stadium history

In summer 2006, the Karl-Liebknecht Stadium celebrated the thirtieth birthday of its current iteration. On the 10th of July 1976, it was inaugurated with a game between Motor Babelsberg and the DDR-Olympia-Auswahl (later a gold medal winner at the Montreal Olympics). But football had been played at this location long before this. As early as the 1920, the pitch at Preisterstr was used by the players of Concordia 06 (later Eintracht Babelsberg)
The facilities at Priesterstr were badly damaged during the Second World War. The pitch was targeted by bombers and the terraces were left in a terrible condition. Due to fuel shortages, there were no fences or other security boundaries.
With BSG Märkische Volksstimme Babelsberg's (renamed BSG Rotation Babelsberg in Sept 1950) qualification for the newly formed GDR Oberliga, the newly named Karl-Liebknecht Stadium hosted an enormous influx of football fans. On the north side of the stadium, where the away fans stand nowadays, a large wooden stand was constructed.
In 1974/5, the current Karl-Liebknecht Stadium was built on the grounds of the previous one. The stadium is notable for the vicinity of the terraces to the pitch - there is no running track distancing the spectators from the game.
There is a partially covered terrace, offering protection against the elements to 1,472 spectators. It is a typical GDR-style building. The covering is made from plastic.
As well as well-attended league games, Karli also hosted a number of international fixtures in the 70s and 80s. The first ever sell-out game was a World Cup Qualifier in 1977, GDR v Malta, a game that GDR won with a 9-0 scoreline. 8,500 spectators were present for a 1-0 Olympics qualifier victory over Norway on November 12th 1983, and Luxembourg were beaten 3-1 in front of 9,000 fans in a World Cup qualifier on May 18th, 1985. It's also worth noting that the GDR women's team played their only game against Czechoslovakia at Karli - on May 9th 1990, 800 spectators saw them succumb to a 0-3 defeat.
The stadium barely changed in the period between 1976 and 1990 - the only real alteration was the addition of fences surrounding the pitch.
The mid 1990s saw a period of unrivalled success for Babelsberg football. In 1997, the team secured promotion to the third tier of German football, the Regionalliga. Babelsberg's presence in the 2001/2 Regionalliga required upgrades to be made to the stadium. On July 9th 2001, there was a 14,700 sell-out crowd at Karli for the first time in 26 years for the visit Düsseldorf - a game that signalled Babelsberg's first ever appearance in the 2. Bundesliga.
Because of this, major renovations were carried out at Karli. The benches on the terraces were replaced by bucket seating. In the stadium building itself, the casino became the Press Room, the VIP area was enlarged and a new home dressing room was built. Platforms were built on the main stand and over the scoreboard to facilitate TV coverage.
Thanks to the significant efforts of the then-President Detlef Kaminski, a dream for many Babelsberg fans was realised - Karli was finally fitted with floodlights. These floodlights were unique in Germany and possibly Europe too - one third of them could be taken down after the game. This was necessary to limit intrusion on the bordering Babelsberger Park, a part of the Potsdam UNESCO heritage site. The floodlights were first used on Friday, April 12th 2002, in a 2. Bundesliga game against Waldorf Mannheim.
In 2003, SV Babelsberg 03 took control of the Karl-Liebknecht-Stadium with the signing of a new tenancy contract. Since then, countless improvements have been made to the stadium with the help of the team's sponsors.
In July 2004, Karli got its first new pitch in 30 years. 8,200m² were laid, comprising of 500 rolls. A number of die-hard nulldrei fans helped with the work.
As well as this, the training pitch's lighting and watering systems were upgraded, and nets were installed to catch stray balls.
With promotion to the 2007/8 Regionalliga, further improvements were required. Plans include upgrading the facilities for away fans and replacing the roof over the main terrace.

So, all in all, the Karl-Liebknecht-Stadium is undoubtedly one of the finest of its type and is what all us Nulldrei fans call home every Saturday afternoon.