Gelsenkirchen is one of the smaller cities that will host the European Championship and, above all, a place that has become world-famous thanks to football...
Schalke is his symbol, the club that was once the champion of Germany and the winner of the Uefa Cup (today the Europa League) in 1997 is regarded as one of the cults of the country, and its fans are a special story - one of the most ardent and loyal on the planet.
Even when their beloved club plays in Zvajta (second league), where they finished 2021, and in the recently ended season at one point risked relegation to the Third League.
Gelsenkirchen with about 250.000 inhabitants is also known as the "city of a thousand fires" because of the flames from the many mines that were once seen during the night.
Mining is its trademark even today, although there are fewer and fewer miners, and this city has meanwhile become a center of solar energy.
Because of coal and oil, it survived frequent destruction during the Second World War, so its architecture is now characterized by the contrasts of old and new times.
If Schalke has been a symbol for many years, "Auf Schalke Arena" has been so since its construction in 2001.
The special attractions of this super-modern stadium are the movable roof that is used during storms and to reduce the noise in the environment during concerts, as well as the large screen-cube - the first to appear in a football stadium, which was later "copied" by stadiums in Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.
And the way in which the field is provided with enough sunlight so that it is always in perfect condition shows how much the Germans think about everything...
It sounds unusual, but the green surface, which is mobile, goes outside the stadium and absorbs light from the outside.
The building, which is decorated with a tunnel similar to the one that miners pass through, will host three group stage matches and one in the round of 16.
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