Origin and Early Years (1926-1970) Arminia Bielefeld utilized a variety of locations around the city to play home matches since their founding in 1905. The first Arminia matches took place at the
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz, the present day Kesselbrink, in Bielefeld. Thereafter, the club briefly played at a ground off of the former Kaiser Street, or
Kaiserstraße in German, currently known as August Bebel Street. In 1910 the club moved to a new ground known as the Pottenau Sportplatz. The Pottenau ground was intended for 4,000 spectators, but a few thousand additional spectators were able to view matches without paying admission on the adjacent railway
embankment. Following the Arminia's
1922 and 1923 West German Football Championship titles, the club had outgrown the Pottenau ground, but did not have the financial resources to expand. In the mid-1920s, members of the club's
Handball department made contact with a local farmer by the last name of Lohmann. The club and Lohmann agreed to a 100 year lease of the property which would become Arminia's home ground. The first match played at the ground took place on 1 May 1926 between Arminia and
Victoria Hamburg. Roughly 2,000 spectators attended the inaugural match which Hamburg won 5:1. The new ground was initially referred to as the
Stadion an der Melanchthonstraße. The exact origin of the Alm name is the subject of various legends. The word
Alm in German means mountain pasture. The most well supported theory for the origin of the name came from club member Heinrich Pehle. In the early years of the ground, Pehle said, "It looks like [a] pasture here!", referring to the poor quality and uneven surface of the pitch. The grass coverage was sparse and puddles covered the entire pitch during the Alm's early years in the late 1920s. An alternative origination of the Alm name came from former player and club director Karl Demberg, who said, "Let [our opponents] come, we will make them fold on our pasture!" Engelbert Strauch claimed that, per the terms of the lease, Lohmann's cattle could still graze on the pitch while matches were not being played, thus giving the Alm its name. Arminia Bielefeld considers the Pehle quote as the most plausible origination of the Alm name. The Alm did not have any facilities or changing rooms for the players or match officials in its early years. Nearby pub on Stapenhorststraße known as
Schutze provided changing rooms and showers for the squads. Named after proprietors Else and Wilhelm Schütze, the pub was later renamed to
Haus Wiegand after later owner Günter Wiegand. Only one cold water shower was available for players and match officials. The pub was used as the ground's changing room until the 1960s. In 1983 the pub was renamed
Tinneff after Arminia's 1920s championship left winger Walter "Tinneff" Röhe, a regular at the pub. The original pub building was damaged by a fire in 2007 and the pub did not reopen thereafter. The building was demolished in 2015 for the construction of a new multi-use property. Space for up to 20,000 spectators was provided by a manmade mound surrounding the pitch. The ground remained unchanged from its initial configuration for roughly three decades. In 1954, the city of Bielefeld undertook a number of modifications to modernize the ground, including the purchase of adjacent properties for the development of two alternate pitches, as well as the construction of concrete
terracing. In addition, the playing surface conditions were improved by the installation of a grass pitch.
Expansion for the Bundesliga (1970-1996) In the 1960s the club played in the
Regionalliga West, the second tier of German football. Halfway through the
1966-67 Regionalliga season, Bielefeld was at the top of the table. Rumors arose in the local media that, should Bielefeld be promoted to the
Bundesliga, the Alm would not be suitable for the first tier. In the event of promotion, the club would need to play its home matches in the
Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Stadion in nearby
Herford. Following Bielefeld's promotion to the Bundesliga in
1970, the club began further renovations to the Alm. A new southern stand was constructed, a main stand was built on the west side of the ground, and steel frame stands were erected on the northern and eastern sides. Following these additions, the grounds capacity was over 30,000. Floodlights were added for the first time in the grounds history as well. 29,000 spectators witnessed a 1:1 draw between Arminia and
Hertha BSC Berlin in the stadiums first ever night match, with goals being scored by Gerd Kohl and
Zoltán Varga. The ground was expanded to a capacity of 35,000 following Bielefeld's return to the Bundesliga in
1978 with the addition of a steel frame stand on the north end of the ground. The newly expanded ground was renowned during the season for the particularly hostile atmosphere created by fans against visiting teams. The first match in the newly expanded ground was against local
North Rhine-Westphalian club
Schalke 04, and had an attendance of 34,882 spectators. The near capacity crowd witnessed a 3:2 victory for Arminia with Bielefeld's goals scored by
Christian Sackewitz,
Norbert Eilenfeldt, and
Hans-Werner Moors.
Rebuilding (1996-2008) In 1996 rebuilding work began, first the North Stand was rebuilt and then the West Stand, bringing capacity to 22,512. In 1999 the South Stand was rebuilt increasing capacity to 26,601, and in June 2007 the capacity reached 28,008 following completion of the East Stand. The East Stand features a state-of-the-art glass roof that contains
photo voltaic elements built into the glass (as opposed to mounted on it) that generate electricity for the club.
Recent History and Sale (Since 2008) The construction costs of the new
Haupttribune rising from the planned 11 million to 19 million euros was a significant contributor to Arminia's near
bankruptcy around 2010. In November 2018,
Arminia Bielefeld announced the sale of the stadium to "3BO GmbH" and "STBO GmbH" (each 50 percent) in order to improve the club's financial situation. Shareholders include Dr. August Oetker KG and
Gauselmann AG. However, the club will retain all rights such as rental incomes and naming rights. Schüco Arena is included in the
video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, due to lack of licensing rights appearing as "Blautraum Arena". It is also in
FIFA 22 and
FIFA 23, as part of the Bundesliga licensing deal with
EA Sports. ==Other uses==