Initially, the Parkstadion should be called Ruhrstadion. The city council decided not to name it that way. The Park Stadium was built on the site of the former airfield and was the venue for the home games of FC Schalke 04 from 1973 onwards. The German national soccer team played a total of eight games in the Park Stadium between 1973 and 1998. In addition, the deciding game of the relegation in 1991 between the Stuttgarter Kickers and FC St. Pauli, three semi-finals in the DFB Cup and two final games of the competition, three German athletics championships, concerts (including Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Wolfgang Petry, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, Genesis or the Rolling Stones), and a papal mass (1987) took place. The stadium also gained international fame as the venue for the 1974 World Cup with one qualifying game, five games in the tournament and the 1988 European Football Championship with two games.
Originally, the main stand was to have a tent roof similar to that of the Munich Olympic Stadium. However, this was rejected for reasons of cost. The system initially had a display panel in the north curve. A video screen was later installed in the south curve. The fans of FC Schalke 04 stood in the north curve, especially in Block 5. However, Block I in the upper tier of the main stand was also known for its good atmosphere in later years. Although the stadium was often reviled for its spaciousness, a cult developed around the Schalke home games in the UEFA Cup in the 1996/97 season. All six games, including the final first leg against Inter Milan, remained clean, which was considered a basis for Schalke's European Cup success.
In its final years, the home of S04 showed signs of aging, particularly due to mountain damage.
Still in the process of renovation, and for those who did not know it no longer recognizable as such. But you can watch the commercialization of football nicely (training areas, rehabilitation center) ...