Allianz Arena: The Glowing Cushion of Munich
The Allianz Arena, in the Fröttmaning district north of Munich, is the home of FC Bayern Munich and the most architecturally photographed stadium of the 2000s. The exterior — 2,874 inflated ETFE-foil cushions illuminated from within — was designed by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and opened in 2005 for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The result is the world's largest illuminated translucent membrane facade, and a building that changes colour according to the team playing inside. The location is on the map.
Background and design competition
Munich entered the 2000s sharing the Olympiastadion with 1860 Munich, the city's other Bundesliga club, but the Olympiastadion's distance from the pitch and limited matchday revenue had become a competitive disadvantage. A 2001 referendum approved the construction of a new stadium in Fröttmaning, and the Herzog & de Meuron design — selected from an international competition — was chosen for its distinctive ETFE-cushion facade and its highly functional interior.
The ETFE cushion facade
The facade consists of 2,874 air-filled cushions of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), each independently illuminated. The cushions are pneumatically supported, lightweight, translucent, and self-cleaning to a useful degree. The lighting system can render the entire exterior in solid colours or in patterns, and the colour changes to red for Bayern home matches, to blue for the years 1860 Munich co-tenanted (2005-2017), and to white for German national-team matches. Champions League nights have featured custom illuminations for opposition cities, and special-event colours (rainbow, charity colours, mourning black) have been deployed periodically.
The 1860 Munich co-tenancy
Between 2005 and 2017, the Allianz Arena was the home ground of both Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, with the facade switching colours between matches. 1860 Munich's relegation from the second Bundesliga in 2017 ended the arrangement, and the smaller club returned to the Grünwalder Stadion. Since 2017 the Allianz Arena has been Bayern's exclusive home, and the blue facade configuration is now retained mainly for the German national team's white matches.
Capacity and configuration
Original capacity was 66,000 seated; subsequent expansions raised the figure to 75,000 (Bundesliga configuration, with the south end converted to standing for Bayern home matches) and 70,000 (UEFA all-seater configuration). The seating bowl is steep, with all seats covered by the perimeter ETFE-cushion roof and unobstructed sight-lines to the pitch. The home Südkurve concentrates Bayern's most-vocal supporters and produces the choreographies for major Bundesliga and Champions League matches.
The 2006 World Cup and Euro 2024
The Allianz Arena hosted six matches at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including the opening match (Germany 4-2 Costa Rica) and the semi-final between Italy and Germany. For UEFA Euro 2020 (played in 2021) the arena hosted four matches under the temporary UEFA-neutral name Munich Football Arena. For Euro 2024 the stadium hosted the opening match (Germany 5-1 Scotland) and several knock-out fixtures, again under a temporary commercial-neutral name.
Champions League nights
Bayern's Champions League home record at the Allianz Arena is one of the strongest in European football, with the climb to the 2013 treble (Pep Guardiola-era successor) and the 2020 Lisbon final triumph (under Hans-Dieter Flick) anchored in convincing home displays. The 2012 final between Bayern and Chelsea — held at the Allianz Arena and lost on penalties to Chelsea — remains a sore memory among Bayern supporters, with the irony of a home final lost to a visiting English club still discussed.
Bayern's monumental modern era
The Allianz Arena has been the venue for Bayern's domination of the Bundesliga since 2013, with eleven consecutive league titles to 2023 (a German record), two further Champions League finals reached (2012 lost, 2013 won, 2020 won), and the consistent attendance of 75,000 at every Bundesliga home match. The economic and competitive gap between Bayern and the rest of the Bundesliga that the new stadium helped create has itself become a subject of debate within German football.
Plan your next trip
The Allianz Arena is open for stadium tours that include the Bayern dressing room, the player tunnel, the press conference room, the Bayern Munich Erlebniswelt museum (the most-visited football museum in Germany) and viewing of the south stand. The arena is reached by Munich's U6 underground line at Fröttmaning station, with the illuminated facade visible from the platform on match nights. See the location on the map.