Atalanta returns to play, after eight years, in front of a wall that is hellish for opponents, located in the heart of the Ruhr mining region. We are talking about the so-called Gelbe Wand, the famous Yellow Wall of the Westfalenstadion, the nickname of the south stand that hosts the support of 25,000 Borussia Dortmund fans. The mythic status of the Südtribüne is now unmatched, having become a pilgrimage destination and a highly valued tourist attraction among supporters and football fans in general. Nevertheless, the section retains its working-class soul, which the club graciously refuses to exploit by keeping the season ticket price at €14 per match. If a Bayern Munich legend like Bastian Schweinsteiger, when asked “who do you fear more, the players or the Borussia Dortmund coach?”, once answered “The Yellow Wall”, there must be a reason.
The largest standing sections in Europe
As is well known, the Südtribüne of the Westfalenstadion is the largest standing terrace in Europe. A record difficult to approach, considering that most European stadiums have all their stands occupied by seats, mainly for safety reasons. Terrace culture was extremely widespread in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s, with popular stands overflowing with people. It was impressive to see these human tides packed together, whose numbers could only be roughly estimated, but which also led to tragic events. This lasted until Margaret Thatcher changed everything, eradicating hooliganism and transforming the Premier League into a commercial product, with renovated and orderly stadiums. Today in Europe, standing sections are now found almost exclusively in Germany. Besides Dortmund, there is the Nordwestkurve of Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, which hosts around 19,900 Eintracht supporters. The Nordkurve of Borussia Park in Mönchengladbach approaches 16,500 standing places, and the north stand of the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen has similar numbers, where Schalke’s 16,309 standing spots can be converted into 8,778 seats depending on the event, while Kaiserslautern’s Westkurve follows closely with a capacity of 14,688.
There are also stadiums that, despite a smaller capacity, are still characterized by a majority of standing terraces in more than one section. This is the case at Stadion An der Alten Försterei of Union Berlin, where 18,395 of the 22,012 total places are standing, or the Millerntor-Stadion of St. Pauli in Hamburg, with 16,940 standing spectators out of 29,546. In the lower divisions, similar numbers can be found in the stadiums of Magdeburg and Oberhausen. Outside Germany, there are other positive examples of popular stands, although these are seated sections. In France there is the Vélodrome in Marseille, whose curves host 13,800 supporters, and the Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne, where the north and south kop hold 10,085 places. Speaking of Kops, the original one at Anfield today contains 12,800 fans. In Denmark the B Stand at Parken in Copenhagen holds 8,800 people; in Austria Rapid Vienna’s Allianz Stadion has about 8,500. Moving east, the Kocioł Stand at the Poznań Municipal Stadium hosts 9,600 fans across three tiers, the north stand of Zagreb’s Maksimir holds 9,460, while Galatasaray’s Rams Park has end stands of around 15,000 seats. In Italy, the true terraces with the largest capacity are found at Marassi with about 9,000 places each. As for curves, Rome’s Olimpico approaches 18,000, Bari’s San Nicola 15,000, and Naples’ Maradona about 13,000.
History of the Südtribüne
The Südtribüne officially originated between 1971 and 1974 with the construction of Borussia Dortmund’s new stadium, the Westfalenstadion. The old ground called Rote Erde (“red earth” in German) had become inadequate in both structure and capacity for a club whose popularity in Dortmund was growing rapidly. The club, however, did not have enough money to build a new stadium, nor did the municipality. Fortunately, in Cologne the project for the stadium intended to host matches of the 1974 World Cup was cancelled, and the previously allocated funds were redirected to Dortmund.
The Westfalenstadion, the new World Cup venue, was built next to the Rote Erde and designed by Dortmund’s building authority. Until the late 1990s, the famous south stand held 12,000 spectators, with no seats but only railings forming typical English-style standing terraces. In 1976 the team was promoted to the Bundesliga, increasing its fame year after year. In the summer of 1992, following the conversion of the north stand into seating, total capacity dropped from 54,000 to 43,000. The same conversion was planned for the Südtribüne, but fans successfully opposed the decision. The peak of success came in 1997 when BVB won the Champions League against Juventus.
The birth of the Yellow Wall
Riding the wave of enthusiasm, the club launched a major stadium expansion through multiple renovation phases, eventually surpassing 80,000 spectators. It was here that the famous Südtribüne, doubling its capacity, took the structural form we know today. The design was by architect Ulrich Drahtler of the Dortmund firm Gustav Schulze und Partner, responsible for both the first and second construction phases. Structural engineers were Engels Ingenieure and the construction contract was won by Köster AG of Osnabrück. Twenty-seven rows were added, increasing the sector’s capacity from 12,000 to nearly 25,000 standing places.
Already famous for its atmosphere, the stand reached iconic status. However, the awe at the magnificent work soon gave way to bankruptcy risk due to the enormous costs of expansion. In this precarious situation, during the home match against Hansa Rostock on May 21, 2005, the legend of the Gelbe Wand — the celebrated Yellow Wall — was officially born. The Südtribüne displayed its pride with a choreography of countless two-pole banners and a sea of yellow-and-black flags, accompanied by a banner reading in German: “At the end of the tunnel, the Yellow Wall shines.” BVB would be saved and later experience the magical Klopp era, with the Yellow Wall at its peak during spectacular Champions League nights. Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller was instrumental in popularizing the nickname when, after 10,000 Dortmund fans traveled to Frankfurt in May 2009, he described the away section as a Yellow Wall. From that statement onward, first German newspapers and then media around the world began consistently referring to the stand by that nickname.
A model of inspiration
Today this section holds 24,454 standing places, representing the largest standing terrace in Europe, with an innovative system allowing rapid conversion into seating for international matches. The railings between rows prevent tragic events such as crowd crushing and uncontrolled swaying. The 7,000 square meters of surface are spread across 99 meters in width and 40 meters in height, with a remarkable 37-degree incline comparable to a ski-jump ramp. The stand has also inspired, structurally and emotionally, several recently built or planned stadiums. The architectural firm De8 Architetti, responsible for the renovation of Bergamo’s current New Balance Arena, rebuilt the Curva Nord Federico Pisani — the heart of Atalanta’s support — based on the Yellow Wall model. The inspiration came during the Europa League round-of-32 first leg played in Dortmund in 2018.
The same single-tier stand also guided the creation of the south stand at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with a capacity of 17,500 spectators (though seated) and a 34-degree incline, the maximum permitted in the UK. The goal was to trap the chants and create an intense, intimidating atmosphere for opponents. Despite the excellent architectural intention by Populous, North London support remains far below that of the yellow-and-black faithful, which few can replicate. Dan Meis, architect of Everton’s brand-new Hill Dickinson Stadium, also took inspiration from Dortmund’s Yellow Wall for the home supporters’ south stand. The section, visually striking due to its proximity to a Mersey River dock, holds 13,000 places designed to maximize noise and stadium atmosphere. Even the new San Siro by Foster + Partners is expected to include two single-tier curves close to the pitch with the same 37-degree incline. Remarkably, the Yellow Wall has influenced not only football venues but also facilities for other sports, such as the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. The so-called The Wall includes a 4,500-seat section behind the basket arranged in 51 uninterrupted rows to enhance fan engagement.