurt
Bus: Buses run out to the stadium from the main station these include the numbers 4 and 6. On foot the journey would be about 45 minutes.
Vienna Stadiums - see a listing of football grounds in the Austrian capital.