Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart): VfB Stuttgart

MSeses, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When what is now known as the Mercedes-Benz Arena first opened its doors to football in 1933, it was called the Adolf Hitler Kampfbahn. When Germany lost the Second World War, that name was quickly abandoned and the venue was renamed as the Century Stadium, then in 1949 it became the Neckarstadion. It kept that name until 1993, when it was re-christened as the Gottlieb Daimler Stadion. It has been the Mercedes Benz Arena since the start of the 2008-2009 season, which was when the car company took on a sponsorship role of the stadium. It has been the home of Stuttgart ever since it opened as a football ground.

Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., more commonly known as VfB Stuttgart or even just Stuttgart, is the footballing wing of the sports club that is based in the Baden-Württemberg area of Germany. The club has won the Bundesliga five times, with the most recent title coming in 2006-2007. European football fans will know the club because of its success in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, which is won on three occasions. The club is membership-based, with more than 72,000 people owning a membership in it. As well as football, there are departments for track and field, table tennis, field hockey and even referees, amongst others.

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Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart) Photos

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Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart) Seating Plan & Where to Sit

As is common with European stadiums, the Mercedes-Benz Arena has a bowl-style to its layout. The stands at either end of the ground appear to be one big section, whilst the ones along the sides of the pitch are set over two levels on one side and three sides on the other. That allows for the likes of hospitality areas.

VfB Stuttgart Ticket Prices

The cost of tickets to see Stuttgart play in the Bundesliga depend entirely on which matches you’re hoping to see, where in the ground you want to sit and how old you are. When it comes to tournaments such as the European Championship, the prices are set by UEFA, FIFA or whichever body is taking responsibility for the competition’s organisation.

How To Get VfB Stuttgart Tickets

Contact club.

Where to Buy

Getting To Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart)

Train - If you’re hoping to use public transport to get to the Mercedes-Benz Arena then you will want to take the overground Metro S-Bahn, with line S1 taking you from the main railway station to Neckerpark, which is about a five minute walk from the ground. You can also take the Stadtbahn line U11 on match days.

Bus - The number 45 bus is the best one to take if you’re hoping to get dropped off pretty much right outside the stadium. There will be other options on a match day, but that is the best option when it comes to public transport.

Car - For those that wish to take their own transport to the Mercedes-Benz Arena and are thinking about driving, the B10 and B14 will see you heading on the right autobahn towards the ground. As you get closer, there are plenty of signs that will guide you the rest of the way.

By Air - It is not all that surprising that Stuttgart Airport is the closest to the Mercedes-Benz Arena, given that it is easily accessible to and from the centre of the city. That being said, if prices are being gouged by airlines because of the match that is taking place there, you can instead consider Frankfurt, which is about an hour and a half from Stuttgart by public transport.

Taxi - A taxi from the centre of Stuttgart out to the stadium will cost anywhere between €15 and €30, depending on the traffic. It should take about 20 minutes if the roads are moving smoothly.

Parking Near Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart)

It is, perhaps stereotypically, very German, but there is a dynamic traffic management system in place around the ground on match days, which will see you directed to the best place to park. As you might imagine, it gets quite busy around the ground itself, so Stuttgart fans often park on the other side of the River Necker and walk.

• See Available Parking Near Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart)

Useful Resources

Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart) Hotels

Hotel Spahr - £70+

Waiblinger Straße 63, Stuttgart, 70372

This hotel is pet friendly, which might be a bonus for some of you and a nightmare for others. It is connected to a shopping centre, so the fact that it only has one bar shouldn’t be too off-putting. As you can imagine, it’s not the most thrilling of places to stay but it is less than a mile from the stadium and you get breakfast included with the cost of your stay. More details.

Relax Wellnesshotel Stuttgart - £90+

Landhausstrasse 259, Stuttgart, D-70188

It appears that pets are welcome in a lot of hotels in Stuttgart, with the Wellnesshotel perhaps realising that they are good for the soul. This is a hotel that is all about making you feel calm and relaxed, so you can use the terrace and the garden. More importantly is the ability to pop into the full-service spa, which includes hot tubs, a sauna and a steam room. It is less than a mile to the ground, making it ideal for those heading to watch a match. More details.

Hilton Garden Inn Stuttgart Neckar Park - £120+

Mercedesstrasse 75, Stuttgart, 70372

Sometimes when you’re in a foreign country, you want to have a sense that you’re staying somewhere where you know what to expect. As a result, hotel chains are always a good bet and the Hilton Garden Inn offers you exactly that, alongside conveniences such as a gym and free Wi-Fi. It is pet friendly, plus there’s a breakfast buffet on offer. There is a 24-hour business centre that offers seven meeting rooms, but the key factor about it as far as we’re concerned is that it is a two-minute walk from the Mercedes-Benz Arena. More details.

Pubs & Bars Near Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart)

Facilities

The fact that the Mercedes-Benz Arena began operating as a football stadium in 1933 suggests that there are aspects of the ground that are perhaps somewhat past their best now. It has, however, been renovated numerous times over the years, with the most recent one being ahead of the 2024 European Championship, so the facilities are much better than you might imagine.

Hospitality

Whilst FIFA and UEFA may sometimes be at loggerheads, there is one thing that the two football organisations have in common when it comes to the stadiums that they select for their tournaments: the need to have decent hospitality areas in order to ensure that the fat cats are well looked after during matches. The fact that the Mercedes-Benz Arena was chosen as one of the venues for the European Championship in 2024 tells you that you’ll be well looked after if you ever buy hospitality tickets at the ground.

Private Hire

One of the ways in which football clubs are able to make some money is by hiring out aspects of their venues for private use. The Mercedes-Benz Arena is no exception, with many of the VIP lounges and other sections of the site open for use by those that can afford the costs. If you’re interested, get in touch with the club for more information.

Stadium Tours & Museum

A tour of the arena allows you to see ‘everything worth knowing’ about the venue, including its history and information about the team that has called it home for so many years. You will get to have a look at the likes of the dressing rooms, the players’ tunnel and the media zone, in addition to the VIP boxes.

About VfB Stuttgart

There are certainly more successful teams in Germany football than VfB Stuttgart, but there are also many less successful ones. The club, Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart, was formed in 1912 when Stuttgarter FV and Kronen-Club Cannstatt merged. They were both made up of middle-class school pupils who were learning the likes of rugby union from English expats. The club has been through several eras, usually thanks to the success or otherwise of the president in charge at any given moment.

In terms of its good years, the club became Bundesliga champions for the first time in 1950. At the time of writing, they have repeated that trick on four other occasions, with the most recent being when it won the championship at the end of the 2006-2007 season. The enjoyed success in the DFB-Pokal for the first time in 1954, winning it on two other occasions since then, whilst their European exploits were mostly enjoyed courtesy of the UEFA Intertoto Cup, winning it in 2000 and 2002, which is the joint-best record in the competition alongside Hamburger SV, Schalke 04 and Villarreal.

Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart) History

The architect Paul Bonatz designed the stadium, which opened in 1933. When Daimler-Benz part-financed redevelopment of it in the 1980s and 1990s, the local council dedicated the name of the venue to Gottlieb Daimler. During the summer of 2009, one of the stands was demolished, which resulted in the capacity of the venue reduced to about 41,000. That was in order for the stadium to be converted into a pure football arena, with a new capacity of 60,000 thanks to some standing sections. That is reduced to 54,906 when UEFA events are hosted in the ground.

The roof of the stadium is made of fabric, which is part of what makes it so easily recognisable. It is suspended from a steel frame that runs around the entire ground. During the history of the ground it has been used to host numerous high-profile international matches. During the 1974 World Cup, for example, it hosted four matches, whilst two matches were played here during the European Championship of 1988. In addition to that, the European Cup finals of 1959 and 1988 were both held here.

Future Developments

There have been numerous redevelopments of the ground over the years, with the most recent coming ahead of the stadium’s use as one of the venues for the 2024 European Championship. As a result, it is unlikely that much will happen in the near future.