Regensburg’s new stadium the Continental Arena was officially inaugurated with grand celebrations on July 18. The stadium replaces the 1926-built Jahnstadion as the home of the SSV Jahn Regensburg.
The naming rights for the €52.7-million ($58m) stadium were granted to automotive supplier Continental in June 2014 under a contract valid till 2020.
There were a series of events organised since July 7 that led to the opening of the new 15,000-capacity stadium.
On July 7, the stadium hosted the first test game between SSV Jahn and the selection of South Bavaria and passed the evaluation test. The home team lost 1-2.
Three days later on July 10, it held a more official pre-season game between SSV Jahn Regernsburg and FC Augsburg in front of a packed audience. Unfortunately, the home team again lost the game 1-3.
Following the July 18 inauguration, the stadium was opened for the community where citizens were invited for open tours of Continental Arena over the weekend.
The stadium is designed by agn Niederberghaus & Partner and constructed by BAM Sports. Empty corners play an important role in aesthetics, but if needed can be filled with additional sections, raising capacity to some 18,000. This was enabled by using 28 small masts on top of the roof (peak at 25m) instead of four large corner masts. Such solution also limits light pollution at night.
In already mentioned aesthetic terms the stadium boldly represents club and city colours, which is almost a trademark for agn designs. Bright red tinware is folded in a peculiar way and stands in contrast with cold concrete supports going through it.
The seating layout is almost traditional. Almost, because the main grandstand was located in the east rather than classic west alignment. It hosts two business clubs (300 and 1,000 square meters) and 4 skyboxes (25-60 sqm). All rooms are flexible and may be adjusted by moving walls.