VIENNA STADIUM'S NAZI HISTORY : Euro 2008 Finals Venue Hides a Sinister Past

The Beast Rising Again

VIENNA STADIUM'S NAZI HISTORY : Euro 2008 Finals Venue Hides a Sinister Past

When over 50,000 roaring fans fill Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium Sunday to watch Germany take on Spain in the Euro 2008 final, chances are they won't be reflecting on the stadium's dark place in history.

AP

The Prater Stadium, now known as the Ernst Happel Stadium, was once used by the Gestapo to hold Jews on their way to being murdered at a concentration camp.

When the fans of the German and Spanish teams throng into Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium on Sunday to watch the Euro 2008 finals they will be hoping to enjoy a day of thrilling sport in Austria's most historic stadium. Many may not realize, however, that this history spans back to the 1930s when the stadium served as a Nazi barracks and then as a prison where Jews were held before being deported to concentration camps.

The dark chapter in the stadium's history began in 1934, three years after it was completed and christened the Prater Stadium. That May, Austria's fascist Chancellor Engelbert Dolfuss stood in the stadium and announced the country's new constitution, which abolished democracy in Austria and made it an authoritarian state. More...