Sportforum Hohenschönhausen, officially named Sportforum Berlin, is a multi-purpose sports complex in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. The Sportforum was also known as the Dynamo-Sportforum during the East German era.
Sportforum Hohenschönhausen covers an area between 45 and 50 hectares, and comprises 35 sports facilities, including three ice rinks, two athletics halls, a football stadium, as well as eight other halls and open spaces for various sports.
Development of the Dynamo-Sportforum began in 1954. The original building ensemble, which was built in individual sections from 1955 to 1960 based on designs by an architectural collective led by Walter Schmidt, is a protected building of cultural heritage. Expansion of the Sportforum continued into the 1980s. The complex is the second largest sports complex in Berlin after the Olympiapark.
The Dynamo-Sportforum was a training center where top athletes and future Olympic medalists trained during the East German era. It was the headquarter of sports association SV Dynamo and home to sports club SC Dynamo Berlin. The Olympic Training Center Berlin (OSP Berlin) is now the main user of the facilities. Around 20 sports clubs are also based in the Sportforum and more than 3,000 athletes use the facilities every day.
Location The Sportforum Hohenschönhausen is located in the western part of the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It is bordered on the north by an industrial area (on which, among other establishments, the Berliner-Kindl-Schultheiss-Brauerei is located), on the east by the St. Andrew and St. Mark's Cemetery (), on the south by the Konrad-Wolf-Straße and on the west by the Weißenseer Weg.
The Dynamo-Sportforum was originally located in the former borough of Weißensee. The borough of Weißensee was divided in 1985 and a new borough of Hohenschönhausen was formed. The locality of Hohenschönhausen then became part of the new borough of Hohenschönhausen. The borough of Hohenschönhausen was absorbed by the borough of Lichtenberg in 2001 and the locality of Hohenschönhausen became the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen at the same time.
Facilities The Sportforum Hohenschönhausen covers an area between 45 and 50 hectares, and comprises 35 sports facilities, including three ice rinks, two athletics halls, a football stadium, as well as eight other halls and open spaces for athletics, swimming, handball, volleyball, judo, fencing, archery, beach volleyball and football. The Sportforum is the second largest sports complex in Berlin after the Olympiapark.
Development In 1952, the Magistrate of East Berlin donated part of today's Sportforum Hohenschönhausen to the Volkspolizei, who built a large football facility for their athletes on the site. At the time, the sports complex only extended up to the Steffenstraße, opposite today's Sandinostraße. Steffenstraße has since been integrated into the sports complex.
In 1953, the Ministry for State Security decided to create a large sports complex in the area. At the same time, the new sports association SV Dynamo was officially founded. SV Dynamo was the new sports association of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for State Security. An architectural competition was held in 1953 for the construction of the new sports complex. The competition was won by an architectural collective led by Walter Schmidt.
Development of the Dynamo-Sportforum began in 1954: The former sports field of the Volkspolizei was transformed into a football stadium by raising the ground on both long sides for stands. The football stadium was supplemented by a stadium building (), with sports functional areas, such as office rooms, a conference room and a canteen. The stadium building was completed in 1954. Today, the building houses, among other things, the BFC Dynamo office. An athletics stadium with a two-storey boarding school building was created in the north-eastern part of the area. The boarding school building was completed in 1956. On the southern edge of the area, on today's Konrad-Wolf-Straße, new sports fields were created on a former cemetery area. A temporary wooden building for the construction management was completed in 1957. Today, the building serves as a clubhouse (), with office areas for various users of the sports complex.
The first new major sports facility was the Dynamo-Sporthalle on Weißenseer Weg. The large sports hall was completed in 1958. The Dynamo-Sporthalle was then supplemented with adjoining sports halls for judo, fencing and ball sports to the north. The adjoining sports halls were completed in 1960. Construction was carried out by the state-owned company VEB Industriebau Berlin for the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for State Security of East Germany.
The sports complex was then expanded according to requirements by the adding of additional facilities. Expansion continued well into the 1980s: An uncovered artificial ice rink was completed in 1958. A three-storey sports hotel was completed in the south-western corner of the area in 1962. The existing sports fields on the south-eastern corner of the sports complex were transformed into an uncovered speed skating rink in 1962. The artificial ice rink was covered by a simple roof and transformed into an ice hockey arena in 1963. The ice hockey arena is today known as the Wellblechpalast. A large swimming hall with a 50-meter competition pool with eight lanes was completed in north-western part of the sports complex in 1964. An outdoor swimming pool was completed in 1967. A new building complex for the Children and Youth Sports School (KSJ) Werner-Seelenbinder was completed in 1968. An administration building was completed in 1968. The building was built for the administration of the Sportforum. A new speed skating track with a referee tower was completed in 1969. The outdoor swimming pool was given a retractable steel roof structure in 1970. The outdoor swimming pool was decommissioned in 1999. The building was transformed into a provisional archery hall in 2001. A large sports halls complex on today's Konrad-Wolf-Straße was completed in 1972. The sports halls complex contains, among other things, athletics facilities, gymnastics halls, an ice rink for ice skating, a hall for ball sports, a boxing hall, a ballet hall and three weight rooms. A smaller separate sports functional building, today known as the C barracks (), was built next to the stadium building in the 1970s. The building contains locker rooms and sanitary rooms with toilet facilities and showers. The swimming hall was supplemented by the world's first swimming machine in 1976. The sports hotel was supplemented by a congress center in the late 1970s. The sports hotel and congress center was structurally completed in 1988. The speed skating rink was covered by an indoor building. The building was completed in 1986 as the world's first covered speed skating oval. A first airdome was completed west of the large sports halls complex in 1986. The first airdome was replaced 1999. The airdome was then completely renovated in 2017.
The original building ensemble, that was built from 1955 to 1960 to designs by the architectural collective led by Walter Schmidt, is now a protected building of cultural importance.
The sports complex also includes artworks, such as mural and mosaic artworks by Wolfgang Frankenstein in the foyer of the Dynamo-Sporthalle and foyer of the swimming hall, the copper artwork Sport-Fries by Wolfgang Frankenstein on the facade of the large sports halls complex towards the Konrad-Wolf-Straße and the two sculptures Seated Swimmers () by Gustav Weidanz and Standing Swimmer () by Waldemar Grzimek.
Use of the site The Dynamo-Sportforum was built as a training center for elite sport. It was used by top athletes and future Olympic medalists of East Germany.
The sports club SC Dynamo Berlin, with its many sports, disciplines and squads, was the main user of the sports complex for decades. The Central Management Office () (BdZL) of the sports association SV Dynamo also had its offices in the Dynamo-Sportforum.
The Olympic Training Center Berlin (OSP Berlin) has used the Sportform since the beginning of the 1990s and is now the main user of the facilities. The former sports medicine building of SV Dynamo in the Sportforum has been the headquarters of the OSP Berlin since 1992. More than 300 national team athletes regularly train in the facility. The OSP Berlin is the largest Olympic training center in Germany.
The Sportforum is home to eleven state training centres. Around 800 Berlin state team athletes regularly train in the facility. The facility also houses the School and High-Performance Sports Center Berlin (SLZB), the "House of Athletes" with around 200 rooms to rent, and the Institute for Sports Science of the Humboldt University of Berlin, with approximately 500 students.
The SLZB sports school in the Sportforum holds a special position in world sports. There is no other school in the world with as many Olympic medals or participation in Olympic Games, World and European championship titles as well as School World Championships as the SZLB. The SLZB was known as the elite Children and Youth Sports School () (KJS) "Werner Seelenbinder" during the East German era.
Around 20 sports clubs as based in the Sportforum and more than 3,000 athletes use the facilities every day. The main users among the sports clubs based in the Sportforum are SC Berlin, Berliner TSC, BFC Dynamo, Eisbären Berlin junior teams and Alba Berlin junior teams. Other users are Füchse Berlin, SSG Humboldt zu Berlin, SC Charlottenburg and SV Preußen Berlin.
Dynamo-Sporthalle The first new major sports facility built in the Dynamo-Sportforum was the Dynamo-Sporthalle on Weißenseer Weg at the western end of the sports complex. The sports hall was built between 1955 and 1958. The Dynamo-Sporthalle was then supplemented with adjoining sports halls for judo, fencing and ball sports in the north. The adjoining sports halls were built between 1957 and 1960.
The Dynamo-Sporthalle and the adjoining sports halls form part of the original building ensemble of the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen. The building complex was erected by the state-owned company VEB Industriebeau Berlin to designs by an architectural collective led by German architect Walter Schmidt. The Dynamo-Sporthalle was also adorned with mural and mosaic artworks by the German artist Wolfgang Frankenstein. The Dynamo-Sporthalle and the adjoining sports halls are today protected buildings of cultural importance.
The Dynamo-Sporthalle has a capacity of between 1,700 and 4,000 spectators depending on the type of event. The large sports hall measures 64 meters in length, 30 meters in width and 15 meters in height inside. Dynamo-Sporthalle therefore allows for several different sports, such as gymnastics, handball, volleyball, judo, boxing, basketball, badminton, table tennis and archery. In the adjoining sports halls, there are further halls for, among other things, volleyball, basketball, judo and fencing, as well as weight lifting rooms and meeting rooms.
The Dynamo-Sporthalle is the home arena for the handball club VC Olympia Berlin. In addition, national and international sports events of the highest class within a number of different sports take place in the hall up to 230 days per year.
The Dynamo-Sporthalle has also been used for other type of events, such as congresses, political mass meetings and balls: The first Women's congress of the Democratic Women's League of Germany (DFD) took place in the Dynamo-Sporthalle on 25 June 1964.