Austria's Iconic Buildings - Prater Stadium and Bergisel Ski Jump # 2025

Two arenas, two cities, a panorama of triumph and tragedy. The new ORF III production tells the story of how Vienna's Praterstadion, now Ernst Happel Stadium, and Innsbruck's Bergisel ski jump developed from emergency projects in the 1930s into venues for unforgettable sporting moments.
In 1928, an elliptical concrete oval for 60,000 spectators was built in the Prater in just two and a half years as a job creation project during the deep economic crisis. Immediately after its completion, the Workers' Olympics in 1931 provided the first major event, before the stadium became a collection camp for deportations under Nazi rule. After 1945, it hosted prestigious international matches, four European Cup finals, the 2008 EURO final, and a large number of concerts.
In Innsbruck, the history of the Bergisel began as a simple natural ski jump in 1925. Eight years later, the slope was expanded into a World Cup stage with a 47-meter wooden tower, also as emergency work during economically difficult times. In 1964 and 1976, the Olympic flame burned here, and Bergisel ski jumping became an integral part of the Four Hills Tournament, shaping every winter. But the highs and lows are closely intertwined, from the papal mass in 1988 to the tragic mass panic at the Air & Style Festival in 1999 to the iconic new ski jump designed by Zaha Hadid in 2002.
The TV documentary connects these highlights with the scars of the past and asks what makes an arena iconic.